Linn-Mar High School - Marion, Iowa

Cedar Falls ousts Lions in thriller

Long after hearing their final postgame talk of the season, the Linn-Mar baseball team was still milling around the home plate area of their home diamond.

The Lions simply did not want to leave the field Monday night.

"This is the kind of team you'd like to always have one more game with," said Linn-Mar Coach Chad Lechner. "They are such a great group to be around."

Try as they might, the Lions could not come through to earn one more game. Steven Skidmore's RBI single in the top of the 11th inning plated Dakota Schiefelbein with what proved to be the winning run as Cedar Falls ended Linn-Mar's season with a 7-6 victory in a Class 4A substate semifinal.

The victory moves the Tigers (22-13) opposite top-seed Kennedy (28-11) in Wednesday's substate final set for 7 p.m. at Kennedy's Herkelman Field.

Read more...

J-Hawks cherish win over Lions at state

FORT DODGE - Alyssa Olson has pitched better games during her all-state career with the Jefferson J-Hawks, but few have felt as sweet as this one did Monday afternoon.

Olson tossed a complete game as the third-ranked J-Hawks topped Linn-Mar, 6-3, in the opening round of the Class 5A state tournament at Harlan Rogers Park in Fort Dodge.

Olson and the J-Hawks lost in the opening round of the state tournament in 2013 and 2014, so this was the last chance for Olson and the rest of the Jefferson seniors to reach the semifinals.

"It feels great," she said. "We knew coming into this game that it wasn't going to be easy, by any means. We knew that Linn-Mar was going to put up a fight and we were going to put up a fight."

Olson has enjoyed lots of big wins, including a 7-0 masterpiece with 13 strikeouts against Muscatine in the regional finals two years ago as a sophomore. Monday's victory was really big, too.

Read more...

Olson, Ryan are foes now, teammates later

Alyssa Olson of Jefferson and Maddy Ryan of Linn-Mar will be teammates at Coe when they begin their college softball careers later this summer, but first they have some unfinished business to settle as high school players.

Olson and Ryan will pitch against each other Monday afternoon when Jefferson (35-7) faces Linn-Mar (25-17) in the opening round of the Class 5A state tournament in Fort Dodge.

First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.

Ryan and the Lions nipped Olson and the J-Hawks, 3-2, when they pitched against each other in the first game of a Mississippi Valley Conference doubleheader at Linn-Mar on June 9.

Jefferson won the second game of that doubleheader, 14-4, and now the two Metro rivals will meet 150 miles away in Fort Dodge to settle the score for this season.

Read more...

Manny Jeffery wins Metro Spotlight Award

Manny Jeffery of Linn-Mar High School is the winner of the Metro Spotlight Award for high school boys this week, the Metro Sports Report announced Sunday.

Jeffery, a junior, is one of the top all-around players in the Metro area for the Linn-Mar baseball team as a pitcher and outfielder.

Jeffery is hitting .381 with two home runs and 21 RBIs. He has 43 hits in 35 games and is 18-for-18 in stolen bases.

Read more...