Metro Sports Report

Lions, Hawks shine at Prairie Relays

Josh Evans has a small dilemma.

He's qualified for the Drake Relays in five events and could win all of them with a little help from his teammates in the relays, but he'll be limited to four races at the Blue Oval in Des Moines next week.

Those are the rules.

"We'll figure out what I'm going to run and what's going to be best to benefit the team," he said Tuesday after putting on another show at the 49th Prairie Hawkins Relays. "We'll figure all that out once everything is in."

Qualifying for the Drake Relays ends Thursday.

Kirkwood splits with No. 6 Heartland

Jamison Steege pitched a strong game for the Kirkwood Eagles Tuesday as they defeated No.6 Heartland, 3-1, in the second game of a doubleheader at Kirkwood.

Heartland won the first game, 13-11.

Steege allowed only two hits in 5.1 innings and struck out six batters for Kirkwood (19-11). Will Ross and Randy Perez finished the game in relief. Perez went 2-for-3 and got the save.

Angel Merced went 3-for-4 with a double, home run and five RBIs for the Eagles in the first game. Eric Schenck-Joblinske and Matt Paciello went 2-for-3.

The split left Heartland with a 24-6 record.

No. 5 Kirkwood enjoying another streak

The Kirkwood softball team won 50 straight games last season, a feat that might never happen again for the Eagles.

They're coming close, however.

Kirkwood swept a doubleheader from Muscatine Tuesday, 6-2 and 15-7, and has won 30 of its last 31 games this season.

Tara Walls went 3-for-4 for the fifth-ranked Eagles (42-5) in the first game. Lexi Quandt went 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Shy Saladino (18-0) pitched a complete game for the victory.

Walls and Quandt hit home runs for Kirkwood in the second game. Chasney Jenkins was 4-for-5. Walls went 2-for-5 with two RBIs. Brianna Farley was 2-for-4 with three RBIs. Quandt, Brooke Prior and Krysta Tutsch had two RBIs. Natalie Clark went 2-for-4.

Sam Belz (21-4) was the winning pitcher.

Kernels rally for 6th win in row

Mitch Garver was the designated hitter for the Cedar Rapids Kernels on Monday night, so he got to stay a little warmer than his teammates who had to play in the field on a frigid evening at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

Garver did everyone a favor in the bottom of the ninth, however, when his squib single with the bases loaded gave the Kernels their sixth straight victory with a 5-4 verdict over South Bend.

Nobody wanted to see extra innings with the temperature in the low 30s and the wind whipping from left to right. Thanks to Garver, the Kernels got out of the cold and into the heated clubhouse for a hearty meal.

It was nasty-cold on the field and for the announced crowd of 2,021, many of whom took advantage of special $1 tickets.

"That's a new low for me. That's the coldest it's been," said Garver. "I've seen a lot in Albuquerque (his hometown) and places I've played, but that's a new low."

The game last 3 hours and 7 minutes, but thanks to Garver and his teammates it did not last a minute longer.