J-Hawks edge Prairie, return to state

CEDAR RAPIDS - What, ultimately, was the difference?

Perhaps an early wild pitch? Maybe a home run by Hannah Towns or an RBI double by Avery Guy that followed?

How about some clutch late pitching by Alyssa Olson?

Joe Yegge pointed his finger at something else. Experience.

'They've got five seniors, and we've got one,” Yegge said after third-ranked Cedar Rapids Jefferson edged Cedar Rapids Prairie, 3-2, in a Class 5A regional softball final in front of 700 Tuesday night at Niemeyer Field. 'You could see the difference in their age and our age tonight.”

Jefferson (35-7) advances to its 22nd state tournament and its third in a row. The J-Hawks will face Metro rival Linn-Mar (25-17) in a first-round game at 3:30 p.m. Monday at the Rogers Sports Complex, Fort Dodge.

'This means two more weeks I get to spend with some of my favorite people,” Towns said. 'We've got three more games together.”

The J-Hawks were seventh at state last year and haven't won a first-round game since 2008.

'It's our year,” said Jefferson catcher Maddie Hansen, one of those five seniors. 'I know we're going to go a long ways.”

Jefferson led from the start, but the J-Hawks weren't safe until Olson got Kristin Wahlert to ground out with the tying run at second base in the bottom of the seventh.

'I'm so proud of Alyssa,” said Jefferson Coach Brian Erbe. 'She bounced back from (shoulder) surgery. Those last three innings, she threw the hardest she's thrown all summer.”

The J-Hawks' leadoff hitter, Guy was 3-for-4. She scored a run and drove in another.

'I was pretty nervous before the game,” she said. 'But after that first hit, the nerves went away and I felt a lot more comfortable.”

Guy opened the game with a double and moved to third on Tori Brandon's sacrifice bunt, then scored on a wild pitch.

It remained 1-0 until the fourth inning, when both teams scored twice.

Towns rocketed a solo home run to left-center field, her eighth of the season and the 45th for the J-Hawks - the most of any team in the state.

'We put in a lot of work last fall and last winter,” Towns said. 'We lift three days a week at 6 in the morning, and we're so much stronger.”

Guy doubled home Liv Erickson to make it 3-0, then Prairie (27-12) got those two runs right back on a sacrifice fly by Shelby Frederick and an RBI double by Anne Cervany.

But Olson (18-4) buckled down and kept the Hawks at bay the rest of the way.

Hansen will play for Yegge next spring at Kirkwood Community College. Then next summer, Yegge could have a dynamite team at Prairie.

'Personally, I think we should have the best team in town,” he said. 'But you still have to beat Jefferson, because Jefferson is Jefferson.”

And, for now, Jefferson is still the cream of the crop in this town.

CEDAR RAPIDS JEFFERSON 3, CEDAR RAPIDS PRAIRIE 2

Class 5A Regional Final, at Larry Niemeyer Field

C.R. Jefferson 100 200 0 - 3 5 0

C.R. Prairie 000 200 0 - 2 5 1

Alyssa Olson and Maddie Hansen. Natalie Halverson and Neila Bell. W - Olson (18-4). L - Halverson (21-7). HR - CRJ: Hannah Towns ( 8).

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