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* Contact Metro Sports Report * Jim Ecker, President & Editor jim.ecker@metrosportsreport.com 319-390-4236 |
IOWA CITY - Jefferson built an early lead, but No.2 Iowa City West came back to claim a 4-2 win Friday night in a Class 4A substate quarterfinal baseball game at West.
The Trojans (33-7) advance to Wednesday's substate final. They will host either Kennedy or Linn-Mar.
Run-scoring singles by Lucas Larson and Ky Kramer in the second and third innings, respectively, gave Jefferson a 2-0 lead.
Metro high school softball, and girls' sports in general, were in their infancy 30 years ago. Many teams did not even have their own fields, let alone lights. The feeder programs so prevalent today were non-existent. Girls’ sports simply were not a priority.
Larry Niemeyer went to Cedar Rapids Jefferson in 1978 and soon took over the softball program. He had been a successful coach at Adel, winning a state championship in the fall of 1970 among nine state appearances.
"There was hardly any (softball) culture at all back then," Niemeyer said. "At that time, there was a rule girls couldn’t play until the summer of their sophomore year. Now they can play five years."
This summer marks the 30th anniversary of Jefferson’s – and the Metro’s – first state softball title. It was achieved in a one-class tournament (there are five classes now). The J-Hawks defeated Turkey Valley, 5-4, in the 1983 championship game.
MUSCATINE - The curse is broken.
After falling the past three years in the regional finals, the Jefferson girls made it back to the state softball tournament in style Tuesday night.
They did it by crushing the top-ranked Class 5A team in the state on Muscatine’s home field, no less, with a thoroughly dominating 7-0 shutout of the Muskies.
The 10th-ranked J-Hawks (31-11) will face No.3 Ottumwa (36-6) in the quarterfinals of the state tournament in Fort Dodge on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
Jared Eivins' two-run single in the bottom of the seventh inning lifted Jefferson past Marion, 8-7, Tuesday night in a non-conference baseball game at the J-Hawk diamond.
Jefferson (12-27) won the game despite committing seven errors.
The J-Hawks play at Iowa City West (31-7) in the Class 4A substate tournament quarterfinals Friday night at 7.
Marion (18-18) plays Davenport Assumption in the Class 3A district semifinals Friday at Solon at 5 p.m.
On the back of her left hand, right at eye level when she’s at bat, Jefferson’s Maddie Koolbeck has big, bold letters that spell “KISS.”
“It stands for ‘Keep It Simple, Stupid’,” she said, explaining that her big brother Jake, an assistant coach at Clear Creek Amana, suggested it early in the year when she was struggling at the plate.
“I’ve had an up-and-down season,” noted the senior first baseman, her .342 batting average notwithstanding. “The problem is I think too much. I sometimes overthink things instead of just going up there and hitting the ball.”
Koolbeck broke out of her perceived slump in a big way in the fifth inning Saturday night as the 10th-ranked J-Hawks belted Washington, 11-0, in five innings in the Class 5A regional semifinals at Larry Niemeyer Field.
Spencer Hunt slugged a pair of home runs in the first game and propelled Jefferson to a doubleheader sweep of Waterloo East, 16-0 and 7-1, Friday in Mississippi Valley Conference baseball at lower Kingston.
Hunt drove in five runs in the four-inning opener. Cam Frazier also belted a home run and drove in four runs. Spencer VanScoyoc had three RBIs.
VanScoyoc, Frazier and Hunt were a combined 9-for-9, scored nine runs and drove in 12 at the top of the Jefferson order.
Xavier is sixth in the final Class 4A softball rankings of the season released by the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union.
Jefferson slipped one spot to No.10 in the final Class 5A rankings.
Xavier hosts No.15 North Scott in a Class 4A regional semifinal Saturday night.
Muscle-bound Maddie Hansen is one tough cookie, both at the plate and behind it.
While the Jefferson sophomore catcher has been fast racking up extra base hits and runs batted in this season, her defensive skills are just as impressive.
At a crucial point in a critical game Monday against Iowa City West, a runner attempted to score from second on a sharp hit to deep left center. The J-Hawks were nursing a 2-0 lead in a game they had to win to stay alive in the conference championship race.
The Cedar Rapids Jefferson J-Hawks were nudged by Davenport North, 2-1, in a non-conference baseball game at Jefferson on Wednesday night.
The J-Hawks trailed, 2-0, heading into the bottom of the seventh. They scored once, but could not get the equalizer.
Cam Frazier had two hits for Jefferson (9-27). Lucas Larson pitched the entire game and was the hard-luck loser.
DAVENPORT NORTH (2): Goettsch 3 0 2 0, Samuelson 4 0 0 0, TeBrake 3 2 1 1, Heim 3 0 0 0, Roehm 3 0 1 0, Wolf 2 0 1 1, DeFauw 0 0 0 0, Ringsdorf 3 0 0 0, Marks 3 0 1 0. Totals 27 2 6 2.
JEFFERSON (1): Van Scoyoc 4 0 0 0, Frazier 4 0 2 0, Hunt 3 0 1 0, Wright 2 1 1 0, Sullivan 2 0 0 0, Kramer 3 0 1 0, Koering 2 0 0 0, Larson 3 0 1 0, Johnson 2 0 0 0. Totals 25 1 6 0.
Davenport North 101 000 0 - 2 6 2
Jefferson 000 000 1 - 1 6 2
W - DeFauw. L - Larson. HR - TeBrake. SB - Hunt, Wright.
The Cedar Rapids Jefferson J-Hawks didn't know when they were licked in their ballgame at Kennedy on Tuesday night.
Unfortunately for Jefferson, neither did the Cougars.
Kennedy rallied for two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning and topped the J-Hawks, 12-11, on a game-winning single by Andrew Johnson.
Jefferson scored three runs in the top of the seventh to take an 11-10 lead, but the Cougars tied the game on a double by Derek Jacobus and won it on Johnson's clean single to left.
"That was a dogfight," said Jefferson Coach Kyle Rodenkirk. "That's exactly what you want when you come to the yard.
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