Xavier High School - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Meyers has some good stories to tell

Forty years from now, Sam Meyers will be able to tell his grand-kids about the night he battled the great Spencer VanScoyoc and was able to leave the ballpark with a smile.

Meyers nearly hit a home run against the Cedar Rapids Jefferson star Monday night for the Xavier Saints in the second game of their doubleheader, settling for a long double off the left-field fence at the Jefferson field that missed being a home run by only a few feet.

Later in the game, Meyers struck out VanScoyoc with a high fastball for a rare whiff of one of the top high school players in the country.

VanScoyoc later got revenge against Meyers with a two-run homer that may or may not have landed by now, but Meyers might conveniently forget to tell his grand-kids about that part of the evening.

"Yeah," he said, smiling. "We'll keep that a secret."

Meyers and the Xavier Saints did not get any victories against VanScoyoc and the sixth-ranked J-Hawks, but they continued to show improvement in their 5-2 and 9-5 setbacks in a Mississippi Valley Conference twinbill.

VanScoyoc, a star pitcher and hitter, was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 19th round of the Major League draft last week and has a scholarship to Arizona State in his back pocket if he decides to attend college instead of turning pro.

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Saints nearly topple No. 1 IC West

Step by step, inch by inch, the Xavier baseball team is getting much better.

The Saints proved it Friday night when they nearly upset top-ranked Iowa City West before falling, 5-4, in nine innings in the first game of a Mississippi Valley Conference doubleheader at Ken Charipar Field.

Iowa City West rolled in the nightcap, 15-2, in five innings.

The Saints had the winning run at second base in the bottom of the seventh inning and again in the bottom of the eighth inning of the opener, but both opportunities slipped away and the Trojans prevailed in the ninth.

Xavier began the season with nine straight losses, but they won two games this week and pushed Iowa City West to the limit in the space of four days.

"I think we're right there," said junior Bryce Schulte, who has played six different positions for the Saints this season. "I think we've got a lot of momentum going. We're trying to find our groove a little bit with those two wins earlier in the week.

"That first game tonight, we were right there. I think we're kind of finding it right now."

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Feltes anchors Saints on wounded knees

Jamie Feltes suffered a torn ACL in her right knee when she was in the fifth grade and just 11 years old, an awfully young age for an athlete to begin fighting knee problems.

She suffered another torn ACL - this time in her left knee - in April of 2015, just a few months before her junior campaign with the Xavier High School softball team.

She did not have an operation either time, either for the partial tear in the fifth grade or the complete tear last year.

"Last season I decided to play because I didn't want to lose a whole season with it," she said Tuesday. "I have a history of knee problems, so I wasn't going to mess with it too much and I kind of let it go."

Feltes, now a senior and a rock at third base for the Saints, has been a starter for the varsity ever since she was in the eighth grade, balky knees or not. She was back at her post Tuesday night, although she was a little late for the opener against Waterloo East after attending an orientation session at the University of Iowa, where she plans to become a nurse.

Feltes and the Saints swept Waterloo East, 11-3 and 9-5, at Bob Erusha Field with Maria Steffen collecting the win in the first game and returning for a save in the nightcap.

Feltes owns a gold glove at third base with her quick reactions and strong throws, and she still runs well despite the braces on both of her knees. She scooted from home to second base in a flash when she belted a double off the left-field fence in the first game and made a series of fine defensive plays at the hot corner.

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Xavier baseball team gets 1st win

The Xavier Saints suffered a gut-wrenching loss in extra innings Monday night, but they rebounded and collected their first victory of the season in extra innings Tuesday night.

The Saints trimmed Benton Community, 8-7, in eight innings at Ken Charipar Field for their first win after nine straight losses.

Nick Stark led off the bottom of the eighth inning for Xavier with a single and stolen second base. Sean Murphy collected an infield single and Stark scored all the way from second base on a throwing error.

Sam Meyers got the victory in relief. Murphy had three hits.