Jefferson Softball

Davidson's hit sends J-Hawks to regional final

The third time wasn't the charm for Waterloo East.

Kaitlyn Davidson's RBI single in the bottom of the fifth inning broke a 4-4 tie and sent seventh-ranked Jefferson past Waterloo East, 7-4, Monday night in a Class 4A regional semifinal tournament game at Jefferson.

Jefferson advances to Wednesday's regional final against the winner of the Marshalltown-West Des Moines Dowling. That game was postponed from Monday to Tuesday night. The game Wednesday is scheduled to be played at Marshalltown.

Jefferson (32-7) was playing East (19-21) for the third time in the past five days. Jefferson won a pair at East Thursday night. Monday's game also was the second time both teams got to try to figure out the others ace pitcher. Jefferson junior Hannah Petersen and East's Alyson Netty hooked up in pitchers duel in last Thursday's opener, won by the J-Hawks 2-1 in 10 innings. That game took nine innings for either team to score.

It appeared Monday that both teams had figured out each other's pitcher. Jefferson had eight hits, East seven.

“We knew what Netty would throw and they knew what Pete (Petersen) would throw,” Jefferson Coach Larry Niemeyer said. “It was kind of a standoff.”

Jefferson got on the board about as early as possible. After working the count to 3 balls, 2 strikes in the bottom of the first inning, J-hawk leadoff batter Rachel Sedlacek hit a laser over the right-field fence to give the J-Hawks a 1-0 lead.

Jefferson tacked on another in the third when Petersen laid down a sacrifice bunt that scored junior Kailey Drake, who had walked and swiped a pair of bases.

Waterloo East fought back in the fourth inning. Freshman Ashley Kubik hit a two-run home run to tie the game, 2-2.

Jefferson reclaimed the lead with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth. After a walk, a hit by batsman, and sacrifice bunt put runners on second and third, Drake beat out an infield single to drive home a run. Jefferson got their second run of the inning on an errant throw.

East knotted the score with two in the fifth. Netty tripled to drive home the first run and then scored on an RBI single from sophomore Kenzi Wroe.

The J-Hawks responded with three runs in the bottom half of the fifth. After a pair of singles and a walk loaded the bases, Davidson came through with what turned out to be the game-winning RBI on a single to left. Jefferson got two more runs on a throwing error.

“I knew I had to lay off the high pitch and get something out of the infield with the bases loaded,” Davidson said. “It (the pitch) was inside. I turned on it and kept my hands level.”

Petersen got out of a first and second situation in the sixth and cruised through the seventh to secure a spot in the regional finals.

WATERLOO EAST (4)
Katelyn Kinnetz, SS, 3 1 2 0, Alyson Netty, P, 4 1 1 1, Kelsey Rash, 1B, 3 0 1 0, Alison Nichols, pr, 0 1 0 0, Maggie Nichols, LF, 4 0 0 0, Ashley Kubik, C, 3 1 1 2, Kenzi Wroe, 3B, 4 0 2 1, Katie Henry, CF, 2 0 0 0, Jessica Kinnetz, ph, 1 0 0 0, Deanna Schmidt, 2B, 2 0 0 0, Meghan Thompson, DP, 3 0 0 0, Kelsey Kreiner, RF, 0 0 0 0. Totals 29 4 7 4.

JEFFERSON (7)
Rachel Sedlacek, LF, 4 1 1 1, Kailey Drake, CF, 3 1 1 1, Hannah Petersen, P, 3 0 0 1, Kenna Fry, 1B, 4 0 2 0, Ashley Madsen, pr, 0 1 0 0, Maddie Hanson, DP, 2 0 2 0, Hannah Towns, pr, 0 1 0 0, Carson Burgart, SS, 3 0 0 0, Amber Grimm, RF, 0 2 0 0, Kaitlyn Davidson, 2B, 2 1 2 1, Maddy Blietz, 3B, 1 0 0 0, Katie Naber, ph, 1 0 0 0, Nicole Marquart, C, 0 0 0 0. Totals 23 7 8 4.

