Kirkwood Baseball

KCC nips Ellsworth at Region XI meet

WATERLOO - Cale Henke pitched effectively into the eighth inning and Randy Perez provided the relief Thursday as Kirkwood trimmed Ellsworth, 6-5, in the opening round of the NJCAA Region XI baseball tournament at Riverfront Stadium in Waterloo.

Kirkwood (30-17) will face DMACC in the winners bracket semifinals Friday at 4 p.m.

Henke (5-2) allowed three earned runs in 7.2 innings. Perez struck out three batters in the final 1.1 innings for his fourth save.

Eric Schenck-Joblinske went 3-for-4 for the Eagles. Zach Patterson, Nick Jones and Perez all had two hits. Shawn Hagarty drove in two runs.

Perez began the game at third base, then came into pitch.

Eagles face Ellsworth in juco tourney

WATERLOO - The Kirkwood Eagles have been seeded No.4 and will face Ellsworth in the opening round of the NJCAA Region XI baseball tournament at Riverfront Stadium in Waterloo Thursday morning.

The game is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m.

Kirkwood enters the tournament with a 29-17 record. The Eagles finished 13-11 in the ICCAC conference to earn the No.4 seed. Ellsworth (22-28) is seeded fifth.

The other opening-round games feature No.1 DMACC vs. No.8 Southwestern at 1 p.m., No.2 Southeastern vs. No.7 Iowa Lakes at 4 p.m., and No.3 Iowa Central vs. No.6 NIACC at 7 p.m.

The double-elimination tournament continues Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday (if necessary).

Kirkwood hit .320 as a team during the regular season and features Sulliam Rios Reyes (.373), Matt Paciello (.372) and Angel Merced (.365). Merced leads the Eagles with five home runs and 43 RBIs.

Cale Henke, Will Ross, Keaton Blackford and Shawn Simmons have all won four games for the KCC pitching staff.

KCC splits with Southeastern again

The Kirkwood baseball team split a doubleheader with Southeastern Community College Saturday for the second straight day.

The Eagles walloped SCC, 11-2, in the first game. Southeastern returned the favor in the nightcap, 12-1.

Jamison Steege pitched a complete game for Kirkwood in the opener. He allowed only four hits and one earned run with five strikeouts.

Sulliam Rios Reyes went 4-for-4 for the Eagles in the first game. Matt Paciello went 3-for-4. Eric Schenck-Joblinske and Angel Merced were 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Milton Croes drove in two runs.

Kirkwood collected only three hits in the second game.

The split left the Eagles at 29-16 overall and 13-11 in the conference. Southeastern is 36-18 overall and 19-7 in the league.

KCC baseball splits with Southeastern

WEST BURLINGTON - Will Ross pitched a strong game Friday as Kirkwood defeated Southeastern Community College, 4-2, in the second game of an ICCAC conference doubleheader in West Burlington.

Southeastern won the first game, 5-4.

Ross allowed two earned runs in six innings. Randy Perez pitched a scoreless seventh inning for the save. Perez and Sulliam Rios Reyes went 2-for-3 for the Eagles in the second game.

Cale Henke allowed only three earned runs in eight innings in the first game for Kirkwood. Eric Schenck-Joblinske went 2-for-4 with a double and triple. Matt Paciello and Shawn Hagarty had two hits and Angel Merced drove in two runs.

Kirkwood raised its records to 28-15 overall and 12-10 in the league. Southeastern raised its marks to 35-17 overall and 18-6. Southeastern is in first place in the conference.