No. 2 Kennedy escapes Jefferson in extra innings, 9-8

CEDAR RAPIDS – You won, boys. Cheer up a little.There sure seemed to be some doom and gloom around the Cedar Rapids Kennedy dugout Monday night, even though the Cougars survived Cedar Rapids Jefferson, 9-8, in eight innings at the Kennedy diamond. They expect more out of themselves.“We need to come out and play a lot harder,” Kennedy third baseman Devon Jacobus said. “All seven innings.”“I'm not happy,” said Kennedy Coach Bret Hoyer. “As coaches, we have to figure out a way to help them play better.”The bottom line is Class 4A second-ranked Kennedy (26-4 overall, 18-4 conference) continues to hang around in the Mississippi Valley Conference's Mississippi Division race. The Cougars entered the day a half-game behind front-runner Linn-Mar for first place, with Iowa City High right there as well.Adam Lloyd's two-out single the other way to right field with the bases loaded scored the winning run Monday night.“I was just looking for a fastball,” said Lloyd, who threw four relief innings to record the pitching victory. “He threw me one, I saw it big, just tried to hit it hard somewhere. And I did.”Jefferson (14-17, 12-11) scored five runs in the top of the third inning for a 5-1 lead, only to have Kennedy tie it in the bottom half. The J-Hawks had a 7-5 edge washed away thanks to a two-run sixth inning for Kennedy.Dylan Jellison squeezed home a go-ahead run in the top of the seventh for Jefferson, but Kennedy sent it to extras on a two-out RBI single to left by Josh Jahlas. Cody Bell's fourth hit of the game, a single, led off the Kennedy eighth.Eighth-grader Spencer Van Scoyoc (grandson of former legendary Norway head coach Jim Van Scoyoc) walked Chico Lizarraga on four pitches to load the bases with two outs. Lloyd picked on the first pitch he saw to end it.Kennedy finished with 15 hits to Jefferson's 12. Chance Tiedtke had two singles and a double for Jeff.The teams play again Tuesday night at Jefferson."Hat's off the Jefferson," Hoyer said. "They hit the ball well tonight. They were the aggressors."