Metro Sports Report

Saints trim Bettendorf in baseball

The Xavier Saints edged Bettendorf, 4-3, in a non-conference baseball game Wednesday night at Ken Charipar Field.

Nolan Arp had a clutch two-out, two-run double in the second inning for Xavier. Bryce Charipar hit a triple.

The Saints raised their record to 14-18 overall.

Bettendorf  000 010 2 - 3 7 0

Xavier         030 100 x - 4 8 2

W - Tvedt. L - Klutho.

Prairie clinches tie for softball title

Gabi Carter began playing for the Cedar Rapids Prairie softball team as an eighth grader in 2011 and experienced some lean times with the Hawks before Joe Yegge became the head coach three years ago.

Now a senior, Carter can truly appreciate what it feels like to win a Mississippi Valley Conference title after those early struggles.

Prairie clinched at least a tie for the Mississippi Division crown in the Mississippi Valley Conference Tuesday night by splitting a doubleheader with the Kennedy Cougars at Kennedy.

Prairie rallied for a 6-3 victory in the opener. Kennedy cruised in the nightcap, 10-0 in six innings, behind a two-hit shutout by Andrea McEachran.

The split left Prairie with a 16-8 record in the MVC with two games left in the regular season. Waterloo West split its twinbill with Jefferson Tuesday night and finished the conference campaign with a 16-10 record.

Konigsmark helps J-Hawks top Cougars

Tyler Konigsmark has turned his life around at Cedar Rapids Jefferson this year by buckling down in the classroom and taking care of his responsibilities on a daily basis.

As a result, he's helped the Jefferson baseball team climb to No. 2 in the Class 4A rankings and move within two victories of clinching its first Mississippi Valley Conference title in 10 years.

Konigsmark pitched five strong innings Tuesday night as the J-Hawks topped No. 8 Kennedy, 6-2, at Herkelman Field to sweep the two-game MVC series against the Cougars.

Jefferson has a two-game lead on Iowa City West in the Valley Division with four games left in the league campaign. The J-Hawks have an 18-4 record in the conference and Iowa City West is 16-6. Kennedy and Linn-Mar are still mathematically alive at 11-7, but longshots at this point.

J-Hawks, Hawks, Cougars get No. 1 seeds

The Jefferson J-Hawks, Prairie Hawks and Kennedy Cougars have drawn No. 1 seeds for the Class 4A substate baseball tournament that begins Friday, July 17 and need to win only two games to reach the state tournament.

Jefferson drew the No. 1 seed in Substate 4 and will host No. 6 seed North Scott in the opening round. Prairie is the No. 1 seed in Substate 6 and will host Washington in the opening round. Kennedy is the top seed in Substate 3 and will host Waterloo East in the opener.

Linn-Mar drew the No. 2 seed in Substate 3 and could face Kennedy in the substate finals. The Lions host Waterloo West in their substate opener.

There are eight substate tournaments with six teams apiece. All six teams in each substate will play an opening-round game. The highest remaining seed will get a bye in the second round and head straight to the substate finals.