Kennedy Baseball

J-Hawks stun Cougars behind Hollingsworth

Kennedy Coach Bret Hoyer cut straight to the point when asked the difference between the Cougars' 15-5 win Monday at Jefferson and their 6-4 loss to the J-Hawks Tuesday night at Kennedy.

"The pitching," Hoyer said. "(Bailey) Hollinsgworth is a good pitcher who threw well. Alex (Larson) is a good pitcher who didn't throw well. It's pretty simple."

Jefferson's Hollingsworth scattered six hits, allowed two home runs and did not strike out a batter Tuesday night against the Cougars. Yet he was dominant, mixing in fastballs and curves that kept the Kennedy hitters off-balance, resulting in 13 flyball outs, seven groundball outs and one line drive out.

"I was pitching to contact," said Hollingsworth (3-3), who came into the game with a 6.15 ERA yet has been the J-Hawks' most consistent pitcher over the past two weeks. "I wasn't too worried about striking anybody out and I let my defense do all the work. I got a lot of help from my fielders."

The J-Hawks (10-21, 8-16) were the beneficiaries of some friendly ground ball hops and made several exceptional plays. Right fielder Jake Schmidt hauled in a foul fly down the line for the second out in the bottom of the seventh, then raced into the right-center field gap and stretched out his 6-foot-4 frame to rob Griffin Michael of a possible game-tying double for the game's final out.

"At first I thought, 'Oh, no,' " Hollingsworth said of Michael's drive. "Then I saw Jake reach up with his really long arms and haul it in and it felt great."

While Hollingsworth and J-Hawk backers held their breath, Schmidt said he had a bead on the ball when it left the bat.

"I knew (Michael) was the kind of hitter that could hit it there, so I was kind of creeping over that way," Schmidt said. "I was just trying to sprint as hard as I could, hoping I could get there. If I had to lay out, I would have."

Another big difference in the game was the Jefferson offense, which got untracked Tuesday before the J-Hawks were down 15 runs. Tanner Unkel led off the game with a double, stole third and scored when catcher Jim Lizarraga fired the ball into left field for an error.

"Tanner got on and set the tone right away for us," Jefferson Coach Mike Kuba said. "We were able to catch them on their heels in the first inning."

Kennedy tied the game up in the bottom of the first on a two-out double steal, Terrell Sykes scoring from third after courtesy runner Josh Jahlas drew a throw to second base while stealing.

The J-Hawks reclaimed lead in the fourth inning on Hollingsworth's one-out RBI single.

Jefferson then tacked on four unearned runs in the sixth inning to take command of the game, 6-1. Michael Rooney singled leading off the inning and stole second base. He was still there two outs later when Hoyer decided to intentionally walk Hollingsworth. Schmidt came up and smashed a hard grounder off the glove of first baseman Logan Ambrosy for a run-scoring error. Colten Jourdan followed with an infield single that plated another run and Christian Knox smoked a two-run double to cap the rally.

"That infield single before the double probably hurt the most," Hoyer said.

Jourdan was batting for the first time in the game. Designated hitter Jordan Dee fanned his first two at-bats, so Jourdan batted against reliever Nick Appleget and found the hole between short and third.

"I about fell out of the batters box. I was pretty excited when I made contact," said Jourdan, who had only two hits in 11 at-bats and no RBIs coming into the game. "I had to step up. I don't get too many at-bats. I had to do something with it."

Knox's blow provided the winning margin.

"I had struck out and popped up before that, so I knew had to flush that, like the coach always says," Knox said. "It was my time and I had to take it."

Those runs proved crucial when the Cougars came back with three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. After retiring the first two batters on a pitch apiece, Hollingsworth left a fastball over the plate and Devon Jacobus took it the opposite way over the right-field wall for a home run. Cody Bell singled and David Yancey drove a ball over the center-field wall for a two-run home run that pulled the Cougars within 6-4.

"I missed my spot on David's and Devon, he earned his," Hollingsworth said.

