Metro Sports Report

3 all-state players join softball league

Three more college softball players who received all-state honors in high school have joined the Iowa Women's Softball League for the 2018 campaign next summer.

Lexi Merritt, now a sophomore at Grand View University, was a two-time all-state selection during her prep career at West Des Moines Valley.

Maleah Georgen, a freshman at Luther, was an all-state catcher at West Delaware High School. And Katelyn Banning, a freshman at Indian Hills Community College, earned all-state laurels at Center Point-Urbana.

Nine players have joined the IWSL for next season with many more on the way. (CLICK HERE TO SEE COMPLETE LIST OF PLAYERS)

Merritt, a first baseman, hit .362 with five homers and 53 RBIs as a freshman at Grand View last season. She was named first team  all-conference in the Heart of America and was named the league's Gold Glove winner for first basemen. She also made the NAIA all-region team.

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Georgen hit .411 with two homers and 39 RBIs at West Delaware this season.

Banning, an outfielder and first baseman, hit .455 with 31 RBIs this season and helped the Stormin' Pointers finish third in the Class 3A  state tournament.

Goodfellow, Eagles share 2nd at Klocke golf

JD Goodfellow and the Kirkwood Eagles tied for second place at the Klocke Family Classic golf tournament at Hunters Ridge Sunday.

Goodfellow, a sophomore from Iowa City, finished at even-par 144 for the 36-hole tournament and shared second place in the individual standings with Ricky Sanders of Indian Hills.

Kirkwood tied Mount Mercy for second place in the team standings at  23-over 599. Kirkwood entered two teams in the tournament and its other squad finished fourth, just a shot behind the runners-up.

Julien Sale of Indian Hills claimed medalist honors at 6-under 138 and led his team to the championship by 16 shots.

George Appleseth of Kirkwood tied for fifth place at 2-over 146.

KCC golfers eye title at Klocke Classic

The Kirkwood men's golf team sits in second place after the first round of the Klocke Family Classic at Hunters Ridge.

Indian Hills leads the 16-team event at 5-over-par 293. Kirkwood is just two shots behind heading into the final round Sunday at 295.

Kirkwood has two teams in the tournament and its other team is tied  for fourth place at 299.

George Appleseth and JD Goodfellow of Kirkwood are tied for fourth  place after firing an opening round of 1-under 71. Niall Powell and Jake Sevcik of Kirkwood are tied for seventh at 1-over 73.

Julien Sale of Indian Hills and Matt Caulfield of Mount Mercy share the 18-hole lead at 3-under 69.

Gatwech sparks rally by No. 11 Eagles

The Kirkwood women's volleyball team was being blitzed by sixth-ranked Sauk Valley in the Kirkwood tournament Friday night when Coach Jill Williams plucked Nyadoar Gatwech off the end of the bench to see if she might be able to light a fire.

The 6-foot-3 freshman from Marshalltown, who had played briefly in only one match all season, helped turned the contest around.

The 11th-ranked Eagles rallied for a 15-25, 12-25, 25-18, 25-19, 18-16 victory after being thoroughly outplayed by Sauk Valley in the first two sets.

Gatwech entered the match in the third set and immediately made a big impact. She finished with five blocks and altered several other shots at key moments.

Williams said her impact was "huge."

"Their outside hitters had just been tearing us up," said Williams.  "They had to alter their shots and make some changes (with Gatwech on  the floor) because she does have more size. It gave us a spark, we  found our energy.