Jefferson Softball

J-Hawks 3rd, Saints 11th in softball poll

The Cedar Rapids Jefferson softball team is ranked third in Class 5A in the first rankings of the season by the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union.

The Xavier Saints are ranked 11th in Class 4A.

The top-ranked teams are Johnston in 5A, Fort Dodge in 4A, Solon in 3A, Alburnett in 2A and Woodbury Central in 1A.

RANKINGS

(2014 records in parenthesis)

CLASS 5A

1. Johnston (37-3), 2. Waukee (25-19), 3. Jefferson (35-8), 4. Dowling (30-9), 5. West Des Moines Valley (27-14), 6. Iowa City West (29-10), 7. Pleasant Valley (31-10), 8. Southeast Polk (30-10), 9. Ottumwa (27-12), 10. Council Bluffs Lincoln (24-6).

CLASS 4A

1. Fort Dodge (33-8), 2. Norwalk (28-14), 3. Le Mars (22-18), 4. Carlisle (35-3), 5. Indianola (24-12), 6. Oskaloosa (31-10), 7. Dallas Center-Grimes (41-1), 8. ADM (25-11), 9. Winterset (19-16), 10. Clear Creek Amana (22-10), 11. Xavier (33-7), 12. Waverly-Shell Rock (31-9), 13. West Delaware (31-9), 14. Keokuk (23-14), 15. Fairfield (30-7).

CLASS 3A

1. Solon (39-3), 2. Center Point-Urbana (29-11), 3. Benton (37-5), 4. East Marshall (33-5), 5. Greene County (29-8), 6. Mid-Prairie (27-11), 7. Spirit Lake (24-10), 8. West Burlington/Notre Dame (23-15), 9. Sergeant Bluff-Luton (21-9), 10. Mount Vernon (29-10), 11. PCM (22-7), 12. Clarke (24-8), 13. Bondurant-Farrar (22-14), 14. Sioux Center (26-4), 15. Waterloo Columbus (33-7).

CLASS 2A

1. Alburnett (28-13), 2. Highland (32-3), 3. Fort Dodge St. Edmond (30-7), 4. St. Ansgar (19-11), 5. Emmetsburg (19-12), 6. Iowa City Regina (21-18), 7. Woodward-Granger (23-11), 8. Earlham (31-4), 9. Eddyville (26-6), 10. BCLUW (24-10), 11. Sumner-Fredericksburg (23-15), 12. Denver (25-9), 13. Durant (27-11), 14. IKM-Manning (24-5), 15. Cascade (18-15).

CLASS 1A

1. Woodbury Central (30-6), 2. Akron-Westfield (38-0), 3. Lansing (34-10), 4. AGWSR (29-7), 5. Martensdale-St. Mary's (26-6), 6. Marquette Catholic (35-8), 7. North Butler (19-10), 8. Lynnville-Sully (36-2), 9. Don Bosco (20-15), 10. Exira-EHK (24-2), 11. Remsen St. Mary's (22-11), 12. New London (25-5), 13. Glidden-Ralston (14-14), 14. Logan-Magnolia (21-7), 15. Newell-Fonda (23-14).

Jefferson girls roll by Cedar Falls

Alyssa Olson tossed a perfect game and Alissa Good pitched a one-hitter Thursday as the Jefferson softball team spanked Cedar Falls in a Mississippi Valley Conference twinbill at Jefferson, 12-0 in four innings and 10-0 in six innings.

Olson collected nine strikeouts and pitched her perfect game in the 12-0 victory in the season opener. Hannah Towns went 3-for-3 with a single, double, grand slam and five RBIs. Tori Brandon, Liv Erickson and Maddie Hansen had two hits for the J-Hawks. Brandon and Erickson had two RBIs.

Good had five strikeouts and pitched her one-hitter in the 10-0 verdict. Avery Guy, Towns and Taylor Holub had two hits. Holub drove in two runs.

3 Jeff softball players commit to college

All five seniors on the Cedar Rapids Jefferson softball have found a home for their college careers.

Hannah Towns has committed to Loras, Tori Brandon has committed to Wartburg and Alissa Good has committed to Buena Vista. They join Alyssa Olson (Coe) and Maddie Hansen (Kirkwood), as previously reported.

Towns played left field for Jefferson in the Class 5A state tournament this past season and hit .343 with 31 RBIs for the campaign. Tori Brandon was Jefferson's designated hitter at the state tournament and hit .282 with one homer and 24 RBIs. Good compiled a 15-2 record and 1.11 ERA on the mound.

Olson had an 18-6 record and 0.74 ERA for the J-Hawks and Hansen, a catcher, hit .441 with seven home runs and 46 RBIs.

Jefferson placed seventh at the state tournament with a 35-8 record.

Hansen will join Kirkwood softball

Maddie Hansen, an all-state catcher at Cedar Rapids Jefferson, has accepted an offer to play college softball at Kirkwood.

Hansen has been playing for the J-Hawks since she was a graduated eighth grader. She has a career batting average of .444 with 16 home runs and 163 RBIs in four years.

Hansen batted .500 with seven homers and 69 RBIs as a sophomore when Jefferson finished 33-12 and placed fifth at the Class 5A state tournament. She led Class 5A in RBIs that season and was second in the state.

Hansen hit .441 with seven homers and 46 RBIs this past season when Jefferson went 35-8 and finished seventh at the state tournament.

Kirkwood has one of the top NJCAA Division II softball programs in the country under Coach Joe Yegge.