That led to some seventh inning drama. Ambrosy singled leading off the inning. He was still at first two outs later when Austin Christensen, who has 15 home runs this season, was scheduled to hit. Jefferson pitching coach Gordy Nordgren visited Hollingsworth on the mound and asked him if he'd rather pitch to the lefty-swinging Christensen, or on-deck batter Michael, who was one of Hollingsworth's teammates growing up playing USSSA ball.

"He asked me and I said Christensen and he said, 'Too bad,' " Hollingsworth said.

"We were not going to let (Christensen) tie it," Kuba said of the strategy that brought potential winning run in Michael to the plate. "We knew he was the right man at the right time and we weren't going to allow that tonight."

The gambit paid off when Schmidt tracked down Michael's drive.

"Jake did a great job playing the gaps and the line," Kuba said. "He made two great plays for us right there at the end."

And Jefferson came away with its best win of what has been a disappointing season.

"It was a great seven innings of baseball," Kuba said.

"This was the defending state champ, you really can't get much bigger of a win than that," Hollingsworth said.

While Jefferson reveled in the win, Kennedy (26-8, 19-5) was left to lick its wounds. The Cougars' lead over Dubuque Wahlert for the Mississippi Division title was shaved to a half-game when the Golden Eagles beat Hempstead, 6-5, Tuesday night. Wahlert can move into a tie with a win at Hempstead Wednesday night. The conference season concludes Friday. Kennedy plays a doubleheader at Waterloo West and Wahlert hosts Xavier.

"We flush this one and we move on," Hoyer said. "We know we have to sweep Waterloo West for the conference championship. We know we're going to have to have a great effort - in both games. We can't count on Wahlert to lose. We have to win out."

Jefferson plays North Scott Wednesday night in a JV/varsity doubleheader at Veterans Memorial Stadium starting at 5 p.m. The J-Hawks close out the conference season Friday with a home doubleheader against Waterloo East.

Jefferson and Kennedy meet again a week from Friday in a Class 4A substate tournament first round game at Kennedy.

JEFFERSON (6)
Tanner Unkel, 2b, 3 1 1 0, Michael Rooney, cf, 4 1 2 0, Alex Larson, ss, 4 1 1 0, Jordan McCormick, 1b, 2 0 0 0, Bailey Hollingsworth, p, 2 0 1 1, Drake Vanous, cr, 0 1 0 0, Jake Schmidt, rf, 3 1 0 0, Jordan Dee, dh, 2 0 0 0, Colten Jourdan, c, Aaron Gruwell, cr, 0 1 0 0, Christian Knox, lf, 3 0 1 2, Sam Techau, 3b, 3 0 1 0. Totals 27 6 8 4.

KENNEDY (4)]
Terrell Sykes, 2b, 4 1 2 0, Austin Christensen, rf, 3 0 0 0, Griffin Michael, p-ss, 3 0 0 0, Josh Jahlas, cr, 0 0 0 0, Devon Jacobus, ss-3b, 3 1 1 1, Cody Bell, 3b-1b, 3 1 1 0, David Yancey, lf-p, 3 1 1 2, Matt Maiers, dh, 3 0 0 0, Jim Lizarraga, c, 0 0 0 0, Logan Ambrosy, 1b-lf, 3 0 1 0, Nick Appleget, p, 0 0 0 0, Austin Benson, cf, 3 0 0 0. Totals 28 4 6 3.

Jefferson   100 104 0 -  6  8  1
Kennedy    100 003 0 - 4  6  2

Hollingsworth and Jourdan. Michael, Appleget (6), Yancey (7) and Lizarraga. W - Hollingsworth (3-3). L- Michael (4-3). 2B - Unkel, Knox, Techau. HR - Jacobus (9), Yancey (5). SB - Unkel (20), Rooney (10), Jahlas (3).

No.7 Cougars give old buddy a rough time

Alex Larson wanted a chance to pitch against his friends and former Kennedy teammates Monday afternoon, but it was not a happy Fourth of July for Larson or the Jefferson J-Hawks.

Larson was chased early and the seventh-ranked Cougars pounded the J-Hawks, 15-5, in five innings at the Jefferson field.