Waterloo East 000 220 0 -  4  7  3
Jefferson        101 230 x -  7  8  1

Netty and Kubik. Petersen and Marquart. W – Petersen. L – Netty. 3B – Netty. HR – Kubik, Sedlacek. SB – Drake 2.

Larry Niemeyer has done everything but drive the bus

For a coach who never intended to devote his life to girls sports, Cedar Rapids Jefferson's Larry Niemeyer has done pretty well.

He not only has the most wins of any high school softball coach ever, but his lifetime record of 2,054-422 going into Monday night's substate home game with Waterloo East puts him more than 900 victories ahead of his nearest competitor, according to the national record book.

And as a girls basketball coach, his 861-328 mark ranks second in Iowa and 13th in the nation.

Those milestones span a 52-year career that began when the only teaching position he could land after college graduation in 1959 had girls coaching duties tacked on.

"I had an interview for a job in Geneseo, Ill., but I didn't get it," he says. "So I interviewed at Adel. The job there meant teaching six subjects and running the school newspaper.

"I wasn't really thinking about the coaching. But the job paid $4,000 a year, and they gave me an extra 200 bucks to coach girls basketball. I'd never even seen a girls basketball game (it was six-on-six then)."

Now a flourishing suburb of Des Moines, Adel back then was just a tiny dot on the map.

"I remember the first game I coached was against Valley of West Des Moines. I had cotton mouth so bad I couldn't talk," he says. "We were 2-17 that first year, then 5-15 the next year. After that, we never had a losing year in the 18 years I was at Adel."

Niemeyer also started the girls softball and track programs there.

"I went right from fall softball to cross country, to basketball, then track and summer softball. And I coached junior high sports. I did everything but drive a school bus."

His softball team at Adel won a state tournament when there was just one class, and he also won state titles in cross country and track. He's the only coach in high school history to win championships in four sports.

In 1978, Niemeyer moved onward and upward, taking on the challenge of reviving a downtrodden Jefferson girls program.

The 1993 J-Hawk girls basketball team, with oldest daughter Nancee as a star and sophomore daughter Noreen as a reserve, capped a 29-0 campaign with a state crown.

Jefferson claimed state titles in softball in 1983, 1997 and 1998. Niemeyer has been named National Coach of the Year in both softball and basketball. He's also in state and national Halls of Fame in the two sports.

But he's never coached a high school boys team, even though his only dream growing up was to be a major league pitcher for his beloved Chicago Cubs. He was born in Burlington, the son of a railroad man with an eighth grade education who started working at the age of 14 for seven cents an hour and rose to a high-level corporate job with the Burlington Northern railroad.

"My dad worked hard all his life," Niemeyer says. "I got my work ethic from him."

Niemeyer spent his high school years in Beardstown, Ill., and while still a sophomore took over as president of the local Little League and Babe Ruth baseball operations.

"I hired the umps, did the schedules, ran the concession stand and was the P.A. announcer," he recalls. "It gave me a taste of what it took to run a program, all the details that are involved."

A big, hard-throwing right-hander with a wicked curveball, he'd been scouted by the major leagues but blew out his arm through overuse in Legion ball and never signed a professional contract.

Still, while majoring in business at Western Illinois University, he spent summers living with his grandmother back in Burlington, working a night job with the railroad and spending his days coaching Babe Ruth baseball.

"The first year I got the players nobody else wanted," he says. "My second year, with those same players, we practiced all the time and won the league championship."

He found the same coaching principles worked just as well that fall at Adel, even with girls in a game he knew little about.

"Coaching has always been easy for me. Everybody is good at something, but some people never find it. I have a knack for coaching. It's what I do. It's the one thing I'm good at."

Although he has the reputation as a hard-nosed task master, Niemeyer says playing for him is simple.

