Xavier High School - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Saints win on Steffen's 4-hitter

VINTON - The girls on the Xavier softball team like to pile into their white school vans for road trips so they can sing, listen to loud music and relax before ballgames.

The formula worked Thursday night when the Saints blanked Vinton-Shellsburg, 3-0, in the quarterfinals of the Class 4A regional tournament in Vinton on a four-hitter by Maria Steffen.

Now comes an even longer trip for the Saints, who will make the two-hour trek to Pella Saturday night to face the Dutch in the regional semifinals. They don't seem fazed a bit.

"It will just be longer for them to be excited and listen to loud music," said Coack Nikki Gahring. "That's what they do.

"They enjoy the van rides. It's kind of their thing. They love being in the van and travelling."

Xavier lost in the regional semifinals in 2013, 2014 and 2015 - all three times on their home field - so Gahring welcomed the opportunity to open the 2016 playoffs on the road.

"I think they were very relaxed being on the road," she said.

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Saints baseball splits with Tigers

CEDAR FALLS - Jake Guckenberger went 6-for-8 with a double and home run Tuesday as the Xavier Saints split a Mississippi Valley Conference doubleheader at Cedar Falls.

The Saints lost the first game, 9-8, and rebounded for an 11-2 victory in the nightcap behind a complete game by Sam Meyers.

Guckenberger went 3-for-4 in both games for Xavier. Nick Stark went 4-for-8 in the twinbill with a triple. Sean Murphy was 3-for-6 with a double.

The split left the Saints at 9-22-1 overall and 6-17-1 in the conference. Cedar Falls is 18-16 overall and 13-11 in the league.

Xavier visits Bettendorf on Wednesday.

Saints sweep Wahlert on Senior Night

Senior Night always feels better when your mother gets a red rose during the on-field ceremony and your ballclub wins a pair of games to boost its confidence near the end of the season.

That was the story for the Xavier Saints Friday night.

The Saints swept Dubuque Wahlert, 7-6 in eight innings and 11-0 in five innings, in a Mississippi Valley Conference twinbill at Ken Charipar Field.

All nine seniors on the Xavier roster got into the doubleheader and all nine contributed to the victories for the Saints, who are suddenly surging now with five wins in their last six games.

Senior Bryce Charipar, bothered by an injury earlier this year but healthy now, took a one-hitter into the fifth inning of the nightcap and was looking good, but Coach Bob Cataldo removed Charipar and gave seniors Ethan Holverson and Ben Kamin a chance to pitch in the lopsided victory before family and friends on Senior Night.

"They deserved it," said Cataldo, in his first year as Xavier's head coach. "These seniors have been doing everything we've asked since February. They're there at every workout, doing everything possible.

"They might not have Division I skills," he said, "but they've got Division I heart."

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Saints swept by Kennedy juggernaut

The Xavier Saints enjoyed some good moments on Senior Night Thursday, but they were no match for the softball juggernaut that resides at the other end of 42nd Street NE in Cedar Rapids.

The third-ranked Kennedy Cougars began swinging the moment they arrived at Bob Erusha Field and never stopped until they swept the Mississippi Valley Conference twinbill, 11-3 and 18-7, with 40 hits in the doubleheader.

Kennedy raised its records to 31-3 overall and 22-2 in the conference as it battles Iowa City West for an MVC title. Xavier fell to 13-24 overall and 9-15 in the league with the season dwindling to just a few more games.

The Cougars feature lusty hitting and aggressive baserunning that puts pressure on all opponent all night. Sydney Kinney led the onslaught with seven hits in the doubleheader, including a 5-for-5 performance in the nightcap, but it was hard to find a Cougar who did not have a good night at the plate.

Tianna Drahn, Ashley Hamilton, Peyton Baskerville and Camryn Jeffords all had five hits for Kennedy, while Megan Weber and Jenna Schwartzhoff had four hits apiece. Hamilton socked a home run and drove in five runs in the nightcap and Jeffords had four RBIs in that second game.

The Saints swung the bats themselves, but not to the same degree as the Cougars. They collected 10 hits against Schwartzhoff (12-3) in the first game and they had nine hits against Ashley Winterowd (12-0) in the second contest.

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