Larson grew up in the Kennedy district and saw spot duty for the Cougars last summer when they won the Class 4A state title. His family moved into the Jefferson district and he elected to spend his senior year with the J-Hawks, although he would have been eligible at Kennedy High School as well.

Larson has played regularly at Jefferson this season and he welcomed the opportunity to pitch against Kennedy. Jefferson Coach Mike Kuba was happy to oblige.

"I actually told Coach I wanted the ball," Larson said. "I just wanted a shot at them."

The game began poorly for Larson and did not improve from there. He hit his friend, Terrell Sykes, with the second pitch of the game and then walked three straight batters. Before the first inning was over, the Cougars had scored three runs on no hits, four walks, two wild pitches and one hit batter.

Griffin Michael blasted a two-run homer off Larson in the second inning and Sykes chased Larson from the mound in the third inning with another two-run shot to make it 8-0.

"They're a really tough team to pitch against," Larson said. "They hit mistakes hard. You have to throw a perfect game, basically. They're a great team and hard to beat."

Kennedy kept scoring and grabbed a 15-0 bulge in the top of the fifth inning. Jefferson scored five runs in the bottom of the fifth, but that wasn't enough and the game ended by the 10-run rule.

The Cougars raised their records to 26-7 overall and 19-4 in the Mississippi Valley Conference as they chase a division title. The J-Hawks fell to 9-21 overall and 7-16.

Sykes went 3-for-3, drove in four runs and reached base five straight times. He was 2-for-2 against Larson and scored three runs against his old buddy.

Sykes, Larson and all the seniors at Kennedy played youth baseball together for the Junior Cougars, so this game was like playing against a member of your own family.

"It's a lot different. I grew up with him," Sykes said. "This was our last year all together, and he left us to try something different. Usually we're joking around and messing with him on the team, and now he's somewhere else."

Larson and Sykes had a chance to talk during the game when Larson reached second base as a runner.

"He said he hates pitching against us," Sykes remarked. "He's like, 'We can't make a mistake against you guys.' So it's tough for him, but he's on another team and he has to do what he has to do."

Kuba was glad Larson wanted to pitch against Kennedy.

"I'll take a pitcher with confidence wanting the ball any day of the week," Kuba said. "That's something he was ready for and he certainly wanted.

"Sure, there's going to be some jitters, and we knew that going into it. I think he was just trying to pitch too hard, trying to over-pitch the hitters. He knows those guys, and I think he was just forcing spots and really trying to keep the ball down."

Alex Hayden pitched four shutout innings for Kennedy. The J-Hawks reached him for five runs on five hits in the bottom of the fifth, but Zach Johnson came into pitch and got the final out.

Devon Jacobus went 3-for-3 with two doubles, continuing his hot hitting for the Cougars.

Kennedy and Jefferson play again Tuesday at approximately 7 p.m. at Kennedy in the second game of their MVC series. They'll meet again in a Class 4A substate game on July 15 at Kennedy.

"We have 11 days to really get better," Kuba said.

KENNEDY (15)
Sykes, 2b, 3 3 3 4. Christensen, rf, 4 1 1 1, Michael, ss, 3 3 1 2, Jacobus, 3b, 3 1 3 1, Bell, 1b, 3 2 1 0, Yancey, lf, 3 0 1 0, Ambrosy, dh, 3 2 0 1, Hayden, p, 0 0 0 0, Johnson, p, 0 0 0 0, Maiers, c, 4 0 2 1, Rhoades, cr, 0 1 0 0, Jahlas, cf, 4 2 1 1. Totals 30 15 13 11.

JEFFERSON (5)
Unkel, 2b, 3 1 1 1, Rooney, cf, 2 0 1 0, Larson, p/ss, 3 1 1 1, Vanous, cr, 0 0 0 0, McCormick, 1b, 3 0 0 0, Striegel, c, 2 0 0 1, Gruwell, cr, 0 1 0 0, Hollingsworth, rf, 3 0 2 1, Tiedtke, dh, 3 0 0 0, Kramer, ss, 0 0 0 0, Knox, lf, 2 1 1 0, Techau, 3b, 1 1 1 0. Totals 22 5 7 4.

