Cedar Rapids Jefferson slugging at a record pace

CEDAR RAPIDS — The alarms start buzzing throughout west-side teenage bedrooms about 5:15 a.m.

'I don't roll out of bed until about 5:40,' Kennedy Dighton admitted.

Three times a week, whether there's a game later that day or not, half-awake softball players shuffle into the Cedar Rapids Jefferson weightroom a few minutes before 6.

There's iron to pump. And later, softballs to crush.

'It sucks getting up, but we still dig into it,' Avery Guy said.

Here's the benefit — the Class 5A fourth-ranked J-Hawks (29-3 overall, 20-0 Mississippi Valley Conference) are closing fast on a state record.

Entering Tuesday's doubleheader at Iowa City High, they have clobbered 54 home runs. The single-season mark for a team is 58, set by Pleasant Valley in 2013.

'You don't want to be that team that looks at stats, because stats don't get you anywhere,' Guy said.

She smiled.

'But yeah, we like to hit.'

Not so long ago, softball was dominated by pitchers who threw the ball past overmatched batters from 40 feet away, 3 feet closer than the distance now.

Times have changed. Advantage, batters.

'If you go back to our state-championship years (1997 and 1998), they used a white ball with little to no seams. Pitchers pitched from 40 feet and the bats were aluminum. Power hitters hit maybe three home runs a season,' said Coach Brian Erbe, who was an assistant for Larry Niemeyer during that time.

'The evolution of all of these things, combined with the weightroom, has certainly enhanced the hitting game.'

This year, eight different J-Hawks have popped the ball out of the park. Sophomore Lindsey Culver, a South Dakota State recruit, has gone deep 17 times, including a game-winning three-run shot against Dubuque Hempstead last Thursday.

'I wasn't expecting that,' Culver said. 'I was thinking it was a double to the gap. I was sprinting around the bases.'

Emily Oler has 10 home runs, Dighton nine, Guy and Erica Oler six apiece.

The staggering offensive numbers don't stop there. In addition to the home runs (54), Jefferson leads the state in runs (313, or 9.8 per game), on-base percentage (.510) and slugging percentage (.743, which is more than 100 points higher than any other team).

Their .442 batting average is second to Central City (.455).

The J-Hawks don't have a wealth of speed. There are no slappers in the lineup.

Just sluggers.

'A lot of it his hip strength and bat speed,' Culver said. 'If you have that and make solid contact, you can hit the ball a long way.'

Emily Oler said, 'If everything is working together, good things happen.'

When good things happen, the result is a home-run trot.

'The best part is rounding third, slapping Erbe's hand and seeing the team waiting for you at the plate,' Guy said. 'It's really cool.'

When a ball leaves the yard, the J-Hawks sprint from the dugout to home plate, clicking fake cameras at the heroine of the moment, creating imaginary snapshots of a memorable, power-packed season.

'As a coach, you hope that once in your career that special group comes along,' Erbe said.

'This, to me, is that group.'

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com