Metro Sports Report

Winker plans to resign as Xavier A.D.

Xavier High School Activities Director Mike Winker has announced he will resign from his position following the 2015-16 school year.

Winker has been Xavier’s only Activities Director since the school opened in 1998. He also served as the Athletic Director at Regis High School from 1993 to 1998. He began his career in Catholic education as a teacher in the Cedar Rapids Catholic schools in 1988.

“I have spent my entire career in Catholic Education as a teacher, coach and administrator," he said in a statement issued by Xavier. "It has been a vocation for me rather than a job. After 22 years as Activities Director, I felt the timing was right to explore other career opportunities.

"It has been an honor and a privilege to serve our students, parents and coaches during my time at Regis and Xavier. My youngest child, Luke, will graduate from Xavier in 2016. I felt the timing was right for me, my family and Xavier.

Peoria stops Kernels in 11 innings

The Peoria Chiefs clipped the Cedar Rapids Kernels, 5-3, in 11 innings Tuesday night in a Midwest League game at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

The Kernels saw their seven-game winning streak come to an end before a smattering of fans who stuck around to the end of the marathon contest that lasted 4 hours and 8 minutes.

There were fewer than 100 fans in the ballpark when the game ended at 10:45 p.m.

Max Murphy continued his hot hitting for the Kernels with two doubles and a two-run homer. It looked like Cedar Rapids was going to escape with a 3-2 victory, but a bad-hop single helped Peoria tie the game in the ninth inning and force extra innings.

Kernels starter Mat Batts was touched for two runs in four innings, but Kernels relief pitchers C.K. Irby, Michael Theofanopoulos and Cam Booser kept the Chiefs off the scoreboard until Peoria got that scratch run off Booser in the ninth.

Kernels clip Peoria for 7th straight

Cedar Rapids Kernels Manager Jake Mauer is a realist.

The Kernels are riding high right now with a 20-11 record and season-best seven game winning streak, but he knows at some point the Minnesota Twins are going to promote some of his best guys.

"I'm sure we'll get dismantled at some point," Mauer said Monday night. "It's inevitable, unfortunately."

The Kernels clipped Peoria, 3-1, before 1,627 fans at Veterans Memorial Stadium with more excellent pitching, good defense and a 410-foot home run to dead-center by Jorge Fernandez.

Mauer has compiled a 181-128 record in two-plus seasons in Cedar Rapids and is bidding for his third straight trip to the Midwest League playoffs, but he's been around the block a few times and knows the score. He's here to help develop players and move them along, not win pennants in the low minor leagues.

Rick Heller gives hope to entire state

Rick Heller has done a remarkable job for the University of Iowa in his brief two years with the baseball program, but he's done much more than boost the school's fortunes.

He's given us all hope.

If you live in Iowa and care about baseball, Heller's performance has given all of us reason to hope again that the state can have a top-notch Division I program.

Iowa State dropped its baseball program in 2001. Then the University of Northern Iowa pulled the plug on its program in 2009, ironically with Heller at the helm.

There was talk in recent years that the Hawkeyes might drop their baseball program as well, which would have stripped the state of its last fading hope at the Division I level.