Jefferson Baseball

Errant throw sends J-Hawks past Bobcats

The game was competitive, but not without its flaws when Jefferson hosted Western Dubuque in non-conference baseball  Monday night at Jefferson.

Naturally, an error decided the outcome.

Tanner Unkel's sacrifice bunt and a wild throw by Western Dubuque third baseman Hunter Westhoff scored Christian Knox all the way from first base in the bottom of the seventh inning and lifted the J-Hawks to a 3-2 win.

The teams had four hits apiece and there were no runs batted in for either side. Western Dubuque (23-14) had four errors, Jefferson (14-22) two.

Knox drew a walk leading off the bottom of the seventh.

Unkel popped the bunt up, but it did not go far enough for Westhoff or pitcher Matt Kass (4-3) to catch it. Westhoff scooped it up and second baseman Adam Hoeger was a tad late covering the bag at first. Hoeger was still moving toward the bag when Westhoff's throw careened past him and into foul territory down the right-field line.

Western Dubuque right fielder Ryan Lehmann chased the ball down and uncorked a strike to the plate. The ball skipped past catcher Derick Ludwig as Knox slid across the plate with the winning run.

"(Lehmann) made a pretty good throw," said Jefferson assistant coach Gordy Nordgren, who was acting as head coach and directing traffic at third base in Coach Mike Kuba's absence. "I was down (the third-base line) far enough that I thought, 'Ah, (Knox) is in.' But, ooh, it was close, a lot closer than I thought it was going to be."

Knox said he hesitated going around second base to pick up the ball. When he saw it down the right-field line he said he was sure Nordgren was going to send him home.

"I know my coach," Knox said. "I was busting it and coach was sending me. I just had to make a good slide."

Unkel said he thought Knox would score when he saw the ball go down the right-field line.

"When coach was wheeling him (home), I thought, 'Yep, he can score,' " Unkel said. "But then the kid (Lehmann) threw a BB from all the way out there and I thought, 'OK, I better get to third.' "

There were more costly errors on both sides in the game.

Jefferson took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. With one out and runners at first and second base, Jordan McCormick hit a routine double-play grounder to third base. Alex Larson was forced at second base, but Hoeger's relay to first base was wide of the mark and courtesy runner Aaron Gruwell scored.

Western Dubuque struck for two runs in its fourth. Westhoff doubled leading off the inning and scored when Hoeger hit a ball into the hole between second and first. Unkel, Jeff's second baseman, and Bailey Hollingsworth, playing his first game at first base, both went after the ball. Hollingsworth pulled up when he saw Unkel was going to get it, but was unable to get back to the bag before Hoeger. Unkel tried to make a throw to the moving Hollingsworth and the ball sailed past the first baseman for an error that allowed Westhoff to score.

Hoeger ended up at second on the play and went to third on a ground out. He scored on a wild pitch by Austin Goodell.

Jefferson tied the game, 2-2, in the fifth. Jake Schmidt led off with a single and went to second on Knox's sacrifice bunt. Unkel flied out and Michael Rooney walked. Larson spanked a hard shot off Westhoff at third base that spun into shallow left field for an error that scored Schmidt.

The J-Hawks squandered a chance to score in the third inning. With one out, Unkel at third base and Larson at the plate, Nordgren put on the squeeze play. The pitch was in the dirt and Unkel was dead at the plate.

"There's nothing you can do when the ball bounces in the dirt and the catcher makes a nice play," Unkel said. "It ain't the major leagues, so you can't plow anybody either. Larson did the right thing. He even hung over the plate and delayed the catcher for a little bit. He did his job."

Jefferson used four pitchers. Rooney, Goodell and McCormick each pitched two innings. Junior Eric Lehmkuhl, making his first appearance in a varsity game this season, retired the side in order in the seventh inning and picked up the win.

"We're trying to keep everybody fresh," Nordgren said of the pitching staff. "We want to go full-bore Friday night."

Jefferson plays at Kennedy in a Class 4A substate first-round game Friday night. The J-Hawks close out their regular season schedule Wednesday night with  JV/varsity doubleheader against Davenport North.