"If you show up with a good attitude and do what you're supposed to do you'll be successful, whether it's softball or a job. I'm an old-school coach. I teach the fundamentals, and we practice them over and over.

"I don't yell at the girls or swear at them. They know what's expected of them and when they've done something wrong. So we work on it.

"I always felt kids respect rules and structure. They want to do things right. And my job, as a teacher or a coach, is to help them be the very best they can be."

While he's turned out dozens of all-staters and college-level athletes, Niemeyer says his role is a small part of the equation.

"In anything, you get out of it what you put into it. I think I can help make an average player a good player and a good player a great one. Some you just have to jump start."

It's a system and a philosophy that has become a family franchise and a Jefferson tradition. Daughters Nancee, Noreen and Natalie all starred on their dad's teams and have coached for him, as well. Son Nick is in his seventh year as head softball assistant and also helps his father with basketball.

Wife Gwen, meanwhile, who he met and married while at Adel, has dutifully attended sporting events year round, including annual treks to Cubs spring training camp.

As he approaches his 74th birthday in September and is hoping to get yet another highly-ranked softball team to the state tournament, Niemeyer says he's not sure how much longer he'll be working his magic.

He retired from the teaching business at Jefferson in the spring but is committed to coaching for at least one more year.

As he's been known to say, "Why don't people just leave me alone and let me coach."

J-Hawks' sweep delivers Valley crown

WATERLOO - The Jefferson J-Hawks softball team needed a sweep Thursday night at Waterloo East to hold off Dubuque Hempstead for the Valley Division title.

They got it.

After a thrilling 2-1, 10-inning win in the opener, the No. 7 J-Hawks (31-7, 22-3) sewed up the Valley title with a 6-1 win in the nightcap behind a strong performance from senior Katie Naber.

“It feels great to win our conference, but I was pitching well and enjoying it since it is possibly the last game I may play in,” said Naber, who likely will not pitch in the regional tournament series. “My main goal was to finish strong.”

Naber finished strong in game two, but the real excitement came in the J-Hawks' victory in the opener. The game was a preview of what could be a regional semifinal matchup on Monday at Jefferson.  Waterloo East (18-20, 13-12) hosts Cedar Rapids Washington (5-31, 3-23) in a first-round game Saturday. The winner of that game plays at Jefferson on Monday.

“They are a good team and we will just have to play J-Hawk softball on Monday,” Jefferson junior pitcher Hannah Petersen said.

Petersen went 10 strong innings for the J-Hawks in the opener, giving up just one run on six hits for the win. Trojans ace junior Alyson Netty went the complete 10 innings, giving up two unearned runs on six hits.

“It was not that tough (to go 10 innings) because early in the season I was pitching two games,” Petersen said. Naber was suspended for the first third of the season and Petersen pitched both ends of doubleheaders during her absence.

Jefferson had chances early in the opener but failed to capitalize in both the first and second innings.

In the first inning junior Kailey Drake singled with one out and then stole both second and third to put a runner 60 feet away with one out. Jefferson Coach Larry Niemeyer tried to push Drake across with a sacrifice bunt, but she was thrown out at the plate by Trojans junior first baseman Kelsey Rash. The J-Hawks also left two on in the second inning.

“We had chances early that we didn’t capitalize on,” said Niemeyer, who admitted he was concerned about the J-Hawks' inability to execute. “I have coached long enough to know that sometimes if you don’t score when you have the chance you aren’t going to.”

Fortunately for the J-Hawks, Petersen and the defense kept the Trojans off the scoreboard long enough to take advantage of some late opportunities.

The Trojans didn’t threaten until the sixth inning. Katelyn Kinnetz doubled to lead off the inning and Netty followed with a single that may have scored Kinnetz if not for a key defensive play by the J-Hawks' defense.

