Kennedy Softball

Hawks sweep Cougars with 'small ball'

Prairie second baseman Amanda Stecklein is such an old-school ballplayer that she’s the only one on her team who bats bare-handed without hitting gloves.

And the way the Hawks swept Kennedy 8-1 and 6-1 Monday night suited her style of play to a T.

They won by playing “small ball” that would have made Ty Cobb proud. Even with all those runs, they hardly hit anything out of the infield.

Instead, they capitalized on Cougar errors, aggressive baserunning, bunts, walks and a whole bunch of grounders they beat out for infield hits.

“That’s not the way we usually win,” said Stecklein, who scored four times and knocked in two runs on a pair of ground balls. “But we still made it work. Coach (Joe) Yegge always tells us that if we get the bat on the ball and put it in play, good things will happen.”

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Saints, J-Hawks keep rolling in softball

The Xavier Saints and Jefferson J-Hawks continue to set the pace for Metro softball teams, with several clubs not far behind.

The Saints, ranked No. 5 in Class 4A, won all four of their games this past week and raised their record to an impressive 18-2. The J-Hawks, ranked No. 5 in Class 5A, captured all five of their games and are sitting at 19-4.

The Washington Warriors, enjoying a strong year, went 5-1 this past week and have a 16-5 overall mark. Prairie is 16-9 and Kennedy 14-8.

The Linn-Mar Lions had a tough week, losing six of seven games. That dropped their record to 16-9. Marion lost five games and fell to 6-16.

Here are the Metro records through June 22:

Jefferson         19-4 overall    11-3 MVC
Xavier            18-2 overall    13-1 MVC
Washington        16-5 overall    10-4 MVC
Prairie           16-9 overall    11-3 MVC
Linn-Mar          16-9 overall    11-5 MVC
Kennedy           14-8 overall    7-6  MVC
Marion            6-16 overall    3-8  Wamac

Hamilton lifts Cougars by Linn-Mar

Ashley Hamilton belted a walk-off two-run homer to give the Kennedy Cougars a 4-3 victory over Linn-Mar in a Mississippi Valley Conference softball game at Kennedy Monday night.

The contest was the continuation of a suspended game from June 3.

Andrea McEachran was the winning pitcher for Kennedy.

Kennedy raised its records to 12-6 overall and 8-4 in the MVC. Linn-Mar fell to 15-4 overall and 11-3 in the league.

Cougars take twinbill from Hempstead

Ashley Hamilton went 3-for-3 with a double, triple and five RBIs Thursday as Kennedy dumped Dubuque Hempstead, 13-1, in the first game of a Mississippi Valley Conference doubleheader at Kennedy.

The Cougars took the second game, 7-3.

Maddy Crist went 2-for-2 with a home run and three RBIs for Kennedy in the first game. Jenna Schwartzhoff was the winning pitcher.

Peyton Baskerville went 2-for-3 and socked a grand slam for Kennedy in the second game. Sydney Kinney was 3-for-3 with a double and home run. Andrea McEachran was the winning pitcher.