Prairie Baseball

4 Metro teams make baseball rankings

Cedar Rapids Prairie jumped into the prep baseball rankings Monday by the Iowa Baseball Coaches Association, putting four Metro teams in the Class 4A rankings for the first time this season.

The Jefferson J-Hawks are ranked No. 4, Linn-Mar is No. 7, Prairie is No. 8 and Kennedy has fallen to No. 10 after beginning the year in the No. 1 spot in the poll.

Three Central Iowa teams top the Class 4A charts with Johnston, Waukee and Southeast Polk ranked 1-2-3.

The Xavier Saints dropped out of the Class 3A rankings.

CLASS 4A

1. Johnston, 2. Waukee, 3. Southeast Polk, 4. Jefferson, 5. Dowling, 6. Sioux City East, 7. Linn-Mar, 8. Prairie, 9. Iowa City West, 10. Kennedy.

CLASS 3A

1. Davenport Assumption, 2. Pella, 3. West Delaware, 4. Sioux City Heelan, 5. Harlan, 6. Knoxville, 7. Gilbert, 8. Waverly-Shell Rock, 9. Fairfield, 10. Williamsburg.

Tyler Nunemaker wins Metro Spotlight Award

Tyler Nunemaker of Cedar Rapids Prairie is the winner of the Metro Spotlight Award for high school boys this week, the Metro Sports Report announced Sunday night.

Nunemaker, a junior, has burst onto the scene this season as one of the top baseball players in the Metro area

Nunemaker is batting .500 with three doubles, one home run, 13 RBIs and nine runs scored in 11 games. He is 16-for-32 at the plate so far.

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Prairie knocks off No.10 North Scott

Tyler Nunemaker went 4-for-4 and drove in two runs Wednesday night as the Prairie Hawks upset 10th-ranked North Scott, 12-2, in six innings at Prairie.

The Hawks raised their record to 10-2.

Cal Clark, Trey Beckman and Cooper Reittinger went 2-for-3 for Prairie. Beckman drove in two runs.

Alex Mixon was the winning pitcher.

North Scott    101 000 - 2 8 0
Prairie        420 402 - 12 14 3

W - Mixon. L - Summers.

Daniels stops Prairie with 2-hitter

Zach Daniels had already thrown 109 pitches when Kennedy Coach Bret Hoyer visited the mound in the top of the seventh inning Tuesday in a tense game against Prairie.

Kennedy owned a 3-2 lead, but the Hawks had runners at first and second with only one out with the game hanging in the balance.

Most coaches would ask their pitcher how he felt after throwing 109 pitches, but Daniels was an elite all-state selection last year and will throw for the Iowa Hawkeyes when his prep career is over.

Hoyer never asked.

"It kind of surprised me," Daniels said with a grin.

Hoyer had confidence in Daniels and liked the way he was pitching. And as it turned out, all it took was one more pitch.

Daniels got Jared Street to bounce into a 6-4-3 double play to end the game, with Kennedy first baseman Tyler Jacobs making a nice pick of a one-hop throw to prevent the tying run from scoring.

That ended Kennedy's 3-2 victory in a Mississippi Valley Conference game at Kennedy.

Hoyer reminded his infielders what to do if they ball was hit to them in the top of the seventh, but confirmed he had few words for his star hurler.

"I reassured him that he still had real good stuff, real good life," Hoyer said. "Trust yourself and hit the mitt, and he did."

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