Kennedy    323 25 - 15 13 1
Jefferson    000 00 - 5   7  1

Hayden, Johnson (5) and Maiers. Larson, Jourdan (3), Schmidt (5) and Striegel. W - Hayden. L - Larson. 2B - Christensen, Jacobus 2, Maiers, Techau. HR - Michael, Sykes. SB - Vanous, Gruwell.

Christensen sets record as Cougars sweep Wahlert

Austin Christensen climbed into the Kennedy High School record book in style Friday night.

Christensen tossed a one-hitter and became the winningest pitcher in school history as the No.5 Cougars blanked Dubuque Wahlert, 3-0, in the first game of a Mississippi Valley Conference doubleheader at Kennedy Field.

Kennedy won the second game, 11-1, in six innings behind a strong pitching performance by Adam Lloyd.

With the sweep, the Cougars climbed over Wahlert to the top of the Mississippi Division standings with an 18-4 record with four games left in the conference race. Wahlert fell to 17-5.

Christensen passed Danny Bales as the winningest pitcher in school history with his 27th victory. Bales compiled a 26-7 record from 2001-04, while Christensen is 27-6 since 2008.

Christensen is now the most prolific pitcher in school history and the most prolific hitter as well, with school records for single-season home runs, career home runs and career RBIs to complement his newest record for career victories.

"It's incredible. I don't know what to say, to be honest," Christensen remarked. "There have been so many good players to come through Kennedy, like I've said a million times. Kennedy has such a good tradition in baseball and to have my name up there is pretty awesome."

Kennedy Coach Bret Hoyer had one word to describe his star player. "Unique," the coach said, smiling broadly.

Christensen carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning, baffling Wahlert batters with his curveball, fastball and changeup. He got the first two outs in the sixth on ground balls, but pinch-hitter Brady Williams laced a double to right-center to foil the bid.

Incredibly, that double was the only ball to leave the infield all game against Christensen. He struck out 10 batters and walked two, but he picked both of those runners off base. He faced only 22 batters, one above the minimum.

"He's the best we've seen this year," Wahlert Coach Jerry Roling remarked. "He certainly was in control."

Kennedy scored an unearned run for a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth, then Devon Jacobus gave Christensen some breathing room when he socked a two-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the sixth for a 3-0 advantage.

"That's huge," Christensen said. "For any pitcher, that makes you relax a lot more when you're going out there. Him getting hot has really helped us a lot."

Jacobus hit his eighth homer, with most of them coming in the last few weeks.

Christensen, a 6-foot-4 lefty, is 6-0 with a 2.48 ERA this year, with 59 strikeouts and 12 walks in 36 2/3 innings.

Lloyd, another southpaw, gave up a leadoff single to Wahlert in the top of the first inning of the nightcap, but that was the only hit the Golden Eagles got against him. He carried the one-hitter into the top of the sixth and left the mound after surrendering a leadoff walk.

"Lloyd was tremendous," Hoyer said. "I'm really proud of him and very happy for him. That's a big boost of confidence for himself. They are an extremely good-hitting team."

Wahlert had a lusty .370 team batting average when the doubleheader began and was averaging 10.2 runs per game. But the Golden Eagles struggled against the Cougars, going a combined 4-for-42 in the twinbill for a team batting average of .095.

"It goes back to the old baseball adage, in my estimation," Roling said. "Good pitching stops good hitting."

Griffin Michael and Cody Bell hit two-run doubles in the nightcap for Kennedy. Josh Jahlas made it 11-1 in the bottom of sixth with an RBI single, ending the game on the 10-run rule.

"That was the best doubleheader we've played all year," Hoyer said.

Kennedy raised its overall record to 25-7 heading into Monday's single game at Jefferson at 2 p.m. Wahlert, which is ranked No.3 in Class 3A, fell to 26-7.

Christensen went 1-for-4 in the twinbill with three walks and a double. He's hitting .575 with 15 home runs and 43 RBIs.

