Metro Sports Report

Reuter tosses shutout as Coe sweeps

INDIANOLA - AJ Reuter tossed a four-hit shutout as Coe blanked Simpson, 3-0, in the first game of an Iowa Conference doubleheader in Indianola Friday.

The Kohawks took the second game, 9-2, to sweep the doubleheader.

The victories lifted Coe to 16-9 overall and 8-8 in the conference. Simpson fell to 6-17 overall and 2-10 in the league.

Reuter (2-1) struck out five batters and did not walk anyone in his shutout. The Kohawks got only four hits in the game themselves, but they pushed across two runs in the fifth inning and added another marker in the seventh. Michael Redmond scored two runs.

Michael Goerdt went 3-for-5 and drove in four runs for Coe in the nightcap. Craig Konrardy was 3-for-5 with two doubles and three runs scored. Cole Tomlinson had two hits and Alec Zwanziger scored two runs.

Kernels win 5th straight opener, 7-2

GENEVA, Ill. - The Cedar Rapids Kernels know how to begin a season in style.

The Kernels won their fifth straight opener Thursday night with a 7-2 victory over Kane County in a rain-delayed Midwest League game before 4,657 fans at Fifth Third Bank Ballpark.

The start of the game was delayed 70 minutes by rain, but it was worth waiting as the Kernels got strong pitching and timely hitting. Starter Mat Batts allowed one run in 5 2/3 inning and left the mound with a 3-1 lead. He was touched for just two hits with seven strikeouts and no walks. Batts retired 14 straight batters at one point and had 1-2-3 innings in the second, third, fourth and fifth innings. He struck out the side in the fifth.

Jared Wilson pitched 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief and got a hold. Cam Booser tossed the final two innings for the save.

Proud Jackson brings D3 Nation to Coe

Fred Jackson is getting ready for his 10th year as a running back with the Buffalo Bills in the NFL, but he'll always cherish his years as an NCAA Division III student-athlete at Coe.

That's why Jackson and his wife, Danielle, started the D3 Nation organization about six months ago. Danielle is also a former student-athlete at Coe and they wanted to promote Division III athletics on a national scale.

They appeared at Coe Thursday along with their four children and Patrick Jackson, Fred's twin brother who also played football at Coe and is involved with D3 Nation.

"You've got to remember where you came from," Fred Jackson said during a press conference at Eby Fieldhouse. "The whole point of starting D3 Nation is how proud I am of being a Division III athlete. I'll never forget that.

"Coming here (from Texas) is where I got started," he said. "I love to tell that story, and this is a great week to be able to tell it."

Granite, Larson healthy and ready to go

Zack Granite and Zack Larson are both promising young outfielders with the Cedar Rapids Kernels, but they both got hurt while playing here last year and missed a good chunk of the season.

They are back for the 2015 season, healthy and raring to go.

Granite, 22, played in only 21 games last year. Larson, 21, appeared in 41 contests. They spent more time on the Disabled List than in the lineup during the 140-game campaign.

It was basically a lost year and missed opportunity, but they can't worry about that now.

"I feel great," Granite said Tuesday. "I hurt my shoulder early in the season, and then I came back and I tore my quad. It was a really down year for me last year, but I had a really good off-season.