Metro Sports Report

4 Metro teams make baseball rankings

Cedar Rapids Prairie jumped into the prep baseball rankings Monday by the Iowa Baseball Coaches Association, putting four Metro teams in the Class 4A rankings for the first time this season.

The Jefferson J-Hawks are ranked No. 4, Linn-Mar is No. 7, Prairie is No. 8 and Kennedy has fallen to No. 10 after beginning the year in the No. 1 spot in the poll.

Three Central Iowa teams top the Class 4A charts with Johnston, Waukee and Southeast Polk ranked 1-2-3.

The Xavier Saints dropped out of the Class 3A rankings.

CLASS 4A

1. Johnston, 2. Waukee, 3. Southeast Polk, 4. Jefferson, 5. Dowling, 6. Sioux City East, 7. Linn-Mar, 8. Prairie, 9. Iowa City West, 10. Kennedy.

CLASS 3A

1. Davenport Assumption, 2. Pella, 3. West Delaware, 4. Sioux City Heelan, 5. Harlan, 6. Knoxville, 7. Gilbert, 8. Waverly-Shell Rock, 9. Fairfield, 10. Williamsburg.

Doe makes big impact with Kernels

Brett Doe did not make the trip north to Cedar Rapids out of spring training with his friends and teammates when they broke camp to start the 2015 baseball season, a fact that was “pretty disheartening,” Doe said Saturday.

A couple of weeks into the season, however, Doe got the call to join the Kernels when Jorge Fernandez went on the Disabled List with a concussion.

Since then, Doe has hit .333 and has stepped in to make a critical contribution to the Kernels’ offense as they attempt to zero in on a top-two finish in the Midwest League’s Western Division first-half standings and the postseason berth that comes with it.

The Kernels took a step in the right direction Saturday night with a 3-1 victory over Lansing at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

Doe has made an important contribution to the Kernels since joining the club.

Kernels drop marathon twinbill to Loons

The Cedar Rapids Kernels put themselves through six hours of misery Friday night and early Saturday morning.

The Kernels dropped both ends of a doubleheader to the Great Lakes Loons and both games went into extra innings on a cool, soggy night at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

The Loons won the first game, 4-3, in 13 innings and they captured the second game, 3-1, in eight innings.

Both contests were supposed to last seven innings, but neither team could muster enough offense during regulation.

The Midwest League doubleheader began at 5:33 p.m. Friday and ended just a few minutes shy of 12:30 a.m. Saturday.

Cougars trimmed by Johnston at state

DES MOINES - Magic one year, heartbreak the next.

That was the story for the Kennedy girls soccer team at the Class 3A state tournament Thursday at Cownie Park.

Last year, the Cinderella Cougars wore the glass slipper and claimed the state crown with three impressive wins in a row.

This year, the Cougars lost to a team they beat less than three weeks ago in the quarterfinals of the state tournament on a wet day in Des Moines.