Kirkwood Community College - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Kirkwood falls to DMACC in regional

WATERLOO - Kirkwood Coach Todd Rima still thinks his club can make a deep run in the regional baseball tournament in Waterloo this weekend, but the job got a lot tougher Thursday.

The Eagles lost to DMACC, 7-4, in 11 innings in the opening round and fell into a loser's bracket game Friday morning in the double-elimination tournament at Riverfront Stadium. Kirkwood will meet Ellsworth, a 12-7 loser to top seed Iowa Central at 10 a.m.

Kirkwood (32-21) jumped to an early 3-0 lead on home runs by Jack Fitzgerald and Randy Perez, but DMACC battled back against Kirkwood starter Nick Drahozal and prevailed in extra frames.

"That's a heartbreaker a little bit," said Rima. "You felt like you had chances to win. You can't change it now. We have to move forward and bounce back."

The Bears took a 4-3 lead with a pair of home runs of their own against Drahozal, the Xavier grad who lasted 6 1/3 innings and threw 95 pitches.

Kirkwood tied the game, 4-4, in the bottom of the eighth on an RBI single by Toran Shahidi following a leadoff double by Luke Hassman.

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Kirkwood falls to Cornell JV team

The Kirkwood baseball team was trimmed by the Cornell junior varsity, 9-8, Monday in a game called after eight innings due to darkness at Kirkwood.

Adam Barbarich, Sulliam Rios Reyes and Noah Dostal had two hits for Kirkwood. Zach Patterson drove in two runs.

Kirkwood fell to 32-20.

Cornell     302 301 00 - 9 11 1
Kirkwood    051 001 01 - 8 11 4

Eagles, Cutkomp win regional titles

PANORA - The Kirkwood men's golf team took a four-shot lead into the final day and held off DMACC by three shots to win the Region XI Men's Golf Tournament on Sunday at the Lake Panorama Golf Club.

The Eagles, led by 1-2 finishers Daniel Cutkomp and Carson Whittington, finished with a two-day total of 616, three shots better than second-place DMACC. Northeast was third at 628.

Cutkomp outdueled teammate Whittington for the individual title. He shot 76-74 to finish at 150. Whittington shot 78-73 to finish at 151. Both were also named to the ICCAC All-Conference first team. Blaine Buhr and Dylan Daxon were honorable mention selections.

The regional title was the 12th in program history. Coach Darin Pint's team will play in the national tournament May 19-22 at the Goose Pond Colony Golf Course in Scottsboro, Ala.

REGION XI MEN'S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP
Team standings

1. Kirkwood 313+303=616. 2. DMACC 317+302=619, 3. Northeast 318+310=628, 4. NIACC 330+308=638, 5. Iowa Lakes 333+325=658, 6. Iowa Central 337+329=666. 7. Ellsworth 361+332=693.

KIRKWOOD: 1. Daniel Cutkomp 76+75=150, 2. Carson Whittington 78+73=151. 12. Blaine Buhr 80+78=158, T13. Dylan Daxon 79+81=160. 22. Eddie Doyle 85+78=153.

Kirkwood leads regional golf tourney

PANORA - The Kirkwood Eagles took a four-shot lead Saturday after the first round of the Region XI junior college men's golf tournament at the Lake Panorama Golf Club in Panora.

The Eagles finished the first 18 holes at 313, followed by DMACC (317) and Northeast (318) in a tight race. The final round is scheduled for Sunday.

Dan Cutkomp of Kirkwood is tied for third place in the individual standings at 4-over-par 76. Anibal Reinoso of Ellsworth and Sam Steinwand of NIACC share the lead at 3-over 75.

TEAM STANDINGS

1. Kirkwood 313, 2. DMACC 317, 3. Northeast 318, 4. NIACC 330, 5. Iowa Lakes 333, 6. Iowa Central 337, 7. Ellsworth 361.

KIRKWOOD: Dan Cutkomp 76, Carson Whittington 78, Dylan Daxon 79, Blaine Buhr 80, Eddie Doyle 85.

