Metro Sports Report

New-look J-Hawks split with Saints

Kyle Rodenkirk spent two long years as the head baseball coach at Anamosa High School where he was saddled with a 12-65 record, then he took over the Jefferson J-Hawks last season and came home with a 12-27 mark at his alma mater.

That left his overall record as a head coach at 24-92, which is nothing to brag about.

"A couple of years ago I was like, 'Man, am I just a bad coach?'" he said Monday night.

The answer, of course, is no. Rodenkirk is not a bad coach and the J-Hawks have been proving it this season.

Jefferson rallied for four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to clip Xavier, 6-5, in the first game of a Mississippi Valley Conference doubleheader at Jefferson Monday.

Kernels limp to 31-39 for first half

The Cedar Rapids Kernels ended the first half of their Midwest League season with an all too typical 13-3 loss to Burlington Sunday afternoon before 2,999 fans at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

"I would say so,” Kernels Manager Jake Mauer said. “Our starter doesn’t get through the fourth (inning), we battled back to make it a game, and unfortunately, our bullpen has had a tough go.

"That’s how it's been. Our starters' ERA has been pretty high.”

The Kernels went 31-39 in their first 70 games, placing sixth in the Western Division of the Midwest League, 14 games behind Kane County.

Pitching has been the problem, and Sunday the Bees blasted 19 hits and plated 13 runs.

Keller gets $1 million from Pirates

Mitch Keller has received a $1 million signing bonus from the Pittsburgh Pirates, according to baseball writer Jim Callis of MLB.com and other published reports.

Keller, 18, was selected in the second round of the 2014 draft by the Pirates with the 64th overall pick.

The "slotted" bonus money for the No.64 pick, established by Major League Baseball, is $886,800. That means the Pirates gave Keller an extra $113,200 to reach $1 million.

All-Star Stewart shines for Kernels

Cedar Rapids Kernels pitcher Kohl Stewart tuned up for his upcoming Midwest League All-Star Game appearance Saturday night with four shutout innings of work in front of 3,765 fans on “Iowa State Night” at Veterans Memorial Stadium, where Cedar Rapids topped the Burlington Bees 7-6 on a walk-off throwing error by Bees pitcher Ben Carlson.

Originally scheduled to start the final game of the first half of the season on Sunday, Stewart had his start moved up a day so he’d be able to pitch in the All-Star Game.

Stewart was the Minnesota Twins’ first round draft choice a year ago and is among the most highly rated players in the Twins organization.

“He’s been on a pitch count all year, so we believed that in order for him to represent the Kernels and represent the Minnesota Twins and enjoy his time in the All-Star Game, he needed to be ready to pitch,” explained pitching coach Ivan Arteaga afterward. “We didn’t feel comfortable having him pitch on one day’s rest.”