With Yegge, Hawks take flight

College softball and high school softball are two different worlds."The girls I coach at Kirkwood (Community College), they're hand-picked. They choose to play, they're on scholarship and they are expected to produce," said Joe Yegge, in his sixth year at Kirkwood and his first season at Cedar Rapids Prairie."At Prairie, it's a different deal. They're out for softball because they love the game, or they love being with their friends."Last spring, Yegge coached Kirkwood to the national junior college tournament. And now, he's getting the Prairie program off the ground.The Hawks improved to 15-7 overall, 11-5 in the Mississippi Valley Conference with a sweep of Cedar Rapids Kennedy on Tuesday. That sets up a meaningful twinbill with Cedar Rapids Xavier (15-5, 12-4) Thursday at Xavier.Prairie trails Xavier by one game in the Valley Division race.Even though this is high school ball instead of college, Yegge has expectations. He expects to succeed. And that mentality is rubbing off."There has always been talent here," Yegge said. "We've just given them direction and changed the mentality a little bit."Surely, the bottom line has changed, for the better. Last year, the Hawks limped to an 8-29 record. They've nearly doubled their win total with nearly half the season to go.Among the Hawks' victims: perennial powers Des Moines East, North Scott, Davenport West, plus Class 5A fifth-ranked Dubuque Senior ... and perennial Metro powerhouse Cedar Rapids Jefferson."We didn't make that big a deal out of the Jefferson win," Yegge said. "One thing I'm trying to instill: we expect to win."Seniors Katie Kuch (8-2) and Sara Stevenson (2-1) and sophomore Gabi Carter (3-4) have comprised the pitching rotation. Mallory Jones "has been great at shortstop," Yegge said, while Malia Gudenkauf leads the team in hitting at .421.

MONDAY'S THE DAYThe Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union will release regional pairings Monday.The postseason series begins July 8 in Class 1A, July 9 in 2A and 3A, July 11 in 4A and 5A.Regional finals are July 15 in 1A, 2A and 3A, July 16 in the two big classes.The state tournament is July 22-26 at the Rogers Sports Complex, Fort Dodge.