Metro Sports Report

IGHSAU Hall of Famer joins softball league

Jaydn Spencer, one of the greatest high school softball players in state history, has joined the new Iowa Women's Softball League that will start later this month.

Sonya McCormick, an all-region selection from Iowa Central Community  College, also has joined the league. So have Stephanie Wehr and KyLeigh Becker, a pair of freshmen at Loras College.

Spencer helped the University of Alabama win the College World Series in 2012 and was inducted into the IGHSAU Hall of Fame in 2016 in recognition of her outstanding career at Waterloo West High School.

Spencer was a five-team all-state selection at Waterloo West and was  named the Gatorade Player of the Year as a senior in 2011. She hit .625 with 17 home runs that year and compiled a 25-9 record and 0.84 ERA as a pitcher with 384 strikeouts in 224 2/3 innings.

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Spencer hit 54 home runs in high school, which was a state record at the time. She is currently an academic athletic adviser at the University of Northern Iowa and will be a part-time player in the Iowa Women's Softball League due to a busy summer.

Kirkwood swept by Heartland

The Kirkwood baseball team finished the regular season with a pair of losses to Heartland Community College Monday at the Kirkwood field.

Heartland won the first game, 7-2, and captured the nightcap, 10-8.

The losses left Kirkwood with a 33-18 record heading into the regional tournament in Waterloo. The Eagles will face DMACC in the opening round Thursday at 3:30 p.m. at Riverfront Stadium.

Kirkwood had only two hits and committed five errors in the 7-2 loss in the first game Monday.

Lorenzo Elion and Ross Kramer hit home runs for the Eagles in the second game. Kramer, Colin Kreiter and Corbin Day had two hits. Spencer Wiskus drove in three runs and Day had two RBIs.

Kirkwood golfers claim regional title again

AMES - The Kirkwood men's golf team proved once again Sunday that it has the best program in Region XI.

The Eagles captured the regional title for the 13th time in the last 15 years with a 16-stroke victory at Veenker Memorial Golf Course in  Ames.

On top of that, Niall Powell became the 12th player from Kirkwood to claim the individual championship in the last 14 years. Powell is a freshman from England.

The Eagles finished the 36-hole tournament with a four-man total of 601, good for a 16-shot verdict over Iowa Central.

Powell fired a 1-under-par 71 Sunday to edge Wes Bantenbach of Iowa Central by one shot for the individual crown at 1-over 145.

Miller shines as Eagles sweep SCC

The Kirkwood Eagles needed a boost Saturday after dropping a pair of one-run games to 19th-ranked Southeastern Community College on the  final weekend of the regular season.

It was Miller time.

Austin Miller tossed a complete game as the Eagles trimmed the Blackhawks, 3-1, in the first game of their doubleheader to stop the bleeding and lift everyone's spirits.

Kirkwood then captured the second game, 9-5, to earn a split of the  fourth-game series and give themselves a heavy dose of momentum heading into the regional tournament in Waterloo.

Kirkwood and Southeastern began the weekend in a tie for first place  in the conference with 13-7 records, but they were only one game ahead  of NIACC and Iowa Central. As it turned out, NIACC and Iowa Central both swept their four-game series this weekend and tied for the conference title with 16-8 marks. Kirkwood and Southeastern tied for  third at 15-9.

Kirkwood drew the No. 4 seed in the regional tournament at Riverfront  Stadium in Waterloo and will meet No. 5 seed DMACC on Thursday at 3:30  p.m.

Miller, a 6-foot-7 right-hander from Iowa City West, had struggled on the mound the last few weeks, but he emerged as the stopper Saturday with a good fastball and nasty change-up.