Jason Velvick missed most of the 2011 baseball season after breaking his collarbone in a horrible car accident, but he's making up for lost time now.

The talented center fielder has become an on-base machine for Cedar Rapids Prairie, virtually living on those white pillows on the diamond.

Velvick went 6-for-6 and reached base nine straight times Saturday as the Hawks won both of their games at the Heald-Jackson Baseball Classic at Marion High School.

Prairie topped Marion, 13-9, in the championship game after dispensing with Burlington, 9-4, in the opening round.

Velvick scored seven runs and hit for the cycle with two singles, two doubles, a triple, a homer, three walks, one RBI and a stolen base. The prolific performance raised his batting average to .471 and lifted his on-base percentage well over .600.

Velvick was a passenger in an accident that claimed the driver's life last year, a traumatic experience that left Velvick battered and bruised. He appeared in only 14 games and hit .310 after hitting a healthy .418 as a sophomore in 2010.

"I'm getting back into it this year. It's nice," he said Saturday after starring in both games.

Velvick has a big knot at the base of his right collarbone thanks to a calcium deposit, but otherwise there are no lingering medical issues from the accident. "It's going great," he said. "It's feeling good."

Velvick bats in the No. 1 spot for Prairie (15-13) and also does a terrific job of patrolling center field for the Hawks. He's scored 35 runs in 26 games as one of the premier leadoff men in the state.

"To have a guy get on base that many times, it certainly gives us a lot of confidence that we can score some runs," said Prairie Coach Matt Thede. "The guy certainly covers a lot of ground in center field, that's for sure."

Velvick enjoys chasing fly balls. "I love center," he said. "Outfield is fun. I love it. I like to make those catches and make big catches to save games.

"I'm pretty good at reading balls and tracking balls and catching them. It's nice to be out there."

Velvick won't have to travel very far next season to chase baseballs. He'll be joining the Kirkwood Community College Eagles, right down the street from Prairie in southwest Cedar Rapids.

Thede said Velvick has "matured within the game" since his sophomore year, becoming more disciplined and patient at the plate. The Hawks are hoping to catch fire and make a run for the state tournament after reaching the substate finals last year, and Velvick could be a key man in a possible trip to Des Moines.

"We have a really good ballclub and I think we're going to have a good chance to go pretty far," he said. "The pitching is good, the hitting is coming back together. I think we're going to be a really solid ballclub and finish out pretty strong this year."

Velvick reached base all five times against Marion. He went 3-for-3 with two doubles, two walks and four runs scored. Brayton Carlson hit a two-run homer and drove in five runs against the Indians. Tyler Butz went 2-for-3 with a double and drove in three runs.

Ty Mougin also drove in three runs against Marion. Trent Schulte and Mitch Peters, hitting in the No. 8 and No. 9 spots for Prairie, went 4-for-6 and scored five runs.

Velvick went 3-for-3 with a triple, homer and three runs scored in the 9-4 victory over Burlington. Butz went 4-for-4 and drove in three runs. Tyler Votroubek was 3-for-4 and drove in two runs.

Butz nearly matched Velvick's performance at the plate by finishing 6-for-7 in the tournament with four RBIs.

Trev Biery drove in three runs for Marion (19-9) against Prairie. Addison Johnson drove in two runs for the Indians and Mitch Wagner scored three times.

Christian Stekl went 3-for-5 for Marion in the 9-6 victory over Charles City. Sean McGarvey was 3-for-3 and scored twice. Alex Charipar went 2-for-2 and scored three runs. Wagner and Logan Fuller had two hits.

Charles City defeated Burlington, 12-2, in the consolation game for third place.

SEMIFINALS

GAME 1

CHARLES CITY (6)
Isakson, c, 3 2 2 0, Hageman, cf, 4 2 2 0, Johnson, lf/3b, 4 1 1 1, Etherington, 3b/p, 3 1 0 0, Opp, rf, 4 0 0 0, Girkin, dh, 2 0 1 0, Rutherford, 2b, 0 0 0 0, Gabel, 1b, 4 0 1 0, Crawford, p, 3 0 1 0, Jarvill, p, 0 0 0 0, Montagne, ss/p, 3 0 0 0. Totals 30 6 8 1.