Western Dubuque hosts Davenport North on Tuesday, then closes out its regular season Wednesday with a Wamac Conference doubleheader at Marion that starts at 4 p.m. The Bobcats play Dubuque Hempstead on Friday in a first round Class 4A substate game.

WESTERN DUBUQUE (2)
Logan Pitz, lf, 4 0 0 0, Cody Reimer, ss, 4 0 0 0, Nick Tuttle, 1b, 3 0 0 0, Ryan Lehmann, rf, 2 0 0 0, Tyson Massey, dh, 3 0 1 0, Matt Kass, p, 0 0 0 0, Hunter Westhoff, 3b, 2 1 2 0, Adam Hoeger, 2b, 3 1 1 0, Derick Ludwig, c, 3 0 0 0, Dawson Besler, cf, 2 0 0 0. Totals 26 2 4 0.

JEFFERSON (3)
Tanner Unkel, 2b, 1 0 0 0, Michael Rooney, p-cf, 2 0 1 0, Drake Vanous, cr, 0 1 0 0, Alex Larson, ss, 2 0 1 0, Jordan McCormick, dh-p-1b, 3 0 0 0, Austin Goodell, lf-p, 0 0 0 0, Bailey Hollingsworth, 1b-rf, 2 0 1 0, Drew Striegel, c, 3 0 0 0, Aaron Gruwell, cr, 0 0 0 0, Sam Techau, 3b, 3 0 0 0, Jake Schmidt, rf, 3 1 1 0, Eric Lehmkuhl, p, 0 0 0 0, Christian Knox, cf-lf, 2 1 0 0. Totals 21 3 4 0.

Western Dubuque  000 200 0 -  2  4  4
Jefferson               100 010 1 -  3  4  2
(No outs when winning run scored)

Kass and Ludwig. Rooney, Goodell (3), McCormick (5), Lehmkuhl (7) and Striegel. W - Lehmkuhl (1-0). L - Kass (4-3). 2B - Westhoff, Hollingsworth. SB - Unkel (25).

Burlington homers end J-Hawks' win streak

BURLINGTON - Devin Pflum's three-run home run highlighted Burlington's four-run fifth inning and carried the Grayhounds past Jefferson, 7-3, Saturday night in a non-conference baseball game at Wayne Duke Field.

The loss snapped Jefferson's four-game winning streak and dropped the J-Hawks to 13-22.

Burlington (16-14) took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on Kody Massner's two-run home run.

Jordan McCormick's home run leading off the top of the fourth inning cut the J-Hawks' deficit to 2-1.

McCormick's RBI single in the fifth inning tied the game and the J-Hawks took a 3-2 lead when Drew Striegel drew a bases-loaded walk. Striegel had four plate appearances but no official at-bats. He laid down two sacrifice bunts and walked twice.

The play of the game happened in the Burlington fifth.

Burlington had runners at first and third base when Massner bounced a grounder down the third-base line. The ball struck runner Brian Pflum, who was standing in fair territory on third base, then bounced past Jefferson third baseman Sam Techau, who was playing behind him.

The umpires allowed the ball to stay live and Pflum scored. Jefferson assistant coach Gordy Nordgren, filling in for Coach Mike Kuba who is away from the team for a few days while his daughter plays in an AAU basketball tournament, protested vehemently that the runner at third base should have been called out for interference. The umpires disagreed and allowed the run to stand.

Nordgren had a legitimate argument.

According to the Case Book, a publication that complements the rule book with rulings from game situations, the ruling in 8.4.2 situation K appears to cover the play. That ruling states that a runner is out, even if in contact with the base, if the runner interferes with a fielder's chance to make a play on a batted ball. Had the ball gone past a fielder before contacting the runner and no other fielder had a play on it, and the contact was deemed unintentional, the ball would have remained live.

The play was rendered irrelevant when the next batter, Devin Pflum, rocketed a three-run home run over the left-field wall for a 6-3 Burlington lead.

"The balls that went over the fence beat us," Nordgren said. "There's no excuses. They hit two home runs and that's what beat us.

"We were capable of coming back and we rallied. That's the positive. We didn't close the rally, but we didn't lay down."

