Metro Sports Report

Schebler wins Branch Rickey award

The Los Angeles Dodgers have named Scott Schebler the Branch Rickey Minor League Player of the Year in their organization.

Schebler, a Cedar Rapids Prairie graduate, hit .296 with 27 home runs and 91 RBIs for Rancho Cucamonga in the Class A California League.

Schebler, 22, ranked second in the league in home runs, second in slugging percentage (.581), third in triples (13), fourth in runs scored (95) and seventh in RBIs. He also stole 16 bases.

Junge, Sagers pace Saints to 3-peat

Ben Sagers clapped the loudest Monday when Xavier teammate Matt Junge was introduced as the MVC Valley Division Athlete of the Year for men's golf.

That's only fair, because last year Junge led the cheers when Sagers won the same award.

The Saints, blessed with back-to-back Athletes of the Year, captured their third straight MVC divisional title Monday with another solid round at Gardner Golf Course.

"We couldn't have written a script any better today," said delighted Xavier Coach Tim O'Brien, who was honored as the Valley Division Coach of the Year.

Cougars win MVC title by 70 shots

DUBUQUE - The Kennedy Cougars could have returned to The Meadows Golf Course Monday night after it got dark and kicked the ball around the course for a few hours and still won the Mississippi Division title this year.

The Cougars won the division title by a whopping 70 strokes Monday with a 54-hole total of 860. The Jefferson J-Hawks finished a distant second at 930.

Kennedy junior Davis Sutton claimed medalist honors with a 54-hole score of 203, topping teammate Conner Koberg by 12 shots.

Sievertsen getting his kicks at UNI

CEDAR FALLS - Tyler Sievertsen does not believe in jinxes, so it's OK to ask him about his incredible streak of kicking PATs for the University of Northern Iowa football team.

Sievertsen, an all-state kicker during his prep career at Kennedy High School, has been UNI's top place-kicker for the past three years and has piled up some incredible numbers.

"I'm aware of them. I don't think about them," he said Saturday night after the fifth-ranked Panthers drilled No.9 McNeese State, 41-6, in the UNI-Dome. "I know the extra-point one is coming up here."

Sievertsen, a fifth-year senior, kicked five PATs Saturday and is now 97 for 97 in his career. He went 39 for 39 in 2011, was 41 for 41 last year and is 17 for 17 this season.