MARION (9)
Wagner, 2b/ss, 4 0 2 1, Stekl, p/ss, 5 1 3 1, Biery, 1b, 4 0 1 0, Johnson, c, 3 0 0 0, Q.Cannoy, cr, 0 0 0 0, Davila, lf, 2 2 0 0, Kuhn, 2b, 1 0 0 0, Charipar, cf, 2 3 2 0, McGarvey, dh, 3 2 3 0, Hardman, rf, 0 0 0 0, Connolly, p/lf, 0 1 0 0, Larsen, cr, 0 0 0 0, Carstensen, cr, 0 0 0 0, Fuller, 3b, 4 0 2 2. Totals 28 9 13 4.

Charles City     320 010 0 - 6 8 1
Marion           124 101 x - 9 13 5

Crawford, Etherington, Montagne, Jarvill and Isakson; Connolly, Stekl (5) and Johnson. W - Connolly. L - Crawford. 2B  Wagner, Stekl.

GAME 2

BURLINGTON (4)
Falls 3 2 1 0, Elmore 5 1 2 0, Patterson 4 0 4 3, Atkins 3 1 1 0, Dunn 4 0 1 1, Allsup 3 0 1 0, O'Dear 1 0 0 0, Werner 3 0 1 0, Martin 3 0 1 0, Cordero 1 0 0 0, Gates 3 0 0 0, Peck 1 0 1 0. Totals 34 4 13 4.

PRAIRIE (9)
Velvick 3 3 3 1, Mougin 3 2 1 0, Carlson 4 2 2 1, Butz 4 2 4 1, Votroubek 4 0 3 2, Beckman 3 0 0 1, Alberts 3 0 0 1, Pond 3 0 0 0, Schulte 0 0 0 0, Henry 3 0 0 0. Totals 30 9 13 9.

Snyder, O'Dear (2). Schulte, Henry (2), Butz (7). W - Henry. L - Snyder. 2B - Elmore, Patterson, Votroubek, Mougin, Butz. 3B - Velvick. HR - Velvick. SB - Carlson.

FINALS

MARION (9)
Wagner, 2b, 1 3 1 0, Stekl, ss, 1 2 0 0, Biery, 1b, 2 1 1 3, Johnson, c, 3 0 0 2, Carstenson, cr, 0 0 0 0, Davila, p/lf, 3 0 1 1, Q.Cannoy, cr, 0 0 0 0, C.Cannoy, rf, 0 0 0 0, Charipar, cf, 3 0 1 0, McGarvey, dh, 3 0 0 1, Hardman, lf/rf, 0 0 0 0, Q.Cannoy, p, 0 0 0 0, Connolly, rf,/p/lf, 3 0 0 0, Carstenson, ph, 1 0 0 0, Fuller, 3b, 2 3 1 0. Totals 19 9 5 7.

PRAIRIE (13)
Velvick, cf, 3 4 3 0, Mougin, ss, 4 2 1 3, Carlson, 2b, 2 2 1 5, Butz, c/p, 3 0 2 3, Davison, cr/p, 0 0 0 0, Votroubek, p/1b, 3 0 1 1, Beckman, h/p, 2 0 0 0, Pond, 1b/c, 2 0 0 0, Alberts, 3b, 4 0 1 0, Schulte, rf, 3 3 2 0, Peters, lf, 3 2 2 1. Totals 29 13 13 13.

Marion     004 203 0 -   9  5 2
Prairie      102 451 x - 13 13 1

Davila, Connolly (4), Q.Cannoy (5) and Johnson; Votroubek, Beckman (3), Butz (5), Davison (6) and Butz, Pond (5). W - Beckman. L - Davila. S - Davison. 2B - Velvick 2, Butz, Peters. HR - Carlson. SB - Wagner.