Cody Bell blasted a pair of home runs, including one in Kennedy's nine-run second inning Wednesday night that fueled the Cougars' 15-3 romp past Dubuque Hempstead in the Class 4A substate baseball tournament at Kennedy.

The Cougars had five home runs -- three in the second inning -- among their 18 hits.

But it was the lead-off home run in the seventh inning that carried the most clout.

Senior Austin Christensen, in his last at-bat at the Kennedy field, swatted his 19th home run of the season and 42nd of his career. The latter tied him with his older brother Chad for the most career home runs by a Metro player.

"It's a good way to go out, I guess," said Christensen, who will join his brother Chad at the University of Nebraska in the fall. Chad Christensen, a standout player at Cedar Rapids Washington, will be a junior at Nebraska. "(The record) is always in the back of your mind, but I just wanted to put a good swing on it, just hit one square. The at-bats before, I wasn't hitting it square."

He didn't really catch this one square, either, but the sweet-swinging lefty had enough to push it over the right-field fence.

"(Christensen) had a pretty big grin on his face when he rounded third, I didn't know that was the one to tie his brother," Kennedy Coach Bret Hoyer said. "Maybe that's why he was grinning, because he really didn't hit it that well."

Christensen said he and his brother have talked quite a bit about Austin becoming the Metro's career home run leader.

"(Chad) wanted me to break it this year," Christensen said. "We'll see. There's some pretty big fences at Principal Park. But to be tied with him is pretty cool, too."

Kennedy (31-8) advances to next week's state tournament at Principal Park in Des Moines, where Christensen will get the chance to move past his brother. The defending state champion Cougars are seeded second in the tournament and play seventh seed Fort Dodge (29-12) in the first round July 27 at 6 p.m. The Dodgers swept a doubleheader from the Cougars on June 11 at Fort Dodge.

"We're 27-3 in substate games the past 11 years," said Hoyer, who is guiding his 10th team to the state tournament in his 19 years at Kennedy. "These kids buy into that tradition and just play."

Christensen, the Iowa Gatorade Player of the Year, will be back on the pitchers mound against Fort Dodge after running his record to 8-0 this year with his 29th career win against Hempstead. He scattered seven hits over five innings and struck out six. Griffin Michael and David Yancey pitched an inning apiece in relief.

Christensen said he wasn't as sharp as he would have liked against Hempstead. The Mustangs tallied twice in the bottom of the first to take a 2-0 lead.

"I pitched against them earlier in the year and they did the exact same thing to me," Christensen said. "They jumped on fastballs. I tried to locate it tonight, but I was just leaving it a little too far over the plate, especially that first inning."

That first inning was the Mustangs' last hurrah.

Kennedy 13 men to the plate in the top of the second inning. The first nine batters all reached -- eight via hits -- and all nine scored. Yancey's two-run home run tied the game, 2-2, and Bell followed with a home run that put the Cougars ahead for good. Austin Benson had an RBI double, Terrell Sykes a two-run single, Christensen an RBI single and Michael belted a two-run home run.

"We got some pitches we could handle and we hit them pretty hard," said Bell, whose two-run single in the fourth inning pushed the Cougars' lead to 11-3. "We knew they were going to hit the ball. We knew we had to score runs to win."

The barrage stunned Hempstead Coach Jeff Rapp, who stayed as long as he could with southpaw starter Aaron Collins (4-4). Collins set down the Cougars in order in the first inning, but was lifted without retiring a batter in the second inning, when he faced nine batters.

"It happened so fast," Rapp said. "I certainly wanted to keep Collins out there. I didn't want to pull the trigger that early, but I just had to. I don't think it was anything he did.

"We talked to our catcher (Chad Crabill) and he said they weren't that bad of pitches. They just put good wood on the ball."

And they kept putting wood on the ball. Benson, who had three hits, had an RBI single in the sixth inning that made it 12-3. Christensen homered leading off the seventh and Bell capped the scoring with a two-run home run in the seventh.

Yancey also had three hits. The only member of the starting lineup not to get a hit was Josh Jahlas. Everybody in the starting lineup scored at least one run.

"They were dialed in pretty good. They were seeing the ball pretty well tonight," Hoyer said of his club. "Hopefully, it will continue."

Hoyer said he doesn't believe Kennedy, as defending champs, will be wearing a bull's-eye on its back at the state tournament.

"I think during the regular season that's very true," he said. "But, not the tournament. Everybody's trying to play hard and win and advance. I don't think it puts any extra pressure on us whatsoever. We're out there trying to beat them just as badly as they're trying to beat us."

KENNEDY (15)
Terrell Sykes, 2b, 5 1 2 2, Austin Christensen, p-rf, 5 1 2 2, Matt Maiers, cr, 0 1 0 0, Griffin Michael, ss-p, 5 2 2 2, Devon Jacobus, 3b-ss, 4 1 2 0, Jud Rhoades, pr, 0 1 0 0, David Yancey, lf-p, 5 2 3 2, Aadam Lloyd, pr-lf, 0 1 0 0, Cody Bell, 1b-3b, 5 2 3 5, Logan Ambrosy, rf-1b-lf, 5 1 1 0, Josh Jahlas, cf, 2 1 0 0, Colin Taylor, ph, 0 0 0 0, Austin Benson, dh, 4 1 3 2, Jimmy Lizarraga, c, 0 0 0 0. Totals 40 15 18 15.

HEMPSTEAD (3)
Sean Fitzgerald, ss, 4 1 1 0, Kyle Weist, 3b, 3 0 2 0, Nate Cooksley, ph, 1 0 0 0, Adam Kennedy, rf, 3 1 0 0, Cody Leach, 1b, 3 0 2 1, Andrew Seymour, pr, 0 0 0 0, Brad Duwe, cf, 3 1 2 2, Chad Crabill, c, 3 0 1 0, Pete Keleher, cr, 0 0 0 0, Jake Bortscheller, dh, 3 0 1 0, Nick Stevenson, 2b, 0 0 0 0, Nick Johnson, lf, 3 0 0 0, Aaron Collins, p-ph, 1 0 0 0, Nick Barker, p, 2 0 0 0. Totals 29 3 9 3.

Kennedy     090 201 3 -  15  18  0
Hempstead  201 000 0 -   3   9   3

Christensen, Michael (6), Yancey (7) and Lizarraga. Collins, Barker (2) and Crabill. W - Christensen (8-0). L - Collins (4-4). 2B - Jacobus, Yancey, Benson, Weist. HR - Christensen (19), Michael (4), Yancey (8), Bell 2 (5). SB - Michael (9), Yancey (12).