The J-Hawks loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the seventh inning and had red-hot junior Sam Techau at the plate as the possible tying run. Burlington brought on sophomore southpaw Chanel Cordero, who struck out Techau swinging on a 3-2 fastball to end the game.

McCormick and Bailey Hollingsworth had two hits apiece for Jefferson. Tanner Unkel had the J-Hawks' only other hit. Unkel also recorded his 24th stolen base of the season.

Hollingsworth started at pitcher and limited Burlington to three hits over four innings. He walked three and struck out three. Alex Larson pitched the final two innings and was tagged with the loss.

Jefferson hosts Western Dubuque on Monday and Davenport North on Wednesday to close out the regular season. They play at Kennedy in a substate first-round game Friday.

JEFFERSON (3)
Tanner Unkel, 2b, 3 1 1 0, Michael Rooney, cf, 2 1 0 0, Alex Larson, dh-p, 4 0 0 0, Ky Kramer, ss, 0 0 0 0, Jordan McCormick, 1b, 3 1 2 2, Bailey Hollingsworth, p-lf, 2 0 2 0, Aaron Gruwell, cr, 0 0 0 0, Drew Striegel, c, 0 0 0 1, Drake Vanous, cr, 0 0 0 0, Sam Techau, 3b, 4 0 0 0, Jake Schmidt, rf, 3 0 0 0, Christian Knox, lf, 2 0 0 0, Chance Tiedtke, ss, 1 0 0 0. Totals 24 3 5 3.

BURLINGTON (7)
Chad Hatch, 2b, 4 0 0 0, Brian Pflum, p-ss, 4 1 2 0, Austin Shaver, 1b, 2 1 0 0, Jacob Falls, 1b, 1 1 1 0, Tanner Hartsock, p, 0 0 0 0, Chanel Cordero, p, 0 0 0 0, Kody Massner, ss-1b, 2 2 2 3, Devin Pflum, c, 3 1 2 3, Dylan Bouge, rf, 3 0 0 0, J.T. Vogel, 3b, 3 0 0 0, Austin Wagenhauser, lf, 2 1 2 0, Matt Patton, cf, 2 0 0 0. Totals 26 7 9 6.

Jefferson   000 120 0 - 3  5  0
Burlington  200 041 x - 7  9  0

Hollingsworth, Larson (5) and Striegel. B.Pflum, Hartsock (6), Cordero (7) and D.Pflum. W - B.Pflum. L-Larson. Sv-Cordero. 2B - B.Pflum, Wagenhauser. HR - McCormick, Massner, D.Pflum. SB - Unkel.

Senior moments in J-Hawks' sweep

Drake Vanous played on a national championship baseball team as a 13-year-old, but his high school career at Jefferson has not been quite as spectacular.

Vanous has played the outfield and been used as a courtesy runner during this, his senior season. But he had only 19 at-bats in 21 games before Friday night's doubleheader against Waterloo East.

Vanous was the designated hitter in the opening game as Jefferson Coach Mike Kuba got all nine of his seniors into the starting lineup on Senior Night at the Jefferson field.

"It was a nice opportunity for us to get everybody into the same game," Kuba said. "It's about the opportunity to create memories for the kids."

Vanous, who wrote on his notes card that was read between games that his greatest baseball memory was winning the national championship, created another memory in the opener, stroking a two-run opposite-field double in the J-Hawks' four-run fourth inning that wrapped up a 13-0 win. Jefferson (13-21, 10-16) also won the nightcap, 11-6.

"Yeah, I would have liked to have played a little bit more," Vanous said. "But it's been all right. This was a nice way to cap it off, I guess you'd say."

Vanous played with J-Hawk teammates Bailey Hollingsworth, Michael Rooney and Jordan McCormick on the 13-under team that won a national championship. While other youngsters may have scoffed at being a part-time player and dropped out of the sport, Vanous said he couldn't imagine not playing baseball.

"I play for the love the game," said Vanous, who will attend Kirkwood in the fall and study industrial tech with the goal of being an electrician. "I could never walk away from baseball. It's going to be tough walking away after this season. I've been playing with some of these guys over 10 years. It's going to be hard to see them leave."

