Metro Sports Report

4 Metro volleyball teams ranked again

There was little movement in the new high school volleyball rankings Thursday by the IGHSAU.

The Marion Indians stayed in the No. 2 spot in the Class 4A poll behind West Delaware. The Prairie Hawks remained No. 3 in Class 5A and the Kennedy Cougars stayed No. 5 in Class 5A.

The Linn-Mar Lions climbed two spots to No. 7 in Class 5A.

Bettendorf leads the 5A rankings, followed by Dowling.

Coe women ranked No. 9 in regional poll

The undefeated Coe women's soccer team has been ranked No. 9 in its region by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.

The Kohawks have an 8-0-1 record and have gotten off to the best start in school history. This is the first time the Kohawks have been ranked in the regional poll during Scott Myers' three years as head coach.

Four Iowa Conference schools are ranked in the region. Augsburg College is ranked No. 1.

Coe has scored 28 goals and surrendered just five. Jordan Holmes, Miranda Anderson and Kelsey Fauser lead the Kohawks with 11 points apiece. Holmes and Anderson both have five goals.

MJ Winterer has a 4-0 record in goal, with 28 saves and only two goals allowed. The Kohawks begin the Iowa Conference season Saturday at Luther, which is ranked No. 5 in the region.

"It's a shame,' Mauer says of ending

All of the players on the Cedar Rapids Kernels baseball team have dreams of playing in the Major Leagues and winning a World Series for the Minnesota Twins some day, but you'd be dead-wrong to think they didn't care deeply about winning a Midwest League title on their way up the ladder.

Several Kernels sat quietly in their dugout Monday night after they lost a heartbreaker to the West Michigan Whitecaps, 3-2, in the championship game of the Midwest League playoffs. Other Kernels were draped on the dugout fence, watching the Whitecaps celebrate on Perfect Game Field and then accept the championship trophy.

Two Kernels sat in the dirt near their bullpen, not ready to budge. Other players picked up their gear and filed slowly to the clubhouse for the last time in a season that began 149 games ago in April.

"We definitely cared," said 19-year-old shortstop Nick Gordon, a $3.85 million bonus baby who developed before our eyes this season. "Everybody went out there and gave their all."

Kernels brace for decisive Game 5

You wouldn't think 1,863 baseball fans could make so much noise at a ballpark, but the enthusiastic crowd at Veterans Memorial Stadium tried to will the Cedar Rapids Kernels to the Midwest League championship in the bottom of the ninth inning Sunday afternoon with their lungs and hearts.

Unfortunately for the Kernels, beat-up catcher Brian Navarreto struck out with the bases loaded and now Cedar Rapids will face West Michigan in the fifth and final game of the Midwest League finals at the stadium Monday night at 6:35.

The Whitecaps escaped Sunday, 2-1, after the Kernels wasted a prime opportunity to win their first league title since 1994.

The Kernels wore somber but determined expressions as they filed into the clubhouse after the game.

"Keep your heads up, boys. Keep your heads up," Manager Jake Mauer told them, trying to maintain their focus and enthusiasm for one more ballgame. "This is why we're here. Nine more innings tomorrow. Up, Up, Up!"

Navarreto, the hero of the Kernels' Game 4 victory Saturday, sat quietly in the corner of the locker room Sunday, his head down while he studied his cell phone. Navarreto got walloped by a pair of foul tips in the top of the eighth inning, once off his head and once off his shoulder, yet stayed in the game.