Metro Sports Report

Kirkwood baseball swept by No. 13 NIACC

The Kirkwood Eagles had little choice Saturday night.

They needed to go home, get warm and flush Saturday's double-header against NIACC from their system as soon as possible and get ready for a better performance on Sunday.

The 13th-ranked NIACC Trojans swept the Eagles, 8-1 and 16-5, in a chilly ICCAC conference twin-bill at Kirkwood.

"We have to flush it," said KCC Coach Todd Rima. "We don't have any other choice. We've got to move on and be better tomorrow."

Kirkwood and NIACC are scheduled for another double-header Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Kirkwood field, weather permitting.

"We've got to show up ready to go tomorrow," said Rima. "We're going to be a better team and we'll have to play well to win.

"Our guys will come ready to play. They'll respond," he vowed. "They've responded all year. There's no reason they won't do it tomorrow."

Grimm is no fairy tale for Eagles

Bryce Grimm has gone from being a part-time starter for the Kirkwood baseball team at the beginning of his freshman year in 2015 to one of the stars of the team this season as a sophomore.

Next year, the Xavier High School grad could be patrolling center field for an NCAA Division I ballclub at a four-year school.

Grimm continued to build on his solid campaign Tuesday as the Eagles split a non-conference doubleheader against Black Hawk College, winning the first game 11-9 and dropping the nightcap 10-2.

Grimm went 3-for-5 in the twin-bill with a home run, two walks and four runs, raising his batting average to .425 with two homers and 19 RBIs. He leads Kirkwood in hits, runs scored and batting average and ranks second in RBIs.

"Bryce Grimm has come so far," Kirkwood Coach Todd Rima said. "He wasn't playing every day (at the beginning of last year), but all he did was work. Now he's hitting with more power and driving in runs.

"He's as good a center-fielder as anybody in our league and in the midwest, I think. He's a Division I baseball player. There's no question in our mind that he can play at that level. We're going to find him a spot, because he's a great player.

Mengler shines for Eagles as Yegge wins 400th

Allie Mengler was an unexpected hero for the Kirkwood softball team Saturday and helped Coach Joe Yegge collect his 400th victory with the Eagles.

Mengler became the emergency starting pitcher in the second game of the doubleheader against DMACC and tossed a four-hit shutout against the fourth-ranked Bears in a clutch 10-0 victory.

DMACC blanked the sixth-ranked Eagles in the first game, 6-0, in the showdown of top-10 teams.

Nicky Simpson, one of Kirkwood's top pitchers, was warming up for the nightcap when a throw from the bullpen catcher hit her squarely in the mouth and knocked out two of her front teeth, sending her to the hospital for treatment.

Mengler, who had pitched only 7 1/3 innings all season, stepped into the void and handcuffed DMACC with pinpoint control despite not having much time to mentally prepare for the game.

"It was definitely weird," she said. "I've never been in that situation before."

Healthy Butz delivers for Kirkwood

Tyler Butz was playing catch before the first game of the season for the Kirkwood Eagles last year in Kansas when he felt a sharp pain in his right elbow.

He played anyway that day and appeared in a few games after that on Kirkwood's spring trip to Florida, but an MRI revealed that he'd torn the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his elbow and needed surgery.

Butz, a Cedar Rapids Prairie grad, was granted a medical red-shirt for the 2015 campaign and returned this season as a third-year sophomore to try and resurrect his baseball career.

Butz and the Eagles are sure glad he did.

Butz delivered a two-out, two-run double in the bottom of the seventh inning Saturday to give Kirkwood a 4-3 victory over Ellsworth in the first game of an ICCAC conference double-header at the Kirkwood field.

The Eagles won the second game, 7-3, in the conference opener.