Game 1

WAHLERT (0)
McCarron, ss, 3 0 0 0, Funke, lf, 3 0 0 0, Reimer, c, 3 0 0 0, Hoffmann, 3b, 3 0 0 0, Klostermann, 3b, 0 0 0 0, Brautigam, 1b, 1 0 0 0, Lange, pr, 0 0 0 0, Weber, dh, 2 0 0 0, Holmes, p, 0 0 0 0, Denlinger, cf, 2 0 0 0, Kann, rf, 1 0 0 0, Collins, 2b, 1 0 0 0, Williams, ph, 1 0 1 0. Totals 20 0 1 0.

KENNEDY (3)
Sykes, 2b, 3 0 2 0, Johnson, pr, 0 0 0 0, Christensen, p, 2 0 1 0, Hayden, cr, 0 0 0 0, Michael, ss, 3 0 0 0, Yancey, lf, 3 0 0 0, Bell, 1b, 3 0 1 0, Maiers, c, 3 1 0 0, Jacobus, 3b, 3 1 2 2, Jahlas, pr, 0 1 0 0, Ambrosy, rf, 2 0 1 0, Benson, cf, 2 0 0 0. Totals 24 3 7 2.

Wahlert     000 000 0 - 0 1 3
Kennedy    000 012 x - 3 7 1

Holmes and Reimer. Christensen and Maiers. W - Christensen. L - Holmes. 2B - Williams, Christensen, Bell. HR - Jacobus.

Game 2

WAHLERT (1)
McCarron, ss, 1 1 1 0, Funke, lf, 3 0 0 0, Reimer, c/2b, 3 0 1 0, Hoffmann, 3b, 3 0 1 1, Brautigam, 1b, 3 0 0 0, Weber, dh, 3 0 0 0, Schetgen, p, 0 0 0 0, Dietzel, rf, 0 0 0 0, Denlinger, cf, 2 0 0 0, Kann, rf/p, 2 0 0 0, Collins, 2b, 1 0 0 0, Klostermann, ph/c, 1 0 0 0. Totals 22 1 3 1.

KENNEDY (11)
Sykes, 2b, 3 1 1 0, Christensen, rf, 2 0 0 0, Michael, ss, 4 2 2 2, Yancey, lf/p, 4 3 2 1, Bell, 1b, 3 1 1 2, Jacobus, 3b, 1 1 1 0, Lizarraga, c, 3 1 1 1, Jahlas, cf, 3 1 1 1, Benson, dh, 3 1 0 0, Lloyd, p/lf, 0 0 0 0. Totals 26 11 9 7.

Wahlert    000 001 -   1 3 3
Kennedy   003 602 - 11 9 1

Schetgen, Kann (4) and Reimer, Klostermann (5). Lloyd, Yancey (6) and Lizarraga. W - Lloyd. L - Schetgen. 2B - Hoffmann, Michael, Yancey, Bell. SB - McCarron.

Bell helps Kennedy clinch No.1 seed for substate

IOWA CITY - Cedar Rapids Kennedy junior Cody Bell acknowledges that he sometimes has a problem with stepping in the bucket when he's at the plate.

In the second game of a doubleheader against Iowa City High on Wednesday night, Bell put that problem to rest.

Belting a home run and two doubles, Bell collected six RBIs and helped No.5 Kennedy take care of City High in five innings, 13-0, at Mercer Park.

City High won the opener, 6-5.

These games had substate implications. By gaining a split, Kennedy (23-7, 16-4) clinched the No.1 seed in Substate 3 when Xavier split its doubleheader with Dubuque Hempstead Wednesday.

Bell got his team on the board in the third inning of the nightcap when he launched an 0-2 pitch just fair over the left field wall.

“I closed my stance a little more and I was able to see the ball a lot better and was able to turn on it,” Bell said. “I was stepping a little more towards the pitcher instead of stepping out. I just got a couple pitches I could handle.”

Bell and his teammates sprayed the ball all over the field, smacking 17 hits in the five-inning game. The Cougars had seven consecutive hits in the fourth inning and scored five runs. Griffin Michael and Terrell Sykes each had three hits and every Cougar starter had at least one hit in Game 2.

“We have been scoring a lot of runs and hitting the ball well lately,” Kennedy Coach Bret Hoyer said. “We have scored 81 runs in our last eight games.”

