Kirkwood Community College - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

No. 13 Eagles split with DMACC

BOONE - The Kirkwood Eagles scored three runs in the top of the ninth inning Friday to trim DMACC, 7-6, and split their conference doubleheader in Boone.

DMACC won the first game, 9-3.

The split left the 13th-ranked Eagles with an 18-4 record in the ICCAC Conference, leaving them in a tight battle with 18th-ranked Southeastern (19-5) and 12th-ranked NIACC (17-5) for the title.

Jack Fitzgerald drove in three runs for Kirkwood in the nightcap. General McArthur was 2-for-3 and scored two runs. Emanuel Castellano picked up the victory in relief and Dariel Checo pitched the bottom of the ninth for a save.

Kirkwood and DMACC are scheduled to play another twinbill Sunday.

Kirkwood (32-14) will finish the conference race next weekend with two doubleheaders against Southeastern, with one twinbill in West Burlington Friday and the other doubleheader at Kirkwood Saturday.

Nearad hits for cycle as No. 4 Kirkwood rolls

Taylor Nearad put a big exclamation point on her bid to be named the National Player of the Year Friday.

Kirkwood's talented center-fielder hit for the cycle as the fourth-ranked Eagles ripped Ellsworth, 15-0, in five innings in the opening round of the regional softball tournament at Kirkwood.

Nearad collected a single and a two-run triple in the first inning when Kirkwood batted around and scored nine runs. She lined a two-run homer in the third inning and had an RBI double in the fourth.

The freshman from Solon went 4-for-4, drove in five runs and hit for the cycle with a single, double, triple and home run in just four innings.

Nearad is now hitting .619 with 26 home runs and 115 RBIs in 56 games as she bids for the NJCAA Division II Triple Crown. She also has 133 hits, 102 runs, 27 doubles and 11 triples and ranks No. 1 in the nation in numerous offensive categories.

Few people have seen anything like it.

"I have not, to be honest," said Kirkwood assistant coach Jenny Nelson, who was an All-American for the Eagles during her playing days. "It's pretty special to watch.

"And knowing how she is as a kid and a person, it makes me that much more proud of her. She's such a great kid and a great teammate."

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Madison Wood signs with Eastern Kentucky

Kirkwood Community College center Madison Wood has signed a national letter-of-intent to continue her basketball career at Eastern Kentucky University.

Wood, a 6-foot-3 sophomore from Cedar Falls, was named a second team All-American this season. She led Kirkwood in three major categories with 11.3 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game. The Eagles finished 27-6 and won the ICCAC conference title.

Eastern Kentucky, located in Richmond, Ky., is an NCAA Division I school that competes in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Colonels finished 18-12 overall and 10-6 in the league this season.

Kirkwood's Hunter Rhodes signs with UNI

University of Northern Iowa head men's basketball coach Ben Jacobson has signed junior college All-American Hunter Rhodes to a National Letter-of-Intent to play for the Panthers next season.

Rhodes earned first-team NJCAA Division II All-America honors last season after helping lead Kirkwood to the NJCAA national title. He averaged 12.6 points per game, shot 44.3 percent from 3-point range and handed out 4.1 assists per game for the Eagles and head coach Bryan Petersen.

Rhodes also earned first-team all-region honors and was named the NJCAA Division II Region XI Tournament MVP.

Rhodes, a 6-foot guard, played his prep basketball at Canton (Ill.) High School, where he averaged 23.2 points per game and was named the Daily Ledger Player of the Year as a senior.

Pairings set for JUCO softball tourney

The Kirkwood Eagles will face Ellsworth in the opening round of the Regional XI-A softball tournament Friday at 2 p.m. at the Kirkwood field.

Southwestern will meet Iowa Lakes Friday at 4 p.m. in the other opener.

Kirkwood (49-4) is the No. 1 seed in the regional. Southwestern (25-24) is seeded fourth, Iowa Lakes (24-20) is fifth and Ellsworth (6-45) is eighth.

The semifinals are scheduled for Saturday at 2 p.m. The finals are Sunday at 12 p.m., with a second championship game Sunday at 2 p.m. if needed in the double-elimination tournament.

The regional champion will advance to the district tournament. The district champion will qualify for the national tournament.

Kirkwood compiled a 4-0 record during the regular season against all three opponents in the regional.

KCC golfers shine at Fighting Scot Invy

MONMOUTH, Ill. - The Kirkwood Eagles dominated the Fighting Scot Invitational at the Gibson Woods Golf Course Sunday.

