Metro Sports Report

Coe softball team sweeps Dubuque

DUBUQUE — Maddison Woodruff and Arran Weeces tossed four-hitters Saturday as the Coe softball team swept a doubleheader from the University of Dubuque in Dubuque.

Woodruff (12-1) pitched a four-hitter with five strikeouts in a 3-2 victory in the first game, then Weeces followed suit with another four-hitter with five strikeouts in a 4-1 triumph in the second contest.

Danielle Schlotterbeck drove in two runs for the Kohawks (22-3, 4-0) in the first game. Nicole Gentile scored twice and Abby Flannagan was 2-for-4.

Schlotterbeck went 2-for-4 in the second game and Gentile scored two more runs.

Dubuque fell to 15-7 overall and 2-2 in the conference.

RoughRiders fall, but gain playoff edge

The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders were losers AND winners Friday night.

The RoughRiders lost to Waterloo, 5-1, before 4,009 fans at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena, but the Riders secured the home-ice advantage for the first round of the USHL playoffs anyway.

The night had a somewhat happy ending for the RoughRiders because the Dubuque Fighting Saints lost to Youngstown, 3-1, ending the battle for second place in the Eastern Conference standings between Cedar Rapids and their rivals from Dubuque.

Friday's outcome means Cedar Rapids will finish second in the Eastern Conference and Dubuque will finish third, which means the RoughRiders will have the home-ice advantage when they meet the Fighting Saints in the opening round of the playoffs.

Sommer twins commit to Wartburg

The multi-talented Sommer twins - Katie and Kristie - have committed to Wartburg College to play basketball and softball, Katie Sommer told the Metro Sports Report Friday afternoon.

"We just committed to Wartburg!," she reported in an e-mail.

Katie Sommer was a first team all-state selection in softball last summer and was a third team all-state pick in basketball this winter. She also was named first team all-Metro and first team all-Mississippi Valley Conference in basketball.

Haar's walk-off homer warms up Kernels

Bryan Haar gave the Cedar Rapids Kernels a warm, happy feeling on a cold, miserable night at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Cedar Rapids on Thursday.

Haar belted a towering walk-off home run into the fog and mist in the bottom of the 10th inning to give Cedar Rapids a 4-3 victory over Clinton in the season opener before about 50 brave fans who stuck around to the end.

Haar, from San Diego, had never played in rotten conditions like this. "Not this cold," he said in the warm clubhouse.

The air temperature was about 40, but there was a 19 mph wind that blew the mist sideways — from right field to left field —  and made it feel like winter.

The Kernels wore their newly issued parkas and huddled around a giant heater in the dugout to try to stay as warm as possible. Several fielders wore special face gear that covered their ears and chins and left only their eyes and nose exposed to the weather.

"It was tough," said Haar. "It was cold."

The Kernels won despite committing five errors, all on errant throws by third baseman Logan Wade and shortstop Engelb Vielma.