Metro Sports Report

Jenks named Gatorade Athlete of Year

CHICAGO - Linn-Mar High School freshman Stephanie Jenks has been named the 2012-13 Gatorade Iowa Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year, the company announced Wednesday.

The award is based on athletic excellence, academic achievement and exemplary character. Jenks is the first winner from Linn-Mar.

Jenks won state titles in the 1500 meter run and 3000 meter run this year. She also captured both events at the Drake Relays and was the state cross country champion last fall.

Jenks has a 4.02 GPA and is active in several school organizations.

MSR Special: Q&A with Melotakis, Hicks

Cedar Rapids Kernels pitcher Mason Melotakis and first baseman Dalton (DJ) Hicks are roommates this summer, sharing the same host family during their stay in Cedar Rapids.

Both men played major roles with the Kernels as the team qualified for the Midwest League playoffs by finishing second in the league’s Western Division during the first half of the season and both could be candidates for promotion at some point this summer.

Melotakis leads the Kernels pitching staff in wins with six and in innings pitched with 64 2/3. Those six wins are good for the fourth spot among Midwest League pitchers. The lefty has been perhaps the most consistently reliable member of the Kernels’ rotation in recent weeks.

Hicks has been one of the biggest power hitting threats in the Midwest League. He leads the Midwest League with 63 RBIs in 66 games for the Kernels and is third in the League with 12 home runs (just one home run behind co-leaders Renato Nunez of Beloit and Rock Shoulders of Kane County). He is one of eight Kernels who were named to the Midwest League's Western Division All-Star team.

Local players in pro baseball

SCOTT SCHEBLER (Prairie, Rancho Cucamonga (Dodgers)) - The Quakes did not play Wednesday. Season stats: G - 56, Avg. - .277, AB - 206, H - 57, HR - 9, RBI - 30, SB - 7.

KELLEN SWEENEY (Jefferson, Lansing (Blue Jays)) - The Lugnuts did not play Wednesday. Season stats: G - 56, Avg. - .191, AB - 183, H - 35, HR - 3, RBI - 14, SB - 0.

RYAN SWEENEY (Xavier, Chicago Cubs) - Started in center field Wednesday and was 0-for-3 in the Cubs' 4-1 loss to the Cardinals. Season stats: G - 35, Avg. - .300, AB - 80, H - 24, HR - 2, RBI - 7, SB - 0.

ANDREW HANSE (Linn-Mar, Hudson Valley (Rays)) -  Did not pitch Wednesday in the Renegades' 6-2 win over Aberdeen. Season stats: W - 0. L - 0. Sv - 0. ERA - 0.00. G - 1. IP - 2. H - 0. BB - 1. SO - 3.

Carter helps Prairie belt Cougars

Although she was hitting at a .424 clip going into Tuesday night’s twinbill at Kennedy, Prairie sophomore Gabi Carter says she’s been a little disappointed in her season.

“The beginning of the year I was struggling,” she said. “So I sat myself down and re-evaluated.

“I decided I wasn’t going to try to be the big home-run hitter and try to hit everything out. Instead, I just want to hit the ball hard and get on base and move my teammates on.”

Batting in the third spot, she did that and more as she almost single-handedly crushed the Cougars.

Carter clouted three two-run doubles in Prairie's 16-6 win in the opener and came back with another two-run double along with an RBI single in the 8-2 second game victory.