Metro Sports Report

Bruised bodies, bruised egos

That was no powder puff, paddy-cake old coots’ football being played Saturday night at Kingston Stadium.

Big and burly Jordan Forkner, an all-state lineman for Marion High in 2003, was knocked out of the evening’s opener against the alumni team from Linn-Mar with a dislocated shoulder.

Former fellow Indian Chad Turner had hobbled off earlier with a severely twisted ankle.

And play barely started in the nightcap between Kennedy and Jefferson when Nelson Evans, expected to be a force in the middle of the line for the J-Hawks at the age of 36, was sent to the hospital on a hard hit that blew out his knee.

Otherwise, the only apparent injuries were bruised egos for the Marion guys who lost to the Lions, 28-18, and the Boys of Blue who dropped a nail-biter to the Cougars, 17-13.

Big mist-spraying fans and giant jugs of water kept the rest of the players upright and hydrated on a muggy night.

But it was clearly not playtime for the faint-of-heart or the out-of-shape.

The only one of 125-or-so alums from the four participating high schools not drenched in sweat afterwards was the oldest one.

Marion will host 3A district baseball games

Marion High School will host Class 3A district baseball games on July 15 and July 18, the Iowa High School Athletic Association announced Monday morning.

The games have been moved to Marion due to storm damage at the Vinton-Shellsburg baseball complex early Monday.

There will be two games at Marion this Friday, July 15 in the district semifinals. The starting times have been flipped from their original schedule due to the site change.

Union will play Vinton-Shellsburg at 5 p.m. and Marion will face Center Point-Urbana in the second game at approximately 7 p.m.

The district championship game will be played at Marion on Monday, July 18 at 7 p.m.

Erbe gets 300th, Saints advance in regionals

The Xavier softball team's 9-6 win over Prairie Saturday night was a milestone for its coach, but more importantly, a step forward for the Saints.

Xavier Coach Brian Erbe got his 300th career win in the regional quarterfinal game. Erbe is 300-131 in nine seasons at the Xavier helm. The win moved the Saints into the semifinal round of their region.

“It is much more special to advance (in the region),” Erbe said. “I remember the first one, and some good ones in between. The win is no more special than any other.”

The Saints (29-12) travel to Iowa City West  to take on the Women of Troy (31-9) Monday night.

“They are a good team, I am looking forward to playing them,” senior Tyler Sampson said of West. “It should be a good competitive game; it will be fun to play.”

“They are extremely talented,” Erbe said of the Women of Troy. “We will have to play our best softball of the season.”

The Saints came in looking like a clear favorite against Prairie after sweeping the Hawks on Tuesday, 10-0 and 12-0, in Mississippi Valley Conference play. However, this was regional play and with the season on the line the Hawks showed up to battle.

“I knew that tonight would be much different then Tuesday,” Erbe said. “Tuesday was just conference games. Everything was on the line tonight. I feel very fortunate to get the win.”

Cougars nip Solon in battle of state champs

The battle of state baseball champions turned into a battle of nerves Saturday night.

Kennedy exhaled last, happily.

Griffin Michael laced a game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Cougars nipped Solon, 5-4, before approximately 500 fans at Kennedy Field.

Kennedy won the Class 4A state title last July and the Spartans captured the Class 2A crown, making this a rare matchup of defending champions. Both teams are loaded again, giving special intrigue to the budding rivalry.