Kennedy Softball

Prairie clinches tie for softball title

Gabi Carter began playing for the Cedar Rapids Prairie softball team as an eighth grader in 2011 and experienced some lean times with the Hawks before Joe Yegge became the head coach three years ago.

Now a senior, Carter can truly appreciate what it feels like to win a Mississippi Valley Conference title after those early struggles.

Prairie clinched at least a tie for the Mississippi Division crown in the Mississippi Valley Conference Tuesday night by splitting a doubleheader with the Kennedy Cougars at Kennedy.

Prairie rallied for a 6-3 victory in the opener. Kennedy cruised in the nightcap, 10-0 in six innings, behind a two-hit shutout by Andrea McEachran.

The split left Prairie with a 16-8 record in the MVC with two games left in the regular season. Waterloo West split its twinbill with Jefferson Tuesday night and finished the conference campaign with a 16-10 record.

Read more...

Kennedy takes pair from Xavier

The Cedar Rapids Kennedy softball program has made great strides under Coach Dan Gratz the last two seasons and has now become a major factor in the Mississippi Valley Conference.

They showed why Thursday night.

The Cougars swept an MVC twinbill from Xavier, 3-2 and 1-0, with strong pitching, good defense and a few timely hits.

Kennedy struggled with records of 9-32, 13-27 and 13-25 in 2011, 2012 and 2013, but it's been a different story since Gratz arrived on the scene last year. The Cougars went 27-14 in 2014 and are 23-9 and counting this season.

Sophomore Jenna Schwartzhoff pitched a complete game in the 3-2 victory, then senior Andrea McEachran tossed a three-hit shutout with 11 strikeouts in the nightcap.

Read more...

J-Hawks rise to 5th in softball poll

The Jefferson J-Hawks climbed one spot to No. 5 in the new Class 5A softball rankings Friday by the IGHSAU.

Jefferson raised its record to 20-5 Thursday by sweeping Kennedy in a Mississippi Valley Conference doubleheader at Kennedy. The Cougars (15-7) dropped two spots to No. 9 in the new rankings.

The Linn-Mar Lions, ranked 10th last week, fell out of the rankings Friday.

Iowa City West is ranked No. 1 in Class 5A. Indianola topped the 4A rankings.

Read more...

Olson, Good toss shutouts for J-Hawks

The Jefferson J-Hawks have a star pitcher named Alyssa and they also have a star pitcher named Alissa, but don't be confused.

No matter how you spell their names, it spells victory.

Alyssa Olson tossed a four-hit shutout as Jefferson blanked Kennedy, 2-0, in the first game of their Metro showdown at the Kennedy field Thursday night, then Alissa Good followed with another four-hit shutout in a 9-0 victory.

Olson is 10-3 for the J-Hawks with a 0.97 ERA, while Good is 10-1 with a 1.46 ERA.

"Obviously it's awesome for us," said Jefferson Coach Brian Erbe. "And we have to enjoy them while we have them, because they're both seniors. They complement each other so well."

Read more...