Eagles getting healthy, getting excited

The Kirkwood baseball team has dealt with Tommy John surgery, a broken finger, a bad back, a hand injury and assorted other ailments this season.

Now the Eagles are a lot healthier and feeling good about themselves heading into the junior college regional tournament in Waterloo this week.

Kirkwood swept an ICCAC twinbill from Iowa Lakes Saturday, 10-2 and 12-2, at the Kirkwood field and will carry a 32-19 record into the tournament.

The Eagles are seeded No. 4 for the tourney and will face No. 5 seed DMACC (25-28) in the opening round Thursday at 10 a.m. at Riverfront Stadium in Waterloo.

First baseman Austin Saikal and designated hitter Luke Hassman are back in the lineup and swinging hot bats, just at the right time.

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Kirkwood baseball sweeps Iowa Lakes

The Kirkwood baseball team swept a conference doubleheader from Iowa Lakes Friday to reach the 30-win plateau for the third straight year under Coach Todd Rima.

Kirkwood won the first game, 10-4, behind effective pitching by Nick Drahozal and a grand slam by Austin Saikal. The Eagles captured the second game, 8-7, in 10 innings.

Kirkwood raised its records to 30-19 overall and 15-11 in the ICCAC conference. The Eagles finished 30-16 in 2013 and 30-18 in 2014 under Rima.

Drahozal worked 6 2/3 innings in the opener and allowed three earned runs. Bryce Grimm, his former teammate at Xavier, went 3-for-4 and scored three runs. Adam Barbarich and Ozzie Adams were also 3-for-4. Sulliam Rios Reyes was 2-for-4.

Kirkwood trailed 7-6 heading into the bottom of the ninth inning of the nightcap. The Eagles scored once in the bottom of the ninth to force extra innings, then prevailed in the 10th.

Randy Perez got the victory in relief. Barbarich was 3-for-5 with two doubles. Adams was 3-for-5 with two RBIs. Grimm, Perez, Saikal and Jack Fitzgerald had two hits. Adams drove in two runs.

Iowa Lakes fell to 29-19 and 8-18. The same two teams will play another twinbill Saturday at Kirkwood at noon.

Game 1

Iowa Lakes     000 310 0 - 4 8 1
Kirkwood       100 036 x - 10 14 2

W - Drahozal. L - Mose.

Game 2

Iowa Lakes     000 003 211 0 - 7 11 4
Kirkwood       300 101 011 1 - 8 16 4

W - Perez. L - Agnew.

No. 6 Eagles roll into national tourney

The Kirkwood softball team is so good and so talented that Natalie Clark, an All-American for the Eagles last year, is only a part-time starter this season.

That's one of the many reasons the sixth-ranked Eagles are heading to the NJCAA Division II national tournament after destroying North Platte (Neb.) in the district tournament Friday at Kirkwood, 8-0 and 18-1, in two lopsided contests.

Kirkwood (45-8) advances to the 16-team national meet in Clinton, Miss., from May 13-16.

Clark has graciously accepted her role as a super-sub this season, an important intangible for a club that oozes talent.

"She's done great," said Coach Joe Yegge. "She knows she's struggled a little bit offensively, and that's why she's come out of the lineup with the way we've been hitting.

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Pint tops 1,000 wins with KCC golf

Kirkwood golf coach Darin Pint was honored at the college Monday for surpassing 1,000 wins during his 19 years with the program.

Pint was presented a "1,000 Win Watch" by Kirkwood athletic director Doug Wagemester before a Kirkwood softball game in the regional tournament.

Pint has collected 1,027 wins at Kirkwood. He has steered the Eagles to a dozen top-15 finishes at the national tournament and has produced 65 national qualifiers, including a national champ.

Kirkwood will compete in the regional tournament this weekend in Panora.

Hruska leaves Kirkwood women's basketball

Joe Hruska has left the Kirkwood women's basketball program after 24 years as the top assistant coach.

Hurska, 56, helped the Eagles win six national titles with head coach Kim Muhl.

All told, Hruska spent 27 years at Kirkwood. He also served as an assistant coach for the softball team and men's basketball team.

Hruska graduated from Cedar Rapids LaSalle High School in 1977.