Jefferson continues progress with 6-3 win over Kennedy

CEDAR RAPIDS — It's not perfect right now, but you couldn't expect it to be.

Cedar Rapids Jefferson's baseball team lost a ton of talent from last season's Class 4A state tournament team. There are a lot of guys getting a varsity baptism by fire.

But they're hanging in there and improving. A 6-3 win Thursday night at Cedar Rapids Kennedy proves that.

'We're a real young team, and I think it's good to play every day right now,' said Jeff Coach Kyle Rodenkirk. 'At first, I was like 'Uh, oh.' But they seem to be rolling pretty good. Obviously we need some practice to fix some things here and there. Baserunning, things like that. But it's good. Baseball is meant to be played every day. You kind of work out the kinks as you go. We're getting better. We're not there, in my eyes. But we're getting better.'

Junior Logan Pady threw five-plus good innings to get the pitching win and contributed two hits, including a two-run RBI single offensively as Jeff (8-5) won its fourth in a row. These rivals play again Friday night on the west side.

A bad-hop single over the shortstop's head brought in the first two runs of this game in the fourth inning. Pady didn't need as much good fortune on the mound, throwing strikes and letting his defense work.

He gave up only three hits, walked two and struck out one, recording 13 outs in the air. Sophomore center fielder Drake Frazier was especially impressive tracking down several balls.

'It's equal,' Pady said, when asked if he liked his hitting or pitching better. 'I just wanted to throw strikes. Then that one hit was pretty clutch, I guess. Got two RBIs out of it.'

Jefferson scored twice more in the sixth on a two-run, two-out single by Frazier. He came in hitting over .500 from the nine hole in the lineup and went 2-for-2 with a walk.

Kennedy (6-5-1) scored all three of its runs in the bottom of the sixth, stranding the bases loaded. Two unearned runs in the seventh gave Jefferson and reliever Willie Guy III some breathing room.

Guy notched his second save.

'Got to give Jefferson credit,' said Kennedy Coach Bret Hoyer. 'They got the two-out hits, and we didn't.'

Sophomore Bo Numemaker took the pitching loss for the Cougars, throwing the first four innings. Jared White, filling in for injured all-stater Matt Berst at catcher, had two hits and an RBI.

AT C.R. KENNEDY

C.R. Jefferson 000 202 2 — 6 8 1

C.R. Kennedy 000 003 0 — 3 5 1

Logan Pady, Willie Guy III (6) and Matthew Culver. Bo Nunemaker, Jake Olejniczak (5), Justin Smith (6) and Jared White. WP-Pady (1-1). LP-Nunemaker (1-2). Sv-Guy (2). Highlights — Winning pitcher Pady had two hits offensively as well, driving in two runs. Drake Frazier went 2-for-2 with a walk and two RBIs for Jefferson (8-5). Kane Kramer went 2-for-2 and was hit by pitch twice. Jared White had two hits and an RBI for Kennedy (6-5-1).

l Comments: (319) 398-8259; jeff.johnson@thegazette.com