Senior Hunter Scott also has been a part of the Jefferson program for five years. He got his first varsity start in left field Friday night. While he went 0-for-2 at the plate, he made a couple of catches on defense, including one where he nearly got spun around before employing a salsa dance move to straighten himself out and snare the ball.

"Ooh, it started tailing and so I had to keep switching around with my shoulders," Scott said of his catch. "I finally jumped up and kind of caught it like (Cubs outfield Alfonso) Soriano."

Kuba said he was glad to be able to get Scott on the field because of all the hard work he has put in over the years. Scott said he stuck it out and put in the time because of his love for the game.

"All my friends are on the team and I've played baseball since I was a little kid, so I can't just go up and quit," said Scott, who is going to Northern Iowa to study athletic training. "I had the mindset that I'd keep playing and keep getting better. Baseball is a great game to play."

The J-Hawks are getting better, just in time for the postseason. After getting blasted by Kennedy, 15-5, to start the week Monday they have run off four straight wins, including a 6-4 win at Kennedy. It is their longest winning streak of the season.

"I think things are going according to the plan that any coach would hope for the last two weeks of the season," Kuba said. "We took some leaps forward this week and the fear is whenever you take one or two leaps forward that you take two or three steps backward. We've done a pretty good job of not having that happen so far and the key has been being consistent. We're playing with confidence and our hitting if pretty contagious right now."

The J-Hawks had 24 hits in the doubleheader and recorded their third straight game reaching double digits in hits. They are batting .430 (46-for-107) with 20 extra-base hits over their past four games.

Hollingsworth swatted home runs in both games Friday, including a grand slam in the J-Hawks' nine-run outburst in the first inning of the opener.

"I don't think I've ever hit a grand slam," said Hollingsworth, who is 6-for-10 with a double, two home runs and eight RBIs over the last four games. "Their pitchers were throwing strikes and I was just waiting to see my pitch and jump on it."

Senior Tanner Unkel had a three-run home run to cap the scoring in the first inning of the opener. He was 5-for-6 in the doubleheader and was a home run shy of hitting for the cycle in the nightcap.

"Last inning I said, 'OK, I'm just going to swing for it with one pitch,' " said Unkel, who ended up walking. "It was a good hitting night for everybody."

Unkel finished the night with two doubles, a triple and a home run. He also made his first appearance on the mound. He pitched two-thirds of and inning and got rocked for three runs. But he struck out a batter on a nasty knuckleball.

"Those runs don't matter," Kuba said. "What mattered was seeing a kid get out there and make some memories. He won't remember those runs, but he will remember the strikeout he had."

Senior Jake Schmidt also had two hits and drove in three runs in the opener.

East (5-33, 2-24) managed only three hits in the opener off junior Chance Tiedtke, who walked three and struck out four.

Jefferson hit three home runs in the nightcap. Junior Christian Knox led off the bottom of the second with a home run that broke a 2-2 tie and two batters later Rooney ripped a two-run home run. Hollingsworth's home run came in a three-run fourth that increased Jeff's lead to 9-2 and the J-Hawks tacked on two more runs in the fifth for an 11-2 lead.

Jefferson has three non-conference games to close out the regular season. The J-Hawks play at Burlington Saturday night, then host Western Dubuque and Davenport North on Monday and Wednesday, respectively. They play at Kennedy in a substate first-round game July 15.

"We needed a night like this to come into next Friday night against Kennedy," Unkel said.

Game 1

WATERLOO EAST (0)
Bryce Frost, rf, 2 0 0 0, Cody Wilson, c, 2 0 0 0, Colton Rathe, lf, 1 0 0 0, Nate Sahr, dh-p, 1 0 0 0, Tyler Andreason, p, 0 0 0 0, John Magnuson, ss, 2 0 2 0, Nick Schutte, 1b, 1 0 0 0, Austin Berry, 2b, 2 0 1 0, Shawn Boehmer, 3b, 2 0 0 0, Jesse Billings, cf, 2 0 0 0. Totals 15 0 3 0.

