Metro Sports Report

Former Metro preps in pro baseball

RYAN SWEENEY (Xavier, Oakland Athletics) -- Played left field as a defensive replacement Saturday and did not bat in the Athletics' 7-6 loss to the Rangers.
Year-to-date: Batting avg. -- .284 (42-148), HR -- 0, RBI -- 10, 2B -- 5, 3B -- 1, R -- 15, SB -- 1.

MATT HOLLAND (Marion, GCL Phillies) -- Started at first base and was 1-for-2 with an RBI and two walks Saturday in the Phillies' 3-1 loss to the GCL Pirates.
Year-to-date: Batting avg. -- .324 (11-34), HR -- 1, RBI -- 6, 2B -- 4, 3B -- 0, R -- 11, SB -- 0.

SCOTT SCHEBLER (Prairie, Ogden (Dodgers)) -- Started in right field and was 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs Saturday in Ogden's 7-4 win over Casper.
Year-to-date: Batting avg. -- .366 (34-93), HR -- 5, RBI -- 24, 2B -- 7, 3B -- 3, R -- 16, SB -- 0.

KELLEN SWEENEY (Jefferson, Bluefield (Blue Jays)) -- Did not play Saturday in Bluefield's 3-0 win over Danville.
Year-to-date: Batting avg. -- .114 (4-35), HR -- 0, RBI -- 1, 2B -- 1, 3B -- 0, R -- 4, SB -- 0.

NATE WOODS (Xavier, GCL Marlins) -- The Marlins were not scheduled to play Saturday.
Year-to-date: Batting avg. -- .304 (14-46), HR -- 0, RBI -- 6, 2B -- 4, 3B -- 0, R -- 10, SB -- 0.

A walk with Zach and his many friends

SILVIS, Ill. -- There aren’t many professional sports where the spectators can – if they choose – get as much exercise as the athletes. In fact, golf might be the only one, I decided on Friday as I hiked the TPC Deere Run course – a venue that clearly seems better suited for mountain goats than deer. I was part of the reverential legion of Zach Johnson watchers that grew throughout his morning round at the John Deere Classic, this week's PGA Tour stop.

Perhaps no one knows the rigors of an 18-hole walk better than Zach’s faithful Cedar Rapids-area family members and friends, many of whom planned their week around this tournament, as they do every year.

Chief among them on Friday was Zach’s self-described “biggest fan,” Jay Petersen, one of the handful of Cedar Rapids businessmen who sponsored Zach during his six-year journey through golf’s minor leagues before his successful debut on the big tour. The bet paid off handsomely for the guys who took a chance on Zach, and he has showered them with tickets ever since, making it possible for Petersen and his wife Bonnie to follow Zach at events all over the country.

This spring Petersen curtailed his golf watching after Bonnie suffered a stroke. In May, the last time Zach was in Cedar Rapids, he visited Bonnie in the care center, Petersen relates. “Zach and Bonnie have a great relationship, and it meant so much to her. Zach also has 50 new fans among the young women who work there,” Petersen laughs.” We really have a beautiful relationship with him.”

Pro golfers battle steep, steep odds

How tough is it to make a spot on the PGA Tour? With the John Deere tournament this week, I thought I’d give you a little background as to how tough it is through a personal experience.

There was a golf pro in Cedar Rapids by the name of Kurt Kretchman who was an excellent player, scratch handicapper, and he moved from his job in C.R. to the pro job at the Oakwood Country Club in Coal Valley, Ill., which was then the home of the Quad Cities golf tournament.

Kurt was there for some 10 years and as the head pro, he knew every inch of the golf course. He played it several times a week for a 10-year period. And the members who were on the Quad Cities committee thought that he certainly deserved a chance at one of the spots in the tournament field through a sponsor’s exemption.

And so it was that Kurt got into the PGA Tour field on his golf course for at least eight tries at getting a payday from the tour. With all of that practice, all of that playing, all of that knowledge, he never made the cut and never cashed a check, and still was a scratch player and several times was honored as the Iowa golfer of the year in the 1980s and ‘90s.

And that’s how tough it is to make it for even one PGA event.

Hoyer gets 500th as Cougars win MVC title

WATERLOO - The Cedar Rapdis Kennedy baseball team returned from Waterloo Friday night with a Mississippi Valley Conference title, a coaching milestone and three more home runs by Austin Christensen.

The seventh-ranked Cougars destroyed Waterloo West, 18-3 and 20-3, to win the Mississippi Division title in the MVC and give Coach Bret Hoyer his 500th victory in 19 years as Kennedy's head coach.

Kennedy finished the conference race with a 21-5 record, two games ahead of Dubuque Wahlert, to capture the seventh league title in school history and the fifth in the last nine years.

"That's one of our goals all year: Win the conference," said Christensen, who slugged the 16th, 17th and 18th homers of his record-breaking campaign. "It's been a battle the last couple of weeks with Wahlert, and now the most important part of the season starts next week."

Christensen was referring to the Class 4A playoffs, which start July 15, but the Cougars have an intriguing matchup with the Solon Spartans Saturday night and a doubleheader with No.6 Pleasant Valley on Tuesday before the playoffs begin.