Metro Sports Report

Pederson wins title; Caro sisters 2nd

BETTENDORF - Jessica Pedersen of Kennedy defeated Haley Bankson of Bettendorf, 6-2, 6-0, in the championship match of the Class 2A girls regional tennis tournament in Bettendorf Thursday.

Vale Caro and Magui Caro of Prairie reached the finals in doubles before losing a hard-fought match to Dana Waterman and Emilia Porbcin of Bettendorf, 6-2, 1-6, 7-6.

Pedersen and the Caro sisters advance to the state tournament June 5-6 in Ames.

Pedersen drew an opening-round bye as the No. 1 seed before winning a pair of 6-0, 6-0 verdicts in the quarterfinals and semifinals. She lost only two games all day while compiling a 36-2 mark.

Wash girls sweep singles, doubles

WATERLOO - The Cedar Rapids Washington girls tennis team dominated the Class 2A regional in Waterloo Thursday.

Hannah Sherman of Washington defeated Warrior teammate Kelly King, 6-1, 6-0, in the championship match at singles, with both players advancing to the state tournament June 5-6 in Ames.

Lilly Hartman and Rina Moore of Washington clipped Aubrey Grant and Dina Kajtazovic of Waterloo West, 6-3, 6-2, in the championship match at doubles to reach the state meet.

Cutting players is Mauer's toughest job

Cedar Rapids Kernels Manager Jake Mauer has learned to live with losses like Wednesday night's 9-4 setback to the Beloit Snappers, but it's what happened the day before that gave him a sleepless night.

Mauer had to tell catcher Bryan "BK" Santy and infielder Carlos Avila after Tuesday night's game that the Minnesota Twins organization had decided to give them their outright release from baseball.

Mauer has delivered bad news like that behind closed doors before, but that doesn't make it any easier.

"It's the worst part of the job, by far," he said after Wednesday's loss in the series finale before 1,886 fans at Veterans Memorial Stadium. "Santy and Avila played hard for us. They worked hard and did everything you asked. Sometimes it turns into a numbers game."

Santy, 23, joined the club April 18 after catcher Michael Quesada got hurt. Avila, 24, was summoned to Cedar Rapids May 14 as a replacement player.

The guys they replaced are healthy now, and the Kernels needed room on their roster when they decided to activate Jason Kanzler and Engelb Vielma from the Disabled List Wednesday.

No.2 Lions collect 12th shutout

IOWA CITY - The No.2 Linn-Mar girls soccer team raised its record to 13-0 Tuesday with a 3-0 whitewash of the Iowa City High Little Hawks in Iowa City.

It was Linn-Mar's 12th shutout of the season.

Lexi Frese, Claire Larson and Olivia Garcia scored goals for the Lions. Brooke Roberts had two assists and Jensen Sevening had another.