Thank you for reading the Metro Sports Report....

Skip to content

Scroll down for the latest Metro Sports news, stats & standings!

Please update your Flash Player to view content.

Latest Saints News

Xavier Baseball

Xavier - Baseball

Xavier first baseman K.J. Giles fields a bunt during Wednesday night's doubleheader against Kennedy. (MSR photo by Margaret O'Banion)

Cougars sweep error-prone Saints

Thu - 23 Jun Written by Jim Ecker

Jacob Henry began Wednesday's doubleheader against Xavier with a 6.46 earned run average for the Kennedy Cougars, but the senior right-hander was in top form against the Saints.

Henry spun a five-hit shutout as Kennedy blanked the Saints, 6-0, in the second game of their Mississippi Valley Conference twinbill at Ken Charipar Field.

Kennedy took the first game, 15-11, when the mistake-prone Saints committed eight errors and walked 11 batters.

The sweep left the struggling Saints at 3-19 overall and 1-15 in the conference. Kennedy raised its marks to 15-8 overall and 9-7 in the league.

Henry, a senior right-hander, struck out four batters and lowered his ERA to 4.20, knocking more than two runs off his average. He kept the ball around the plate all night and walked only two batters, both in the third inning.

Kennedy jumped to a 10-1 lead in the top of the third inning in the opener, but the Saints sent 14 batters to the plate in the bottom of the third and scored eight runs to pull within 10-9.

The Cougars scored three times in the fifth inning for a 13-9 lead, but Xavier responded with two markers in the bottom of the fifth to pull within 13-11. Kennedy put the game away with two more runs in the seventh for the 15-11 victory in the three-hour marathon.

Share

Xavier - Baseball

Xavier shortstop Braden Stovie gets the force at second base and fires to first for a double play during Monday's doubleheader against Dubuque Senior. The Dubuque runner is TJ Deardorff. (MSR photo by Margaret O'Banion)

Saints flub chance to upset Rams

Mon - 20 Jun Written by Jim Ecker

Growing pains can be a terrible thing for a ballclub that is not accustomed to winning.

For Exhibit A, consider the Xavier baseball team.

The Saints had their chances to upset Dubuque Senior in a Mississippi Valley Conference doubleheader at Ken Charipar Field Monday night, but those growing pains got in the way and the Rams grabbed both contests, 7-5 and 4-3.

Dubuque Senior has the best record in the MVC with a 12-1 mark in conference games and Xavier has one of the worst at 1-13, yet the Saints could have won either game.

The little things kept the Saints from winning either affair.

In the opener, the Saints had runners at first and second in the bottom of the seventh when Sam Meyers put down a perfect bunt that should have pushed both runners into scoring position, but the runner at second base forgot there was also a runner at first, broke back toward second and was an easy out on a force play at third.

The Saints did not score in the inning and lost, 7-5.

Share

Xavier - Baseball

Hines helps Saints get 1st MVC victory

Sat - 18 Jun Written by Jim Ecker

New Xavier baseball coach Bob Cataldo had never seen Jacob Hines pitch before this season, but he remembered Hines from middle school and decided to put him on the varsity this year as a sophomore.

Smart move.

Hines tossed a complete game Friday night as the Saints trimmed Linn-Mar, 4-2, in the second game of their doubleheader at the Linn-Mar field for their first Mississippi Valley Conference win of the season.

Hines allowed only three hits and kept the ball around the plate all night.

"I used to coach Regis eighth grade basketball and Jacob was one of the kids I coached in eighth grade," Cataldo said. "I knew what kind of competitor he is."

The Saints had dropped 11 straight conference games this season, including a 6-3 loss to Linn-Mar in the first game Friday, but they've showed a lot of improvement the last three weeks and finally got their reward.

Share

Xavier - Baseball

Sam Meyers delivers a pitch for the Xavier Saints during Monday doubleheader at Jefferson. (MSR photo by Margaret O'Banion)

Meyers has some good stories to tell

Tue - 14 Jun Written by Jim Ecker

Forty years from now, Sam Meyers will be able to tell his grand-kids about the night he battled the great Spencer VanScoyoc and was able to leave the ballpark with a smile.

Meyers nearly hit a home run against the Cedar Rapids Jefferson star Monday night for the Xavier Saints in the second game of their doubleheader, settling for a long double off the left-field fence at the Jefferson field that missed being a home run by only a few feet.

Later in the game, Meyers struck out VanScoyoc with a high fastball for a rare whiff of one of the top high school players in the country.

VanScoyoc later got revenge against Meyers with a two-run homer that may or may not have landed by now, but Meyers might conveniently forget to tell his grand-kids about that part of the evening.

"Yeah," he said, smiling. "We'll keep that a secret."

Meyers and the Xavier Saints did not get any victories against VanScoyoc and the sixth-ranked J-Hawks, but they continued to show improvement in their 5-2 and 9-5 setbacks in a Mississippi Valley Conference twinbill.

VanScoyoc, a star pitcher and hitter, was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 19th round of the Major League draft last week and has a scholarship to Arizona State in his back pocket if he decides to attend college instead of turning pro.

Share

Last Updated on Tuesday, 14 June 2016 04:56

Xavier - Baseball

Sean Murphy picks up the bat and scores on a double by Bryce Schulte to give Xavier a 1-0 lead in the first game of their doubleheader against Iowa City West Friday night. (MSR photo by Margaret O'Banion)

Saints nearly topple No. 1 IC West

Sat - 11 Jun Written by Jim Ecker

Step by step, inch by inch, the Xavier baseball team is getting much better.

The Saints proved it Friday night when they nearly upset top-ranked Iowa City West before falling, 5-4, in nine innings in the first game of a Mississippi Valley Conference doubleheader at Ken Charipar Field.

Iowa City West rolled in the nightcap, 15-2, in five innings.

The Saints had the winning run at second base in the bottom of the seventh inning and again in the bottom of the eighth inning of the opener, but both opportunities slipped away and the Trojans prevailed in the ninth.

Xavier began the season with nine straight losses, but they won two games this week and pushed Iowa City West to the limit in the space of four days.

"I think we're right there," said junior Bryce Schulte, who has played six different positions for the Saints this season. "I think we've got a lot of momentum going. We're trying to find our groove a little bit with those two wins earlier in the week.

"That first game tonight, we were right there. I think we're kind of finding it right now."

Share