Kennedy Baseball

Michael bats and pitches Cougars to win

Griffin Michael was bothered by a painful hand injury this spring and wasn't sure how much he'd be able to swing the bat for the Kennedy Cougars this season.

As it turns out, he's swinging quite well.

Michael slugged a grand slam and pitched a complete game Tuesday night as the top-ranked Cougars spanked Prairie, 12-2, in five innings in a Mississippi Valley Conference game at Kennedy.

Michael had a problem with the hamate bone on his left (non-throwing) hand, but the injury improved and he's been in the lineup all season. He's hitting .375 in the cleanup spot with 15 RBIs in 12 games.

"My swing has been pretty good lately," he said. "I'm a little disappointed in my defense so far, but the swing has been all right."

Michael is Kennedy's starting shortstop when he isn't pitching, but he's sprung a leak with nine errors already (including a throwing error from the mound Monday).

"Just a couple of early errors and it got a little bit in my head, but I'm good to go now," he said.

Read more...

Healthy Appleget helps Kennedy trim Prairie

Kennedy junior Nick Appleget wears a brace on his left knee and there's a certain amount of pain when he pitches, but he figures he can live with all that.

Appleget's had three knee operations in three years - two major, one minor - and he's just happy to be able to pitch for the top-ranked Cougars again.

Appleget tossed one scoreless inning in relief Monday night to help Kennedy top Prairie, 7-3, in a Mississippi Valley Conference game at Prairie.

"It feels good," he said. "Sitting on the bench is not my favorite thing."

Appleget allowed a leadoff single in the fifth inning, but retired the next three batters with a strikeout, fly ball and another strikeout.

Appleget tore his ACL in the fall of 2008 while playing for Kennedy's freshman football team and needed major surgery. He tore the ACL again, less than a year later, while playing in a fall baseball league and needed another major operation.

Read more...

No. 1 Cougars sweep Cedar Falls

Cedar Rapids Kennedy used strong hitting, effective pitching and tight defense to sweep a Mississippi Valley Conference doubleheader from Cedar Falls at Kennedy Friday night.

The top-ranked Cougars won the first game, 13-3, in five innings behind Austin Christensen (3-0). Kennedy took the nightcap, 9-0, with Alex Hayden and Nick Appleget combining for the shutout.

Devon Jacobus slugged a three-run homer for Kennedy (8-2, 3-1) in the first game. Jacobus, Terrell Sykes and David Yancey all had two hits. Yancey drove in two runs.

Cody Bell went 4-for-4 for the Cougars in the nightcap with a home run and four RBIs. Christensen hit a two-run homer, his sixth of the year. Logan Ambrosy and Austin Benson had two hits.

Hayden (3-0) pitched five innings in the second game with five strikeouts. Appleget pitched the final two innings and struck out four batters in his first appearance of the season following arthroscopic knee surgery.

Cedar Falls fell to 2-6 overall and 2-2 in the MVC.

Read more...

Rumpf beats Kennedy, 10 months too late

IOWA CITY - Ryan Rumpf knows he made a big mistake at the state baseball tournament last year and may have cost Iowa City West the Class 4A title against Kennedy.

He was supposed to pitch against the Cougars in the state finals, but he was suspended before the game and watched helplessly as Kennedy rolled to an 11-1 victory and the championship.

That's why Rumpf was so anxious to pitch against the top-ranked Cougars Tuesday night. Missing the state finals has gnawed at him for the last 10 months.

"Since that game ended, I marked this game on my calender," he said Tuesday. "This game was pretty big for me, to see where I'm at and to see what I could have done last year. This is the game I wanted to pitch for a long time."

Read more...