Metro Sports Report

Dear readers: Thanks for sticking with MSR

Most of you know that the Metro Sports Report nearly went out of business last spring due to financial problems.

We found a way to survive, thank goodness, and now here's the good news: Nearly half of our readers have stuck with us even though we had  to greatly curtail what we cover.

We finished 2016 with 489,406 page views, which is 47.1 percent of the page views we had in 2015 when we were covering just about every team in the Metro area of Cedar Rapids and Marion.

That's a remarkable number, considering that now we're focusing our attention on Xavier High School, Kirkwood Community College and the Iowa Valley baseball league, with weekly columns about the Iowa football team thrown in for good measure.

That's a far cry from when we were covering all of the Metro high schools, all three of the local colleges, the Kernels and the RoughRiders. We simply did not have the resources to continue that extensive coverage, but we're glad that nearly half of you have stayed  by our side and encouraged us to keep going.

Our financial situation is much brighter now and we're looking to bouncing back even further in 2017, especially when we officially launch the new Iowa Women's Softball League this summer.

Usher sparks No. 1 Eagles to title

EAST PEORIA, Ill. - Olivia Usher played one of the best games of her young college basketball career Friday and helped the top-ranked Kirkwood Eagles defeat No. 19 Illinois Central, 68-52, in the championship game of the Illinois Central tournament.

Usher, a freshman from Cedar Rapids Prairie, popped in four 3-pointers and led the Eagles with 14 points. She also collected five assists, five steals and four rebounds as Kirkwood raised its perfect record to  15-0.

Shaneequah Watkins contributed 11 points, three rebounds, three  steals, two assists and two blocks. Deleyah Harris furnished 10 points and six rebounds, while Tay Wilson pitched in with 10 points and five assists.

Harris, Wilson and Simone Goods were named to the all-tournament team.

Morgan Smith joins MSR softball league

The new Iowa Women's Softball League has added another talented player from the Quad Cities.

Morgan Smith, a former team captain and all-conference catcher at  Davenport North, has become the third player from the Quad Cities and the 27th overall to join the league.

Smith is currently a freshman at Southeastern Community College in West Burlington. She joins DoniRay Mayhew of Bettendorf and Lexi Ferrari of Rock Island Alleman as members of the Quad Cities connection. Mayhew and Ferrari are both at Kirkwood.

Smith was the starting catcher at Davenport North for five straight years, beginning as an eighth grader in 2012. She hit .379, .358 and .364 during her last three years in high school and also was a two-time selection to all-academic teams.

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The Iowa Women's Softball League has been created by the Metro Sports Report to give college players an opportunity to play in a competitive summer league. It's the only program of its kind in Iowa and is  gaining enrollment on a daily basis.

The league is open to anyone who is currently playing college softball in Iowa, as well as all Iowans who are competing at out-of-state schools.

Megan Kublik joins new MSR softball league

Another talented player from Kirkwood Community College has joined the new Iowa Women's Softball League that will begin play this summer.

Megan Kublik, a freshman outfielder from Wilton, is the eighth player from Kirkwood to join the league and the 26th player overall.

The other Kirkwood players in the program are Taylor Nearad, Maddie Hansen, Lexi Kinnaird, Morgan Frost, Lexi Ferrari, Monika Bevans and DoniRay Mayhew.

(CLICK HERE TO REGISTER)

Kublik was a three time all-state selection at Wilton High School in  2014, 2015 and 2016. She finished her prep career with 29 home runs and 124 RBIs and set several school records for round-trippers.

The Iowa Women's Softball League has been created by the Metro Sports Report to give collegiate players an opportunity to play in a competitive summer league and is the only program of its kind in Iowa.