Metro Sports Report

Hoefle takes another shot at the Open

The last time Bill Hoefle came close to golf’s magic ring he slipped up at the worse possible moment.

Two years ago, he was 6-under par going into the last hole of the sectional qualifying tournament for the very prestigious U.S. Open.

But he double-bogeyed the hole, limped into sixth place and came home to Marion kicking himself but hardly screaming.

He’ll try again next Monday (June 6) at the St. Charles Country Club near Chicago, one of a dozen sites around the country where one or two of the top finishers earn the prize of competing in this year’s U.S. Open, June 16-19, at the Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md.

Hoefle, 40, the highly-regarded sophomore boys basketball coach and assistant boys golf coach at Linn-Mar, made it to next week’s 36-hole sectional qualifier with a runner-up score of 72 earlier this month in a first-round meet at Crow Valley Country Club in the Quad Cities.

He’ll be joined by hot shot college golfers, tour professionals who lack an exemption to the tournament or aren’t in the top 50 in the rankings, and some like himself, very good players no longer trying to make a living at it.

“I’ve got a chance to make the Open, and so does everyone else who will be there,” says Hoefle, who just completed his sixth year of teaching business classes at Linn-Mar.  “It’s one day of golf, and if I’m at my best, it’s always the possibility. But there won’t be a lot of pressure for me, and I have no great expectations.”

Christensen's 2 homers break Kennedy record

MARSHALLTOWN - It's too soon to anoint Austin Christensen as the greatest all-around player in the history of Kennedy baseball, but he's certainly the most prolific power hitter of all time.

Christensen blasted two more home runs Monday to break the school record as the top-ranked Cougars bounced Marshalltown, 6-1, in a Memorial Day game at Marshalltown.

Christensen tied Tony Booth (1987-90) for the Kennedy record for career homers when he hit his 25th roundtripper Saturday against Burlington, but now he has the all-time mark with 27.

"It's incredible. He (Booth) was a great hitter," Christensen said. "It's pretty awesome to have it all to myself."

Christensen has been awesome himself this season for Kennedy in the first six games. He's 12-for-17 at the plate for a lusty batting average of .706 with four doubles, two triples, four homers and 14 RBIs.

He's also walked seven times, giving him an on-base percentage of .792. His slugging percentage is 1.882 and his OPS (On Base + Slugging Percentage) is 2.674. Those numbers are completely off the charts for Class 4A baseball. Any baseball, for that matter.

"I've never seen anybody have that kind of start," Kennedy Coach Bret Hoyer commented. "He's not invincible, but he executes good pitches."

Christensen owns Kennedy records for doubles (43), home runs (27), RBIs (134) and extra-base hits (78). He ranks second in hits and third in runs, triples, walks and victories.

He also ranks third in school history with a 23-6 record as a pitcher, just three wins shy of the school mark of 26 held by Danny Bales (2001-04). He's 2-0 with a 1.56 ERA this season with 21 strikeouts in 9 1/3 innings.

Hoyer is not ready to crown Christensen as the greatest player in school history. Not yet, anyway.

"No, not now," Hoyer said. "He's in the conversation."

Warriors split at Oskaloosa

OSKALOOSA -- Grant Dostal scattered five hits over seven innings and Sam Kacena and Noah Dostal had two hits and two RBIs apiece to lead Washington past Oskaloosa, 8-3, in the first game of a nonconference prep baseball doubleheader Monday.

Mike Troendle and Dan White each scored twice for Washington.

Ottumwa came back to win the nightcap, 10-6.

AJ Puk homered, scored twice and drove in four runs for Washington (3-2). Losing pitcher Jacob Hand allowed five runs in 1 2/3 innings.

Oskaloosa's Erik McGee doubled, homered and drove in five runs.

Washington opens Mississippi Valley Conference play Tuesday with a doubleheader at Iowa City High.

A collision of opinions over plays at the plate

The collision last week between runner Scott Cousins of the Florida Marlins and catcher Buster Posey of the San Francisco Giants has generated a nationwide debate over whether to change baseball rules.

Many media outlets have opined about the collision and its ramifications. ABC’s “Good Morning America,’’ somewhat curiously, had a piece on its nightly news last weekend. If you Google “Buster Posey collision,’’ you’ll see 275,000 entries on the Internet.

I suppose safety ought to be of utmost importance in sports, especially in youth and high school sports. But change the rule? Ridiculous.

I speak from experience as a former catcher. Blocking the plate and anticipating a collision with a base runner is part of the game, plain and simple. It’s part of being a catcher and wearing “the tools of ignorance’’ that are face mask, chest protector and shin guards.

Ironically, a week prior to the Posey-Cousins incident, the Iowa High School Athletic Association addressed collisions in a May 17 letter to prep baseball coaches and umpires. The letter stated that malicious contact has been the No. 1 reason for player ejection nationally and, in fact, 26 Iowa high school players were ejected for that reason last season.

The IHSAA defines malicious contact as “leading with the shoulder or forearm with intent to run over the catcher’’ in hopes the catcher will drop the ball. The letter implores coaches to instruct players to make a legal slide at the plate and not try to run over the catcher.