Erin Kuba had one goal coming into the softball season.

"Ever since I can remember I've wanted to play varsity as an eighth grader so I could be a five-year letter winner," Kuba said. "I was surprised he put me out there."

Kuba started in left field for Jefferson in the first game of Thursday's doubleheader against Cedar Falls. The No. 7 J-Hawks (14-1) swept the Tigers, 6-0 and 3-1, running their winning streak to 13.

Kuba played only the opener and was 0-for-2 with a walk and a run scored, meaningless stats for most. But it meant the world to Kuba to be back on the field 38 days after she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and 20 days after having her thyroid surgically removed.

"I was a little nervous, but I've played enough ball not to be too nervous," said Kuba, 14, who grew up playing softball in the highly successful Blue Devils organization.

She may not have been very nervous, but her father admitted to feeling the nerves.

"I probably had more butterflies than she did," said Mike Kuba, who also is the Jefferson baseball coach. "She's a pretty resilient kid and it's nice to have her back doing something that she likes to do."

Erin has been getting six month checks at the University of Iowa since age 12 for hypothyroidism, a condition where the thyroid gland does not produce enough hormones that control the way the body uses energy. Heart rate is among the things regulated by the hormone.

She was being checked because both of her parents suffer from the condition and treat it with medication.

"If you're not on the meds, you're just like a zombie," Mike said.

Erin was diagnosed with cancer on May 1 after one of her regular checkups. She had surgery May 18 to remove he thyroid, a butterfly shaped gland located in the lower throat.

The incision has not yet completely healed, but is sufficiently closed that she can play with a protective bandage over her throat.

"I've been itching to play," Erin said.

"We're grateful she is back playing softball," said Tammy Kuba, Erin's mother. "We didn't doubt that she wouldn't get back.

"We have this saying up in Erin's room. It says 'You don't know how strong you are until strong is all you have.' That's our motto."

While Erin is back on the field, she still is facing a round of treatments in early July. Cancer cells were detected in one of the seven lymph nodes removed during her surgery and she will be treated with radioactive iodine, a course of therapy that will run until mid-August.

"I just want to play as much as I can," Erin said.

"We just keep taking the lemons and making lemonade," Mike said of the family's approach to Erin's illness. "Tonight was one small step forward for her."

Kuba's return overshadowed another outstanding pitching performance by Hannah Petersen, who was one out away from tossing a no-hitter when Cedar Falls' Amity Beiner blooped an infield single in the opener.

"It feels like that has happened a lot," said Petersen, who fanned 11 and walked three. "But it probably hasn't been."

Kaitlyn Davidson had a bases-clearing double in the opener as Jefferson scored three times in the sixth to break the game open.

Petersen and Kailey Drake had RBI singles in the nightcap to back the pitching of junior Brooke Stauffer, who scattered six hits and stuck out six.

Jefferson hosts No. 1 Des Moines East on Friday night at 7:30 in the Jefferson Classic.

"Tonight gave me a chance to work on some things for East," Petersen said. "That's a really big game. It's a big change in competition."

GAME ONE

CEDAR FALLS (0)
Zoey Youngblut, c, 3 0 0 0, Paige Miller, cf, 3 0 0 0, Lauren Smith, ss, 2 0 0 0, Mercedes Hutchins, 3b, 3 0 0 0, Megan Runyan, 1b, 2 0 0 0, Brittni Wight, ph, 1 0 0 0, McKenzie Sesterhenn, 2b, 2 0 0 0, Lauryn Kramer, ph, 1 0 0 0, Amity Beiner, rf, 2 0 1 0, Alyssa Aikey, lf, 2 0 0 0, Kelsey Aikey, p, 1 0 0 0, Gwen Davies, cr, 0 0 0 0. Totals 22 0 1  0.

JEFFERSON (6)
Rachel Sedlacek, rf, 2 1 1 0, Dani Stromert, cf, 3 1 1 1, Maddie Hansen, c, 3 0 1 1, Amber Grimm, cr, 0 1 0 0, Hannah McInerney, 3b, 2 0 0 0, Savannah Fowler, pr, 0 1 0 0, Kenna Fry, 1b, 3 0 1 1, Erin Kuba, lf, 2 1 0 0, Hannah Petersen, p, 3 0 1 0, Maddie Blietz, cr, 0 0 0 0, Carson Burgart, ss, 1 1 0 0, Kaitlyn Davidson, 2b, 3 0 2 3. Totals 22 6 7 6.

Cedar Falls   000 000 0 --  0  1  2
Jefferson    201 003 x --  6  7  0

K.Aikey and Youngblut. Petersen and Hansen. W - Petersen. L - K.Aikey, 2B - Sedlacek, Davidson.

GAME TWO

CEDAR FALLS (1)
Youngblut, 2b, 4 0 1 0, Miller, cf, 3 0 0 0, Smith, ss, 3 0 1 1, Hutchins, 3b, 3 0 0 0, Beiner, rf, 3 0 0 0, A.Aikey, lf, 3 0 1 0, Wright, p, 3 0 2 0, Sesterhenn, 1b, 3 0 1 0, Nicole Norman, dh, 2 1 0 0, Kramer, c, 0 0 0 0. Totals 27 1 6 1.

JEFFERSON (3)
Sedlacek, rf, 2 2 1 0, Kailey Drake, cf, 4 0 1 1, Hansen, c, 1 0 1 0, Grimm, cr, 0 1 0 0, Fry, 1b, 2 0 0 0, Katelyn Holub, pr, 0 0 0 0, Petesen, lf, 3 0 2 1, Maddie Koolbeck, dh, 2 0 0 0, Brooke Stauffer, p, 0 0 0 0, Blietz, 3b, 3 0 1 0, Burgart, ss, 3 0 0 0, Davidson, 2b, 3 0 1 0. Totals 23 3 7 2.

Cedar Falls    000 010 0 --  1  6  1
Jefferson     210 000 x --  3  7  2

Wright and Kramer. Stauffer and Hansen. W - Stauffer. L - Wright. 2B - Sedlacek.