A comeback, then a deep breath

CEDAR RAPIDS — She delivered. Then, after it was over, Maddy Crist exhaled.

'A sigh of relief,' she said.

A collective one from the Kennedy Cougars.

Crist tied the game was a clutch sixth-inning double, Paige Timmerman broke the deadlock with a seventh-inning sacrifice fly, and Cedar Rapids Kennedy sidestepped a final threat to edge Waterloo East, 2-1, in a Class 5A regional quarterfinal softball game Thursday night at Kennedy High School.

Take a breath, Cougars, and take a bow. The victory was Kennedy's first in the postseason since 2010.

'We hadn't gotten past the first round since I've been here,' said Crist, a junior. 'We just kept using our fundamentals.'

Kennedy (26-13) faces another rising program — Cedar Rapids Washington — in a regional semifinal Saturday at Washington/Franklin Field. The Warriors (22-16) drew a first-round bye.

Kennedy has beaten Washington three times in three tries this season. But, as East proved Thursday, that doesn't guarantee easy postseason passage.

'It's going to be tough to beat them again, especially a tough team like Washington,' Timmerman said. 'We'll need to play our game.'

Kennedy handled East (8-32) just three days ago by scores of 6-0 and 11-1. This time, the Trojans were a handful.

'We thought they would be,' said Kennedy Coach Dan Gratz. 'Their pitcher (Leah Frost) has a good screwball and we were hitting it off the handle.'

East took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth, and when the Cougars came up in the top of the sixth, they were six outs from a hollow ending for a season of significant progress.

But Timmerman led off with a single and scampered to second on a bad throw into the infield, then — after Peyton Baskerville bunted Timmerman to third — Crist laced a one-out double to get the Cougars even.

'We tried to squeeze, it didn't work, so we took it off,' Gratz said. 'And Maddy came through.'

Crist was 3-for-3.

'I wasn't just hoping for a hit,' she said. 'I was swinging to hit it hard, swinging for the fence.'

Jenna Schwartzhoff led off the seventh with a single, then Andrea McEachran and Tianna Drahn followed with back-to-back bunt singles, loading the bases with no outs.

Ashley Hamilton popped out, then Timmerman's fly ball to center was deep enough to plate courtesy runner Jamie Milota.

'I knew I had to get it into play,' Timmerman said. 'We had a good runner at third.'

East had a final threat in the bottom of the seventh , getting runners to second and third with two outs. Ashley Kubik hit it hard to the right side, but when first baseman Katelyn Dye stabbed the liner, the Cougars could exhale.

Schwartzhoff (14-9) picked up the win, scattering seven hits. She struck out seven and walked one.

C.R. KENNEDY 2, WATERLOO EAST 1 (Class 5A Regional Quarterfinal)

C.R. Kennedy 000 001 1 — 2 9 2

Waterloo East 000 100 0 — 1 7 2

Jenna Schwartzhoff and Peyton Baskerville. Leah Frost and Ashley Kubik. W — Schwartzhoff (14-9). L — Frost (6-19).

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