The Eagles won the event by 29 strokes as Charles Hartwig, Carson Whittington and Louis Flynn of Kirkwood finished 1-2-3 in the individual standings.

Hartwig won the 36-hole event with a 2-under-par 140 with rounds of 72 and 68. Whittington finished a shot back in second place at 141, with rounds of 69 and 72. Flynn tied for third with a 145.

Eddie Doyle tied for sixth for Kirkwood with a 147 and Jordan Even tied for 15th at 154.

Kirkwood finished at 5-over 573 as a team. Black Hawk placed second at 602.

TEAM STANDINGS

1. Kirkwood 573, 2. Black Hawk 602, 3. Augustana 608, 4. Monmouth 613, 5. North Central 547, 6. Grinnell 621, 7. Illinois College 638, 8. Iowa Wesleyan 644, 9. Monmouth "B" 652, 10. Augustana "B" 659, 11. Knox 676, 12. Monmouth "C" 683.

Carter lifts No. 4 Eagles after Yegge tossed

Gabi Carter and the Kirkwood Eagles kept their calm Sunday after Coach Joe Yegge was ejected during the second game of their doubleheader against Iowa Central.

The Eagles rallied from a 2-0 deficit and trimmed the Tritons, 3-2, in eight innings on Carter's two-out single that drove in Taylor Nearad with the winning run with Yegge watching through a window in nearby Johnson Hall.

Kirkwood won the first game, 8-0, and clinched the outright ICCAC Conference title with a 27-1 record.

Yegge was tossed in the second inning of the nightcap after arguing a bang-bang play at first base. Iowa Central took a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning on a two-run homer, but Kirkwood tied the game in the bottom of the sixth and grabbed the victory when Carter lashed a base hit inside the third-base line with runners at first and second.

Carter liked coming to the plate in the game-winning situation.

"It's definitely an energy rush, to be honest," said Carter, a Cedar Rapids Prairie grad. "I just knew I had to get the ball down on the ground because I'd been hitting everything in the air."

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No. 17 Eagles sweep Iowa Lakes again

ESTHERVILLE - The 17th-ranked Kirkwood Eagles swept their second straight doubleheader from Iowa Lakes Sunday to remain in first place in the ICCAC Conference baseball standings.

Kirkwood edged the Lakers, 5-4, in the first game and claimed the nightcap 16-6.

The Eagles raised their record to 17-3 in the ICCAC with eight games left in the conference race. The Eagles are 31-13 overall and riding an eight-game winning streak.

Matt Paciello went 3-for-4 with two RBIs in the 5-4 victory. Jack Fitzgerald had two hits and Colin Kreiter scored two runs.

Brock Neuhaus pitched six innings for the victory and Dariel Checo collected a save with a scoreless inning in the bottom of the seventh after the Eagles had taken the lead in the top of the seventh.

JT Sole belted a grand slam and drove in five runs in the 16-6 triumph. Paciello was 4-for-4 and scored three times.

General McArthur was 3-for-3 with two RBIs and three runs. Tyler Border drove in two runs and scored four times. Kreiter was 2-for-3 with two runs and Fitzgerald drove in three runs.

Austin Clemens got the win for Kirkwood.

Iowa Lakes fell to 12-23 overall and 3-17 in the conference.

Hansen helps No. 4 Eagles clinch ICCAC title

Maddie Hansen is getting a lot of good pitches to hit this season as a freshman at Kirkwood, a refreshing change from last year when opponents regularly pitched around her at Cedar Rapids Jefferson.

Hansen has jumped on the opportunity and is hitting .453 with 13 home runs and 66 RBIs for the fourth-ranked Eagles, who have one of the top offenses in the country.

Kirkwood swept a conference doubleheader Saturday from Northeast, 14-0 and 12-0, to clinch at least a tie for the ICCAC title and give Coach Joe Yegge the 500th victory of his career.

Hansen went 2-for-3 in the opener with a double, an RBI and two runs scored. She did not get any hits in the second game, but contributed to the victory with more stellar defense behind the plate.

Hansen had 34 walks in 44 games at Jefferson last season, the third-most walks in the state. She still managed to hit .492 with 11 homers and 46 RBIs for the J-Hawks, but her numbers would have been even higher if not for the free passes.

This year, opponents are pitching to Hansen and she's producing.

"I really like it compared to my senior year," she said Saturday. "There were a few games that were a little frustrating last year, but it's good to see some good pitches and get the job done."

Ironically, Kirkwood Coach Joe Yegge was one of those high school coaches who regularly gave Hansen an intentional walk in his role as the head coach at Cedar Rapids Prairie.

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