Along with the Cougars' dominance at the plate in the nightcap, pitcher Alex Hayden gave up only three hits and held the Little Hawks scoreless in five innings. He struck out seven batters.

“We are trying to figure out who our third and fourth starters are and Hayden just made a good case for himself,” Hoyer said. “Alex was really good tonight.”

In the opener, City High (17-12, 10-10) prevailed on a walk-off RBI single by Josh Crosby in the bottom of the seventh. The Little Hawks outhit the Cougars, 11-5, and Hoyer attributed that to City High pitcher Connor Alberhasky.

“He is one of the best pitchers in the state, he made things really tough on us,” Hoyer said.

The Cougars left something to be desired in the field as well.

“We had six mistakes on defense in the first game and when somebody the caliber of Alberhasky is pitching against you, you can't afford to make that many mistakes,” Hoyer said.

The opener did not bring a win for Kennedy, but it did bring some history. Kennedy slugger Austin Christensen hit a two-run home run in the fifth inning, his 15th of the season to set a single-season record for the Cougars. Adam Rice hit 14 homers in 2006.

“That is a record I wasn’t sure was going to get broken. But it ended up not standing for very long at all,” Hoyer said.

Christensen went 2-for-6 in the twinbill and is hitting .580 (51 for 88) for the season, with 15 home runs and 43 RBIs.

Kennedy hosts Dubuque Wahlert on Friday for a doubleheader with big MVC Mississippi Division implications. Wahlert swept Washington Wednesday and holds a one-game lead over Kennedy with six to play.

Game 1

KENNEDY (5)
Sykes, 2b, 2 2 0 0, Christensen, rf, 2 2 1 2, Michael, ss, 4 0 0 0, Yancey, 4 1 1 0, Bell, 1b, 3 0 1 1, Maiers, c, 3 0 0 0, Jacobus, 3b, 3 0 2 1, Ambrosy, cf, 3 0 0 0, Benson, dh, 3 0 0 0, Appleget, p, 0 0 0 0. Totals 31 5 5 4.

CITY HIGH (6)
Hamm, 3b, 4 1 1 0, Duncan, cf, 4 0 0 0, Prybil, 1b, 3 2 2 1, Alberhasky, p, 3 1 2 0, Crosby, dh, 4 2 3 2, Mrstik, ss, 3 0 0 0, Wieland, 2b, 3 0 2 1, Hartley, lf, 3 0 0 1, Winegarden, rf, 3 0 1 1, Stika, c, 0 0 0 0. Totals 32 6 11 6.

Kennedy    200 021 0 - 5 5 3
City High  113 000 1 - 6 11 1

Appleget, Yancey (7) and Maiers. Alberhasky and Stika. W – Alberhasky  L – Yancey. 2B - Prybil. HR - Christensen. SB - Sykes, Yancey.

Game 2

KENNEDY (13)
Sykes, 2b, 4 3 3 2, Christensen, rf, 4 1 1 1, Michael, ss, 4 2 3 1, Yancey, lf, 3 3 1 1, Bell, 1b, 4 1 3 6, Jacobus, 3b, 4 0 2 0, Lizarraga, c, 4 0 1 0, Jahlas, cf, 4 1 1 0, Benson, dh, 3 2 2 0, Hayden, p, 0 0 0 0. Totals 35 13 17 11.

CITY HIGH (0)
Hamm, c, 3 0 0 0, Crosby, dh, 2 0 1 0, Prybil, 1b, 2 0 0 0, Alberhasky, ss, 2 0 0 0, Duncan, cf, 2 0 0 0, Mrstik, 3b, 2 0 1 0, Wieland, 2b, 2 0 0 0, Simpson, rf, 2 0 1 0, Stika, lf, 2 0 0 0. Totals 19 0 3 0.

Kennedy    004 54 - 13 17 0
City High    000 00 - 0 3 2

Hayden and Lizarraga. Hartley, Simpson (5) and Hamm. W – Hayden. L – Hartley. 2B - Michael, Yancey, Bell 2. 3B - Sykes. HR - Bell. SB- Sykes 3, Yancey, Benson.