Metro Sports Report

Vielma swings hot bat for Kernels

Engelb Vielma was barely 17 years old and living in Venezuela when he signed his first pro contract with the Minnesota Twins organization as a non-drafted free agent in 2011.

"He's a lot bigger now," said Twins General Manager Terry Ryan, who is in Cedar Rapids this week watching the Kernels. "We first saw him when he was 15. He looked like he was 12."

Vielma is still only 19, a slender middle infielder with good quickness and good hands, and he flashed a good bat Friday night.

Vielma went 4-for-4 and drove in four runs as the Kernels rallied to defeat Wisconsin, 10-5, before a season-high 3,749 fans on Star Wars Night at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

Vielma, fraom Maracaibo, Venezuela, is still growing into his body at 5-foot-11 and 157 pounds,and he's still working on his English after speaking Spanish his entire life.

Enzugusi's goal lifts No. 4 Lions

The Linn-Mar Lions battled a few nagging injuries, a zillion nagging gnats and the Dubuque Hempstead Mustangs in the semifinals of the Class 3Asubstate soccer tournament at Linn-Mar Stadium Thursday evening.

The fourth-ranked Lions survived it all, 1-0.

Leroy Enzugusi got a perfect feed from Ben Johnson and scored the only goal with 33 minutes, 27 seconds left in the game.

Linn-Mar will host No. 9 Bettendorf in the substate finals Saturday at noon, with the winner advancing to the state tournament.

Daniel Luzindya and Enzugusi, two of Linn-Mar's top weapons, were never on the field at the same time Thursday as Coach Corey Brinkmeyer tried to nurse them through the game without compounding minor ailments.

The strategy worked as the Lions survived and advanced to the next round despite not being at full strength.

Anderson, McCann reach state semis

Brady Anderson and Trevor McCann of Linn-Mar sailed into the semifinals of the Class 2A state tennis tournament Friday with a pair of convincing victories in doubles at the Veterans Memorial Tennis Center in Cedar Rapids.

Anderson and McCann, seeded No.4, defeated Trey Van Hemert and Stan Freilinger of Muscatine, 6-1, 6-1, in the opening round. The Lions topped Austin LaVelle and Grant Wright of Norwalk, 6-1, 6-0, in the quarterfinals. Anderson and McCann will face Adam Dellos and Trent Schneider of Iowa City West, the No.1 seed, in the semifinals Saturday at 10 a.m.

David DiLeo and Karl Wenzel of Iowa City West will meet Brennan Ashwood and Vineel Mallavarapa of Cedar Falls in the other semifinal at Class 2A doubles. The championship match is scheduled for 2 p.m.

No. 2 Lions trip No. 1 Bettendorf in OT

BETTENDORF - Olivia Garcia scored on a penalty kick in overtime Thursday as No. 2  Linn-Mar bumped off top-ranked Bettendorf, 3-2, in a showdown of the top girls soccer teams in the state.

The Lions raised their glittering record to 16-0.

Bettendorf took an early 2-0 lead, but Linn-Mar pulled within 2-1 in the first half on a goal by Garcia. Jensen Sevening earned an assist on that goal that got the Lions back in the game.

In the second half, Sophie Master served a ball for Linn-Mar that the Bettendorf goal-keeper misjudged. The ball bounced over the keeper's head and into the goal for a 2-2 tie.

In the overtime period, Claire Larson was fouled in the box to give Linn-Mar a penalty kick from close range. Garcia connected for the victory.