After Kinnetz's double, she attempted a steal of third base on a fake bunt and steal play. Jefferson junior shortstop Carson Burgart had to beat Kinnetz to third base to take the throw from senior catcher Nicole Marquart and make the tag. The throw was good and Burgart managed to slap the tag on Kinnetz for a big out. The J-Hawks did lose Burgart for the rest of the night to a minor injury in the collision at third.

“The throw was low but on target,” Burgart said. “We collided but I still got the out.”

The game was scoreless through eight innings. Jefferson tallied in the ninth when junior Hannah McInerney reached on an error and Naber pinch ran for her. Naber scored on a sacrifice fly by sophomore Kaitlyn Davidson.

“I just wanted to make contact and hit it to the right side because that is the best way for the runner to score,” Davidson said.

But the Trojans answered back in the bottom half of the ninth with a run of their own. Netty drew a walk and was singled in by freshman Ashley Kubik.

The game went to the 10th and again Jefferson scored. Drake singled and came around to score on an error, the J-Hawks' second unearned run in as many innings.

“A game that goes that long is usually decided by errors,” Niemeyer said.

The nightcap went a little easier for the J-Hawks, who scored three times in the first inning. After a pair of walks and an error that scored a run, eighth grader Maddie Hanson and McInerney each singled home a run.

“It always changes the complexion (of a game) if you can score early,” Niemeyer said.

The J-Hawks tacked on two more in the third on hits from junior Kenna Fry and Hanson, coupled with a passed ball and a RBI groundout from McInerney. Fry hit a solo shot in the fifth to add another for the J-Hawks.

“I knew I needed to help my team out anyway I could and putting the ball in play and I did that,” said Fry, who was 3-for-4 in game two. “The second pitcher didn’t hit her spots as well as the first and I could see the ball better.”

Waterloo East got its only run in the fourth when Kubik singled home Netty, who had singled to lead off the frame.

The early runs were plenty for Naber and a stingy Jefferson defense to take the nightcap and lock up the Valley Division title.

“Katie pitched real well, it is good to see her do that,” Niemeyer said.

GAME 1

JEFFERSON (2)
Rachel Sedlacek, LF, 5 0 0 0, Kailey Drake, CF, 5 1 2 0, Hannah Petersen, P, 3 0 0 0, Ashley Madsen, CF, 0 0 0 0, Katelyn Holub, cr, 0 0 0 0, Kenna Fry, 1B, 4 0 0 0, Maddie Hanson, DP, 5 0 1 0, Hannah Towns, pr, 0 0 0 0, Carson Burgart, SS, 2 0 1 0, Amber Grimm, ph, 1 0 0 0, Hannah McInerney, 3B, 1 0 0 0, Katie Naber, pr, 0 1 0 0, Maddie Koolbeck, RF, 2 0 0 0, Kaitlyn Davidson, 2B, 3 0 2 1, Maddy Blietz, 3B, 3 0 0 0, Nicole Marquart, C, 0 0 0 0. Totals 34 2 6 1.

WATERLOO EAST (1)
Katie Henry, CF, 5 0 1 0, Katelyn Kinnetz, SS, 3 0 1 0, Alyson Netty, P, 3 1 1 0, Kelsey Rash, 1B, 2 0 0 0, Maggie Nichols, LF, 4 0 0 0, Ashley Kubik, C, 4 0 1 1, Alison Nichols, cr, 0 0 0 0, Meghan Thompson, DP, 4 0 0 0, Kenzi Wroe, 3B, 3 0 1 0, Deanna Schmidt, 2B, 3 0 1 0, Meghan Frank, RF, 0  0 0 0. Totals 31 1 6 1.

Jefferson         000 000 001 1 - 2 6 0
Waterloo East  000 000 001 0 - 1 6 3

Petersen and Marquart. Netty and Kubik. W – Petersen. L – Netty. 2B – Kinnetz, Wroe, Schmidt. SB – Drake 3, Madsen.