JEFFERSON (13)
Tanner Unkel, 2b, 3 2 2 3, Michael Rooney, 1b, 2 2 1 0, Alex Larson, ss, 3 1 1 0, Jordan McCormick, 3b, 1 2 0 0, Bailey Hollingsworth, rf, 3 1 2 4, Drew Striegel, c, 3 0 1 0, Aaron Gruwell, cr, 0 1 0 0, Jake Schmidt, cf, 3 2 2 3, Drake Vanous, dh, 3 1 1 2, Chance Tiedtke, p, 0 0 0 0, Hunter Scott, lf, 2 1 0 0. Totals 23 13 10 12.

Waterloo East   000 00 -   0  3  1
Jefferson          900 4x - 13 10 1

Andreason, Sahr (1) and Wilson. Tiedtke and Striegel. W - Tiedtke (4-2). L - Andreason (0-3). 2B - Unkel (8), Schmidt (5), Vanous (2). HR - Unkel (4), Hollingsworth (3). SB - Rathe (20), Rooney (11).

Game 2

WATERLOO EAST (6)

Frost, rf, 3 0 0 0, Wilson, 2b-p, 4 1 2 0, Sahr, c, 3 1 2 1, Andreason, cr, 0 1 0 0, Rathe, 3b, 3 1 1 0, Magnuson, ss, 4 0 1 0, Joe Mnayer, 1b, 4 0 1 0, Berry, dh-2b, 2 1 0 0, Boehmer, p, 0 0 0 0, Billings, cf, 3 1 1 3, Schutte, lf,  2 0 0 1. Totals 28 6 8 5.

JEFFERSON (11)

Unkel, 2b-p, 3 2 3 1, Gruwell, cr-pr, 0 1 0 0, Rooney, cf, 4 2 2 2, Larson, ss, 2 0 1 1, McCormick, 1b-3b, 2 2 0 0, Hollingsworth, rf, 3 1 2 2, Striegel, c, 4 0 3 1, Vanous, cr, 0 2 0 0, Jordan Dee, p-1b, 2 0 1 1, Colten Jourdan, p, 0 0 0 0, Hunter Scott, cr, 0 0 0 0, Sam Techau, 3b-2b, 3 0 1 0, Christian Knox, lf, 4 1 1 1. Totals 27 11 14 9.

Waterloo East   020 003 1 -   6   8  3
Jefferson          231 320 x -  11 14 2

Boehmer, Wilson (4) and Sahr. Dee, Unkel (6), Jourdan (6) and Striegel. W - Dee (2-3). L - Boehmer (0-7). 2B - Unkel, Larson, Striegel 2. 3B - Unkel. HR - Billings (1), Rooney (3), Hollingsworth (4), Knox (2). SB - Wilson (8), Rooney (12).

Techau's 4 hits fuel J-Hawks

The glove was never the problem for Jefferson's Sam Techau, but the stick was a question mark in the early portion of the baseball season.

Now it's an exclamation point.

Techau went 4-for-4 with a pair of doubles to highlighlight Jefferson's 14-hit attack and the J-Hawks downed North Scott, 12-8, Wednesday night in a non-conference game at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

The J-Hawks (11-21) scored in all six innings they batted. Besides the 14 hits, they also were aided by five bases on balls, two hit batsmen and five North Scott errors.

Techau did not drive in any runs, but he scored twice.

"We've always had confidence in Sam's defense," Jefferson Coach Mike Kuba said. "But his bat has gotten better as the season has gone along.

"Good for him. He's a very hard worker. He's probably the last one to leave the (batting) cage area each game day and each practice. He's put in his time and it's really starting to pay off for him."

Techau just missed a home run in Tuesday night's 6-4 win at Kennedy when his long fly ball hit the top of the fence and bounced back into the field of play for a double.

He had solid singles his first two at-bats Wednesday, then crushed the ball over the left fielder's head twice for doubles.

"I've taken a lot of extra cuts off the tee (and) I've taken a few extra rounds in the cage," Techau said. "I've been working pretty hard at it."

Techau is the No. 9 hitter in the Jefferson batting order and he said he thinks that has worked to his advantage.

"They're pumping in fastballs. That's all they're feeding me," he said. "I think they think they can just blow it by me, but I don't think anyone can, really."

Techau was playing third base early in the season on a limited basis, mostly when Alex Larson was pitching. But when Kuba decided to shift Larson to shortstop, Techau stepped in and made the position his home.

