Williamsburg matches 2017 win total

Starting a season with a 4-2 record doesn't usually generate much talk.

After splitting Sunday's Iowa Valley League doubleheader with the defending league champion Stars, Williamsburg manager Lloyd Brockshus quipped: "This is great, we've already matched the number of games we won all last season."

The Red Sox jumped out to a 3-0 lead after two innings, then rode the strong pitching of Tanner Jansen and reliever Dustin Meirotto, to hold on for a 3-2 victory in the opener at Mount Mercy's Robert W. Plaster Athletic Complex on Sunday.

A four-run fourth-inning outburst allowed the Stars (3-3) to rally for a 5-2 victory in the nightcap.

Williamsburg has been the surprise team over the first three weeks. After finishing just 4-16 last summer in the IVL, an influx of new players, combined with a few returning standouts have the Red Sox playing winning baseball in 2018.

"On some of the past teams we didn't have as much competitiveness," said Cam Frazier, a Cedar Rapids Jefferson grad now playing at Coe. "This year we brought in a lot of (NCAA Division III) talent. We've had a lot of Simpson players step up for us big-time."

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Dralle relishes dual sport career

Tyler Dralle wouldn't have it any other way.

Dralle was a standout in both football and baseball during his prep career at Cedar Rapids Kennedy.

When it came time for college, Dralle wanted to continue his dual sports participation at Coe.

Now preparing for his junior year with the Kohawks, Dralle has a busy summer ahead. During the week, he hits the weights hard at Coe. On Sundays, he's back playing baseball again for the Stars in the Iowa Valley League.

"This summer I've been lifting five days a week," he said. "Then on the weekend, I play for fun with the Stars."

Dralle was a key member of the Stars' IVL and IABA state championship teams last summer and was back working in the outfield during the team's home opener last Sunday at Mount Mercy.

The upcoming football and baseball seasons at Coe are setting up to be big ones for Dralle. On the gridiron, he rushed for 452 yards in six games before missing the final four games due to a leg injury as the Kohawks finished 4-6.

During this past spring, he batted .250. As a pitcher, he went 2-0 with one save as Coe finished 24-18.

"I'm definitely looking forward to building off what I did last year," he said. "I'm looking to get better in both."

The thought of giving up one sport or the other has never crossed Dralle's mind.

"No, I've never really thought about it because I love both of these sports so much," he said. "I enjoy doing it all the time and I've never really felt burnt out or anything like that."

Dralle has never strayed far from his Kennedy roots. He was an all-state running back as a senior, leading the Cougars to the Class 4A state title game in 2015 by rushing for 2,254 yards on 408 carries.

Playing with the Stars has allowed him to stay connected with other Cougar alums on the team.

"All these guys play ball the right way," he said. "We all have the same mindset out here so we play really well together."

In baseball as a junior, he was part of the Cougars' 2015 state tournament team that lost to Iowa City West in the semifinals.

Watkins sweeps Norway in wild twinbill

NORWAY - The Norway Bandits belted five home runs and collected 18 hits in the first game of their doubleheader against Watkins in the  Iowa Valley League on Sunday.

Despite all that heavy hitting, the Bandits lost the ballgame 19-13 on their home field.

Watkins finished the sweep by taking the nightcap, 5-3, in nine innings on a two-run homer by Luke Farley in the top of the ninth.

Norway hurt itself in the opener by committing at least five errors in the sixth inning, helping Watkins score seven times. Farley socked a grand slam in the midst of all those fielding miscues by the Bandits.

Riley Braughton hit two home runs and had four hits for Norway in the opener. Braedon Brown, Jordan Pierce and Christian Stekl also hit homers for the Bandits in Game 1.

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Hargens helps Stars split with Red Top

The defending Iowa Valley League champion Stars were in need of a spark in the nightcap of Sunday's doubleheader with Red Top.

After being blitzed 13-6 in the opener at Mount Mercy's Robert W. Plaster Athletic Complex, the Stars turned to a pitcher who felt right at home at the brand new facility.

Blake Hargens, who just completed his junior season at Mount Mercy, took the mound for the Stars in Game 2. He pitched a complete-game three-hitter as the Stars salvaged a split with a 7-2 victory.

"We always like to at least split, especially if we lose the first one," Hargens said. "We just needed to pick things up around here in the second game."

Players on both teams had some trouble adjusting to not only the all-artificial turf playing surface, but a brutal sun that made it almost impossible for the right fielders on both teams to track fly balls in the second game.

"It felt really good throwing on a mound that I know," said Hargens, a Kennedy grad who was 3-and-4 this past spring for the Mustangs. "We had troubles (at Mount Mercy) adjusting to the sun and playing on the turf to start the season. It is something that guys in this league will have to get used to."

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