Prairie High School - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Hammer blossoms as Schwabe's star pupil

Brennan Hammer has dreamed for several years about playing college baseball at Arizona State University, which has one of the richest traditions in the country.

He might have the talent if he continues to improve at a rapid rate, but one thing is fairly clear: He's getting the right coaching.

Hammer's head coach at Cedar Rapids Prairie is Matt Thede, who was a catcher in the minor leagues for several years. And his special pitching coach is Mike Schwabe, who spent two years in the Major Leagues with the Detroit Tigers and now gives lessons at the GWE Sports Center in northeast Cedar Rapids.

Hammer put on a good show Friday night when he pitched a complete game and hit a two-run triple as Prairie defeated Ottumwa, 7-1, in the opening round of the Class 4A substate tournament at Prairie.

Thede coached Hammer on the field while Schwabe watched intently from behind the fence.

"It's kind of like watching my own kid out there," Schwabe said after the game. "It's the same thing."

Schwabe, 48, is from Fort Dodge originally. He played at Arizona State, coincidentally, and had a modest 2-4 record and 5.77 earned run average during his two-year stint with the Tigers and Hall of Fame Manager Sparky Anderson in 1989 and 1990.

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Prairie blanked by IC West, 6-0

IOWA CITY - Mackenzie Laux pitched a shutout with nine strikeouts Tuesday as No. 9 Iowa City West blanked Cedar Rapids Prairie, 6-0, in the Class 5A regional finals in Iowa City.

Iowa City West advances to the state softball tournament with a 36-6 record. Prairie ended its season with a 9-29 record.

Late rally foils Prairie Hawks

Bettendorf scored twice in the top of the seventh inning and beat Prairie, 2-1, Monday night in a non-conference baseball game at Prairie.

Bettendorf (18-17) scored both of its runs with two outs. With two out and two on the Bulldogs plated a run on a fielder’s choice that was not in time to retire a man, and then again on an error.

Just like that the victory slipped through the Hawks' fingers.

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Kuch tosses 3-hitter as Prairie upsets Waterloo East

WATERLOO — Hits were hard to come by at Waterloo East Saturday night. Cedar Rapids Prairie still found its way on base and, more importantly, across the plate.

Waterloo East committed five errors — three of them turned into four unearned runs in the top of the fifth inning — and it gave Prairie a 4-0 upset victory in the semifinals of the Class 5A regional softball tournament.

Prairie (9-28) earned a date against No. 9 Iowa City West (35-6) in the regional finals Tuesday night at Iowa City West, with the winner going to the state tournament.

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