Metro Sports Report

Washington standout juggles 2 postseasons

IOWA CITY - Cedar Rapids Washington junior Katie Hammond has been busy lately.

Along with participating in the state tennis tournament this weekend at the University of Iowa Tennis Center, she is part of the Washington soccer team that faces Linn-Mar on Monday in the regional championship, where a state tournament berth is at stake.

At the state tennis tournament, she performed admirably, finishing in third place in singles. Coming into the tournament, Hammond was unseeded. She upset No. 3 seed Jackie Pedersen of Kennedy in their quarterfinal match Thursday. She lost the semifinal match to No. 2 seed Libby Caris of Des Moines Roosevelt on Friday, and then beat Michele VanRoekle of Urbandale in straight sets to secure third place and run her record to 19-4.

Despite losing the semifinal match, Hammond felt good about the way she played. “I'm really happy because my goal was to place top four," she said. "In my semifinal this morning the girl was really good. I wish I could have played a little better but my goal was top four so I am excited.”

Pedersen ended up sixth.

Three Metro schools were represented in the doubles competition, where the Kennedy duo of Sarah Lasecki and Kali Hildebrand finished fourth, losing in the semifinals and consolation Friday. Xavier's Lisa Cowden and Laura Birky were sixth, and Washington's Kristin King and Olivia Brooks were eighth.

Gabe Christianson heading to NIU

DES MOINES - Kennedy junior soccer player Gabe Christianson said he will graduate two trimesters early and enroll in college, meaning his high school soccer career ended after the Cougars' 5-1 loss to West Des Moines Valley on Thursday in the first round of the boys state tournament.

“I will be going to Northern Illinois University,” Christianson said. “I am really excited about it.”

Christianson was second on the team with 15 goals and led the team with 26 assists in his only season in the Kennedy green and gold.

Christianson is planning on studying business at Northern Illinois and he said that the academics at Northern Illinois played a big role in his decision.

“I felt it was a great fit, both soccer-wise and academically,” he said. “They have a great business program, I would love to go into the business school. It just feels like home.”

Gabe’s older brother, senior Garet Christianson, has signed to play at Eastern Illinois.

“It should be pretty fun,” Gabe said. “We will be playing each other and get a little brotherly rivalry going."

Practice makes perfect for Saints

DES MOINES - The Xavier boys soccer team used a little bit of creativity to overcome Clear Creek Amana, 2-0, in its first round matchup at the state tournament at the Cownie Soccer Complex on Thursday.

With a 1-0 lead early in the second half, the Saints (15-2-1) got a free kick from just outside of the box after a penalty on the Clippers (11-5). They decided to go with a set piece that they had developed at practice during the week.

The play, engineered by junior Chad Gilmer and senior Tim Bouchard, had Bouchard fake a kick and run past the ball and around the Clippers’ wall. Gilmer then ran up on it and tapped the ball over to Bouchard who received behind the defense and beat the keeper going to the opposite post.

“We worked on it all week,” Xavier Coach Amir Hadzic said. “At first the players suggested it, and I thought at first it might be naive a little bit, but after we worked it a couple times we perfected it. There is nothing better than when you work something in practice and it actually goes the way it is supposed to.”

That goal gave the Saints a 2-0 lead and all but put the game out of reach. The suffocating Xavier defense kept the Clippers from mounting any serious scoring threats.

The top-seeded Saints are the defending state champions. They played a tough Clear Creek Amana squad that had not been to the state tournament before, but the game looked fairly even through the opening few minutes.

Freese struggles as J-Hawks top Warriors, 9-6

Scouts for the Cleveland Indians, Chicago White Sox and Philadelphia Phillies had planned to watch Dakota Freese pitch for Cedar Rapids Washington Thursday night, but a rainy day kept them away from the ballpark.

Freese owes Mother Nature a hug for chasing the scouts away prior to next week's draft, because they probably would not have been impressed by what transpired.

Freese returned from a seven-game suspension and had a rough outing as the Warriors lost to Cedar Rapids Jefferson, 9-6, in a Mississippi Valley Conference game at Washington.

Freese walked seven batters, uncorked three wild pitches and hit a batter in six innings. He took the loss in his first appearance for the Warriors this season.

"Not good," he said. "I couldn't control a thing."

Freese, a lanky righthander, normally has good control with a low-90's fastball and a sharp curve, but he struggled to find the strike zone against the J-Hawks.

Freese had a miserable time in the sixth inning when the J-Hawks scored five runs on three hits, two walks, three wild pitches, a passed ball, three stolen bases, two bunts and an error. He threw 32 pitches in the sixth, raising his pitch count to 104 (unofficially) and ending his night on the mound.