GAME 2

JEFFERSON (6)

Rachel Sedlacek, LF, 3 1 2 0, Kailey Drake, CF, 4 0 0 0, Amber Grimm, RF, 3 1 0 0, Kenna Fry, 1B, 4 3 3 1, Dani Stromert, 1B, 0 0 0 0, Maddie Hanson, DP, 4 1 3 1, Hannah McInerney, 3B, 3 0 1 2, Kaitlyn Davidson, 2B, 4 0 1 0, Maddy Blietz, SS, 4 0 1 0, Nicole Marquart, C, 3 0 1 0, Ashley Madsen, cr, 0 0 0 0, Katie Naber, P, 0 0 0 0. Totals 32 6 12 4.

WATERLOO EAST (1)
Katie Henry, CF, 3 0 0 0, Katelyn Kinnetz, SS, 3 0 1 0, Alyson Netty, 1B, 3 1 1 0, Kelsey Rash, P, 3 0 1 0, Maggie Nichols, LF, 3 0 1 0, Ashley Kubik, C, 3 0 1 1, Alison Nichols, cr, 0 0 0 0, Kenzi Wroe, 3B, 3 0 1 0, Deanna Schmidt, 2B, 3 0 0 0, Kelsey Kreiner, 1 0 0 0. Totals 25 1 6 1.

Jefferson          302 010 0 -  6 12 1
Waterloo East   000 100 0  - 1  6 1

Naber and Marquart. Rash and Kubik. W – Naber. L – Rash. 2B – Hanson, Marquart. HR – Fry. SB – Sedlacek 2.

Petersen no-hits Wahlert; J-Hawks fall in nightcap

DUBUQUE -- Hannah Petersen has been good -- really good -- all season,  but Tuesday night she was better.

Petersen threw her first no-hitter of the season, striking out nine, in Jefferson's 11-0 five-inning shutout of Dubuque Wahlert in the opener of a Mississippi Valley Conference doubleheader. Wahlert won the second game, 4-2.

The split, coupled with Dubuque Hempstead's sweep of Waterloo West, narrowed the J-Hawks' lead over Hempstead to one-half game in the Valley Division with two games to play. Jefferson (29-7, 20-3) plays a doubleheader at Waterloo East (18-18, 13-10) Thursday. Hempstead (33-4, 20-4) hosts Linn-Mar (16-22, 9-15) in a doubleheader Thursday.

“It always feels good to throw a no hitter,” Petersen said. “I didn’t realize it (the no-hitter) until someone told me after the game.

“My team made some nice plays to help me earn that (no-hitter).”

Petersen’s perfect game was broken up in the second inning when she walked the Wahlert cleanup hitter to start the inning. Petersen quickly got out of the inning striking out the next three hitters.

Petersen gave up one more walk, the second coming in the fourth inning, and another runner reached on a J-Hawk error in the third inning.

The Jefferson offense helped Petersen out with two big innings, scoring six in the second and adding five more in the fourth to take an 11-0 lead and put the 10-run rule into effect.

The J-Hawks sent 10 batters to the plate in the second inning. Carson Burgart started the scoring with a two-run triple.

Jefferson again sent 10 hitters to the plate in the fourth inning, highlighted by three consecutive RBI singles by the top of the J-Hawk order (juniors Rachel Sedlacek, Kailey Drake, and Petersen).

The nightcap did not go as well for the J-Hawks. They looked far from a top tier team in a 4-2 loss.

Senior Katie Naber managed to scatter eight hits and gave up just three earned runners in a fairly well-pitched game. Naber still took the loss as the J-Hawk defense played abnormally shaky.

Despite only one J-Hawk error, the Jefferson defense struggled to make plays they routinely made in the past. The normally outstanding J-Hawk defense allowed multiple infield singles that came back to hurt them.

Wahlert (14-23, 8-16) first struck in the fourth inning when Kelli Koppes, Gabby Tath and Angel Moore all knocked in a run with two-out singles.