"(Kuba) said he had confidence in me, so I don't really have to battle for my job," Techau said. "But I feel like I need to battle for my job. We have Larson and Ky (Kramer) and Chance (Tiedtke) who could go there, so I feel like I have to battle for it."

Four J-Hawks had multiple hits against North Scott. Drew Striegel had three, and Jake Schmidt and Tanner Unkel had two apiece. Unkel also swiped two bases, giving him 22 for the season. Streigel, Schmidt and Jordan McCormick drove in two runs apiece.

None of Striegel's three hits left the infield. He beat out a bunt single, laid down a squeeze bunt that went for a base-hit, then hit a slow roller that died in the infield grass in the direction of the second baseman.

Striegel's squeeze bunt pushed across the J-Hawks' first run in their two-run fourth inning and boosted their lead to 7-4. Striegel nearly tipped the play off, squaring around early enough for North Scott's catcher to spy Larson, who was sprinting home from third base. The pitch and Larson arrived at the plate at nearly the same time, and despite it being around his ankles, Striegel got his bat on it and tapped it down the third-base line, where there were no defenders.

"I turned a little bit too quick.," Striegel said. "I didn't expect (the pitcher) to go from the windup. I guess I just wasn't paying attention to that.

"But I think if I didn't get it down, Larson was still going to slide in safe because I saw him right next to me when I put the bunt down."

Michael Rooney was the winning pitcher. He threw 55 pitches and fell behind 4-1 over the first two innings, but threw only 41 pitches over the next four innings and allowed only one hit. Rooney tired in the seventh inning, when North Scott came back and scored four runs. Jordan McCormick got the final two outs.

"He seemed to settle in nice," Kuba said of Rooney. "But getting that lead back, being two runs up, four runs up and taking that mound each inning, that helps."

John Kinney had a double and a home run and drove in four runs for North Scott (21-11).

Jefferson closes out the Mississippi Valley Conference portion of its season Friday night with a home doubleheader against Waterloo East. The J-Hawks play non-conference single games Monday and Wednesday next week against Western Dubuque and Davenport North, respectively, before facing Kennedy again in a Class 4A substate tournament first round game July 15 at Kennedy.

"We are in need of wins and we have to put the best lineup out there that we can and get on a roll going into the postseason," Kuba said.

NORTH SCOTT (8)
Brock Brade, 2b, 2 1 1 0, Brandon Voss, c, 4 1 1 0, Ben Engler, cf, 3 1 2 1, Aaron Huber, ss, 3 1 1 0, Devin Guerrero, p, 2 0 1 1, Corey Greenleaf, cr, 0 0 0 0, Alex Grunder, p, 1 0 0 0, JD Pumphrey, 3b, 1 1 1 1, Brandon Engler, 3b-p, 3 0 0 0, Dyllin Gorsh, dh, 3 2 1 1, Tanner Johnson, rf, 0 0 0 0, John Kinney, 1b, 4 1 2 4, Matt McKinney, lf, 4 0 0 0. Totals 30 8 10 8.

JEFFERSON (12)
Tanner Unkel, 2b, 3 2 2 1, Michael Rooney, p-cf, 4 0 0 0, Alex Larson, ss, 3 2 1 1, Jordan McCormick, 1b-p, 2 2 1 2, Bailey Hollingsworth, dh, 2 1 1 1, Drake Vanous, lf, 0 0 0 0, Jordan Dee, cr-1b, 0 1 0 0, Drew Striegel, c, 4 0 3 2, Aaron Gruwell, cr, 0 1 0 0, Jake Schmidt, rf, 4 1 2 2, Christian Knox, cf-lf, 4 0 0 0, Sam Techau, 3b, 4 2 4 0. Totals 30 12 14 9.

North Scott   220 000 4 -  8  10  5
Jefferson       114 231 x - 12 14  0

Guerrero, Grunder (3), Br.Engler (5) and Voss. Rooney, McCormick (7) and Striegel. W - Rooney (3-4). L - Guerrero (1-3). 2B - Be.Engler, Gorsh, Kinney, McCormick, Hollingsworth, Techau 2. HR - Kinney (5). SB - Brade (24), Unkel 2 (22), Gruwell (2), Techau (1).