Kirkwood Community College - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Kirkwood sweeps Iowa Lakes again

The Kirkwood Community College baseball team is off to a good start this season with a 14-2 overall record and four straight wins in the ICCAC conference.

It will be interesting to see what happens once the Eagles finally get a chance to practice outside this year.

Cold weather and a soupy field have forced the Eagles to practice inside so far, but they're doing just fine in the games.

Kirkwood swept a doubleheader from Iowa Lakes for the second straight day Monday, this time 10-0 and 13-8, on a cold, blustery afternoon with the temperature in the high 30's.

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Belk pitches no-hitter as Eagles sweep

Collin Belk tossed a no-hitter as the Kirkwood Eagles trimmed Iowa Lakes, 2-1, in eight innings in the first game of a doubleheader at the Kirkwood field Sunday.

The Eagles also won the second game, 8-7.

Belk (4-0) walked only two batters and was touched for an unearned run in the fourth inning when Iowa Lakes took a 1-0 lead. Kirkwood scored in the bottom of the fourth and it stayed 1-1 until the bottom of the eighth.

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Logemann sets KCC record with 19 K's

Amber Logemann struck out 21 batters in the Class 1A state championship game for Earlham High School last year, but the Cardinals lost 1-0 to Martensdale-St. Mary's in 11 innings. So there wasn't a whole lot to celebrate that day.

She tossed another gem Saturday for the Kirkwood Eagles and went home a winner.

Logemann set a school record with 19 strikeouts as Kirkwood outlasted Southwestern Community College, 2-1, in 13 innings on a cold, wet, dreary day at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids.

Logemann coasted to victories in her previous two outings when the ninth-ranked Eagles blasted Ellsworth and Iowa Central in five innings, but the talented righthander had to work overtime in the first game of a doubleheader on Saturday.

"It's kind of nice to just keep going," she said. "I didn't know I had it in me, but if you need to do it, then get it done."

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Tatge swats 3 more homers for Kirkwood

Kayla Tatge played Home Run Derby for the Kirkwood Eagles again Friday with three more clouts against Iowa Central.

Now she's tied for the national lead.

Tatge slugged her 11th, 12th and 13th homers of the season as the ninth-ranked Eagles swept the Tritons, 10-0 and 19-3, at the Kirkwood field in Cedar Rapids.

Both mismatches lasted only 4 1/2 innings due to the mercy rule.

Tatge, a sophomore from Milan, Ill., is tied for the national lead in home runs at the NJCAA Division II level with Kaley Pyles of Highland (Kan.) Community College, according to the NJCAA website.

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Tatge, Logemann star as No.6 Eagles sweep

Kayla Tatge and Haylee Krack insist they do not have any side bets on who hits the most home runs for the Kirkwood Eagles this season.

No steak dinners, no free pizza, no ice cream sundaes.

"No, not at all," Tatge said Wednesday. "We're just doing our thing out here and helping the team as best we can."

Tatge socked four home runs Wednesday and Krack hit another as the sixth-ranked Eagles swept an ICCAC doubleheader from Ellsworth, 11-0 and 9-0, at the Kirkwood softball field.

Both games lasted only five innings.

Amber Logemann pitched a no-hitter with 12 strikeouts in the opener. Sam Belz followed with a two-hitter in the nightcap as Kirkwood (14-3, 2-0) cruised in both contests.

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Wagemester steps aside as Kirkwood coach

Doug Wagemester, one of the most intense and most successful junior college men's basketball coaches in the country, has decided to step aside as the head coach at Kirkwood Community College for the 2013-14 campaign.

Wagemester, 45, wants to concentrate on his job as Kirkwood's athletic director and also spend more time with his wife and three children.

Bryan Petersen, 25, a former Kirkwood player and one of Wagemester's assistant coaches this past season, has been named interim head coach for the 2013-14 season.

Wagemester plans to re-evaluate his situation a year from now and might return as Kirkwood's head coach for the 2014-15 campaign.

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3 KCC softball players pick next school

Three sophomores on the sixth-ranked Kirkwood Community College softball team will continue their careers at four-year schools next season.

Shelby Crist, a center fielder from Cedar Rapids Prairie, has committed to play at Upper Iowa, an NCAA Division II school. Crist is hitting .395 for the Eagles this season.

Kayla Tatge, a right fielder from Milan, Ill., has committed to Saint Ambrose, an NAIA school in Davenport. Tatge is hitting .341 with six homers and 15 RBIs.

Kristen Winter, a second baseman from Xavier, has committed to Luther, an NCAA Division III school that competes in the Iowa Conference. Winter is hitting .467 with three homers and 21 RBIs.

Eagles soar with Krack of the bat

Yogi Berra, a Hall of Fame catcher with the New York Yankees more than a half-century ago, once declared that you can't think and hit at the same time.

Kirkwood slugger Haylee Krack heartily agrees.

Krack walloped five homers in two games last Saturday at a tournament in Missouri. She belted two homers and drove in four runs against Carl Albert, then collected three homers and 10 RBIs against Oklahoma A&M.

She wasn't looking for a particular pitch or trying to work the count in her favor. Like Yogi, she tried to keep it as simple as possible.

"I felt clear-headed," she said Friday. "I don't think much. It's all reactions from muscle memory.

"It was just a great day. I felt good and I was having fun."

See ball. Hit ball.

"Yeah, pretty much," she claimed.

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NCAA baseball champ finds new home at Kirkwood

Most of the baseball players at Kirkwood Community College can only dream about playing in the College World Series in Omaha and winning an NCAA title.

Greg Brodzinski has already done it.

Brodzinski was a freshman catcher at South Carolina in 2011 when the Gamecocks won the NCAA Division I title with a 5-2 victory over Florida before 26,721 fans at TD Ameritrade Park.

Brodzinski was in the bullpen when South Carolina got the final out. He raced onto the field and joined the dogpile.

"I'll never forget that," he said Friday. "It's like in the movies."

Brodzinski anticipated becoming one of Carolina's top catchers in 2012, but a fifth-year senior was granted a special sixth year of eligibility for 2012 and Brodzinski decided to transfer to Coastal Carolina rather than being a reserve with the Gamecocks again.

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