Cedar Rapids Prairie senior Tyler Butz hurt his right shoulder this spring playing prom dodgeball.

True story. Prom dodgeball.

Butz is almost fully recovered now and played a major role Tuesday as the Hawks spanked Kennedy, 7-3, to beat the struggling Cougars on back-to-back nights.

Butz went 3-for-3 with a double, three RBIs and a sacrifice bunt. He also played a solid game at second base, although he's itching to return to third base once his right shoulder is back to normal.

Prom dodgeball.

"It's a thing we have every year," Butz explained. "Post-prom dodgeball. We put a team together.

"I tried to throw really hard and the next day I was pitching to my dad and it hurt. It kept bothering me. And it finally hurt so bad I went in and got it looked at."

Butz was diagnosed with tendinitis in his rotator cuff.

"It's coming back a lot stronger now," he said. "I'm getting a lot more zip on the ball."

Prairie held its senior prom on Saturday, April 27. Once the actual prom was over, they held the post-prom dodgeball tournament at the high school.

It's a regular event, with teams and rules and everything. There were seven people on his team.

"If win you get $25 or something like that," Butz said. "We lost, so I didn't help them."

Butz began the high school season as Prairie's designated hitter and recently entered the lineup at second base. He made a sensational diving play Monday night when the Hawks beat Kennedy, 5-2,at Prairie.

"We're not nearly as strong unless he's playing the field for us," said Prairie Coach Matt Thede. "His arm is getting stronger. We'll eventually move him back across the infield (to third base)."

Butz has signed with Kirkwood, where Coach Todd Rima plans to use him at third base.

Kennedy came out swinging against Prairie ace Brennan Hammer and grabbed a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on back-to-back ringing doubles by Brock Skow and Jared Staton.

Prairie got even in the second inning when Butz led off with a double, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on an error.

Kennedy's bats got quiet and Prairie's bats came alive against freshman Jackson Behn, who entered the game in relief in the third inning. Tyler Votroubek, Butz and Blake Stallman collected RBI singles as the Hawks took a 4-1 lead.

Prairie made it 6-1 in the fourth inning when Butz hit a two-run single. Kennedy pulled within 7-3 in the seventh inning and loaded the bases with two outs, but Sammy Lizarraga popped out to end the game.

Butz laid down a sacrifice bunt in the top of the seventh to help the Hawks score an insurance run.

Hammer, who has signed with Heartland (Ill.) Community College, allowed two runs in six innings. He struck out seven batters and allowed five hits.

Prairie raised its records to 7-4 overall and 3-1 in the Mississippi Valley Conference with its rare two-game sweep of Kennedy.

"We are proud of that and we're going to keep moving forward with the victory," said Thede.

Kennedy, trying to rebuild after suffering heavy graduation losses, fell to 2-6 overall and 1-4 in the league.

Kennedy Coach Bret Hoyer used six different pitchers Tuesday, searching for quality arms that can help the team.

PRAIRIE (7): T.Mougin, ss, 3 1 0 0, Hammer, p, 3 0 0 0, Becker, cr, 0 0 0 0, Milks, p, 0 0 0 0, Davison, lf, 4 2 2 0, Votroubek, 1b, 2 1 1 1, Benson, pr, 0 1 0 0, Butz, 2b, 3 1 3 3, Stallman, cf, 4 0 2 1, Beckman, dh, 3 0 0 0, Day, c, 0 0 0 0, N.Mougin, 3b, 3 0 0 0, Becker, ph, 0 0 0 0, Peters, rf, 3 1 0 0. Totals 28 7 8 5.

KENNEDY (3): Jacobus, cf/ss/p, 4 1 1 0, Skow, 3b, 4 1 2 1, Staton, 1b, 1 0 1 1, Cunningham, 1b, 3 0 2 1, Moa, rf, 3 0 0 0, Lizarraga, 2b, 4 0 0 0, Smetzer, dh, 3 0 0 0, Stevens, lf, 3 0 0 0, Jurgensen, c, 1 0 0 0, Fillenworth, cr, 0 0 0 0, Daniels, ss/p, 2 0 0 0, Fifield, ph, 1 1 1 0, King, p, 0 0 0 0, Behn, p, 0 0 0 0, Sass, p, 0 0 0 0, Maiers, p, 0 0 0 0, Johnson, cf, 0 0 0 0. Totals 29 3 7 3.

Prairie         013 200 1 - 7 8 1
Kennedy    100 010 1 - 3 7 2

Hammer, Milks (7) and Day. King, Behn (3), Sass (4), Maiers (4), Daniels (6), Jacobus (7) and Ferguson. W - Hammer. L - Behn. 2B - Butz, Skow, Staton. SB - Stallman.