Ana Schmitt singled and scored again in the fifth when Jefferson third baseman Maddy Blietz kicked a slow ground ball with two outs, allowing Kaitlyn Burds to reach safely and a run to score to that gave Wahlert a 4-0 lead after five.

The J-Hawk offense was quiet until the sixth when Sedlacek doubled then scored on a throwing error to put Jefferson on the board. Junior Kenna Fry tacked on another run in the inning with a solo home run to right to put the game at 4-2.

Jefferson left runners on second on third in the seventh.

GAME 1

JEFFERSON (11)
Rachel Sedlacek, LF, 3 2 1 1, Kailey Drake, CF, 4 2 2 3, Ashley Madsen, CF, 1 0 0 0, Hannah Petersen, P, 3 0 2 2, Hannah Towns, cr, 0 0 0 0, Kenna Fry, 1B, 3 0 0 0, Dani Stromert, 1B, 0 0 0 0, Maddie Hanson, DP, 2 2 0 0, Maddie Koolbeck, RF, 3 0 1 0, Amber Grimm, RF, 0 0 0 0, Hannah McInerney, 3B, 3 1 2 1, Carson Burgart, SS, 3 2 1 2, Kaitlyn Davidson, 2B, 0 2 0 0, Nicole Marquart, C, 0 0 0 0. Totals 25 11 9 9.

DUBUQUE WAHLERT (0)
Megan Rokusek, 3B, 2 0 0 0, Ana Schmitt, 2B, 2 0 0 0, Maddy Nilles, SS, 2 0 0 0, Alex Bahl, C, 1 0 0 0, Holly Klein, cr, 0 0 0 0, Kaitlyn Burds, LF, 1 0 0 0, Erin Trannel, pr, 0 0 0 0, Kelli Koppes, RF, 2 0 0 0, Gabby Tath, 1B, 2 0 0 0, Angel Moore, DP, 2 0 0 0, Brittney Rogers, P, 2 0 0 0, Jesse Bahl, P, 0 0 0 0. Totals 16 0 0 0.

Jefferson 060 50 -  11  9  1
Wahlert   000 00 -   0  0  2
Petersen and Marquart. Rogers, J. Bahl (5) and A. Bahl. W – Petersen. L – Rogers. 2B – McInerney. 3B – Burgart.

GAME 2

JEFFERSON (2)
Rachel Sedlacek, LF, 4 1 1 0, Kailey Drake, CF, 4 0 1 0, Hannah Petersen, RF, 4 0 1 0, Kenna Fry, 3 1 2 1, Hannah Towns, pr, 0 0 0 0, Amber Grimm, DP, 1 0 1 0, Carson Burgart, SS, 2 0 1 0, Kaitlyn Davidson, 2B, 3 0 0 0, Katie Naber, P, 3 0 0 0, Maddy Blietz, 3B, 1 0 0 0, Maddie Koolbeck, ph, 1 0 0 0, Maddie Hanson, ph, 1 0 1 0, Nicole Marquart, C, 0 0 0 0. Totals 27 2 8 1.

DUBUQUE WAHLERT (4)
Megan Rokusek, 3B, 4 0 1 0, Ana Schmitt, 2B, 3 2 2 0, Maddy Nilles, SS, 2 0 0 0, Alex Bahl, C, 2 0 1 0, Holly Klein, cr, 0 1 0 0, Kaitlyn Burds, LF, 3 0 0 0, Kelli Koppes, RF, 3 1 1 1, Gabby Tath, P, 3 0 2 1, Jessica Link, cr, 0 0 0 0, Angel Moore, DP, 3 0 1 1, Brittney Rogers, 1B, 1 0 0 0, Erin Trannel, CF, 0 0 0 0. Totals 24 4 8 3.

Jefferson  000 002 0 -  2  8  1
Wahlert    000 310 x -  4  8  1
Naber and Marquart. Tath and A. Bahl. W – Tath. L – Naber. 2B – Sedlacek, Drake, Petersen. 3B – Tath. HR - Fry.