J-Hawks, Saints trade MVC wins

CEDAR RAPIDS - Eighth-grader, ninth-grader. Eighth batter, ninth batter.

And back-to-back career milestones.

Liv Erickson hit a three-run home run, then Lindsey Culver followed with a solo shot in the first game of Cedar Rapids Jefferson's Mississippi Valley Conference softball double-header split with Cedar Rapids Xavier Tuesday night at Larry Niemeyer Field.

The Class 5A third-rated J-Hawks took the first verdict, 5-2, before 4A No. 11 Xavier bounced back with a 4-1 triumph.

'I'm going to keep this in a very safe place,” Erickson said of the ball she deposited over the left-field fence. 'To do this on the same night as Lindsey, it's really special. I'm really happy for her.”

She beamed.

'And, yeah, I'm happy for me, too.”

Erickson is a freshman, Culver an eighth-grader.

'They're a couple good young softball players,” Jefferson Coach Brian Erbe said. 'They're both going to have more of these to come.”

Erickson and Culver went back-to-back in a five-run fourth inning for the J-Hawks (5-1 overall, 3-1 MVC).

Xavier (2-4, 2-4) bounced back in the nightcap, scoring four times in the top of the third.

'The first game, our defense fell asleep a little bit,” said Xavier Coach Nikki Gahring. 'My challenge to them was, ‘You've got to talk. You've got to move.'”

Erin Drahozal's RBI got the Saints on the board in the top of the third, then Charlotte Richards provided the big blow, a two-run double that made it 4-0.

Jefferson got a run back in the bottom of the third on back-to-back doubles by Maddie Hansen and Erin Kuba, but the J-Hawks couldn't get any closer. The Saints got out of trouble with an F-8/8-2 double play in the sixth, then Richards ended the game with a diving catch in right field in the seventh.

Between games, the J-Hawks passed buckets throughout the crowd to financially support the Drahozal family. Erin Drahozal's mother, Kelly, is battling breast cancer. A sum of $742.40 was raised.

CEDAR RAPIDS JEFFERSON 5-1, CEDAR RAPIDS XAVIER 2-4

At Larry Niemeyer Field

Game 1

C.R. Xavier 000 020 0 - 2 6 4

C.R. Jefferson 000 500 x - 5 5 0

Erin Drahozal and Steph Wehr. Alyssa Olson and Maddie Hansen. W - Olson (3-0). L - Drahozal (1-2). HR - CRJ: Liv Erickson (1), Lindsey Culver (1).

Game 2

C.R. Xavier 004 000 0 - 4 6 1

C.R. Jefferson 001 000 0 - 1 7 1

Kylie Oldridge, Erin Drahozal (6) and Steph Wehr. Alissa Good, Alyssa Olson (3) and Maddie Hansen. W - Oldridge (1-2). L - Good (2-1). SV - Drahozal (1).

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