Alex Larson wanted a chance to pitch against his friends and former Kennedy teammates Monday afternoon, but it was not a happy Fourth of July for Larson or the Jefferson J-Hawks.

Larson was chased early and the seventh-ranked Cougars pounded the J-Hawks, 15-5, in five innings at the Jefferson field.

Larson grew up in the Kennedy district and saw spot duty for the Cougars last summer when they won the Class 4A state title. His family moved into the Jefferson district and he elected to spend his senior year with the J-Hawks, although he would have been eligible at Kennedy High School as well.

Larson has played regularly at Jefferson this season and he welcomed the opportunity to pitch against Kennedy. Jefferson Coach Mike Kuba was happy to oblige.

"I actually told Coach I wanted the ball," Larson said. "I just wanted a shot at them."

The game began poorly for Larson and did not improve from there. He hit his friend, Terrell Sykes, with the second pitch of the game and then walked three straight batters. Before the first inning was over, the Cougars had scored three runs on no hits, four walks, two wild pitches and one hit batter.

Griffin Michael blasted a two-run homer off Larson in the second inning and Sykes chased Larson from the mound in the third inning with another two-run shot to make it 8-0.

"They're a really tough team to pitch against," Larson said. "They hit mistakes hard. You have to throw a perfect game, basically. They're a great team and hard to beat."

Kennedy kept scoring and grabbed a 15-0 bulge in the top of the fifth inning. Jefferson scored five runs in the bottom of the fifth, but that wasn't enough and the game ended by the 10-run rule.

The Cougars raised their records to 26-7 overall and 19-4 in the Mississippi Valley Conference as they chase a division title. The J-Hawks fell to 9-21 overall and 7-16.

Sykes went 3-for-3, drove in four runs and reached base five straight times. He was 2-for-2 against Larson and scored three runs against his old buddy.

Sykes, Larson and all the seniors at Kennedy played youth baseball together for the Junior Cougars, so this game was like playing against a member of your own family.

"It's a lot different. I grew up with him," Sykes said. "This was our last year all together, and he left us to try something different. Usually we're joking around and messing with him on the team, and now he's somewhere else."

Larson and Sykes had a chance to talk during the game when Larson reached second base as a runner.

"He said he hates pitching against us," Sykes remarked. "He's like, 'We can't make a mistake against you guys.' So it's tough for him, but he's on another team and he has to do what he has to do."

Kuba was glad Larson wanted to pitch against Kennedy.

"I'll take a pitcher with confidence wanting the ball any day of the week," Kuba said. "That's something he was ready for and he certainly wanted.

"Sure, there's going to be some jitters, and we knew that going into it. I think he was just trying to pitch too hard, trying to over-pitch the hitters. He knows those guys, and I think he was just forcing spots and really trying to keep the ball down."

Alex Hayden pitched four shutout innings for Kennedy. The J-Hawks reached him for five runs on five hits in the bottom of the fifth, but Zach Johnson came into pitch and got the final out.

Devon Jacobus went 3-for-3 with two doubles, continuing his hot hitting for the Cougars.

Kennedy and Jefferson play again Tuesday at approximately 7 p.m. at Kennedy in the second game of their MVC series. They'll meet again in a Class 4A substate game on July 15 at Kennedy.

"We have 11 days to really get better," Kuba said.

KENNEDY (15)
Sykes, 2b, 3 3 3 4. Christensen, rf, 4 1 1 1, Michael, ss, 3 3 1 2, Jacobus, 3b, 3 1 3 1, Bell, 1b, 3 2 1 0, Yancey, lf, 3 0 1 0, Ambrosy, dh, 3 2 0 1, Hayden, p, 0 0 0 0, Johnson, p, 0 0 0 0, Maiers, c, 4 0 2 1, Rhoades, cr, 0 1 0 0, Jahlas, cf, 4 2 1 1. Totals 30 15 13 11.

JEFFERSON (5)
Unkel, 2b, 3 1 1 1, Rooney, cf, 2 0 1 0, Larson, p/ss, 3 1 1 1, Vanous, cr, 0 0 0 0, McCormick, 1b, 3 0 0 0, Striegel, c, 2 0 0 1, Gruwell, cr, 0 1 0 0, Hollingsworth, rf, 3 0 2 1, Tiedtke, dh, 3 0 0 0, Kramer, ss, 0 0 0 0, Knox, lf, 2 1 1 0, Techau, 3b, 1 1 1 0. Totals 22 5 7 4.

Kennedy    323 25 - 15 13 1
Jefferson    000 00 - 5   7  1

Hayden, Johnson (5) and Maiers. Larson, Jourdan (3), Schmidt (5) and Striegel. W - Hayden. L - Larson. 2B - Christensen, Jacobus 2, Maiers, Techau. HR - Michael, Sykes. SB - Vanous, Gruwell.