Homers lift Jefferson to sweep of Xavier

CEDAR RAPIDS -- Yeah, Kenna Fry checks the wind. Then she adjusts.

"Before every game, I look at the flag," she said. "It determines whether the wind will help me or not."

It helped her Tuesday night. And she helped her team immensely.

Fry's grand slam in the top of the sixth inning vaulted Class 4A ninth-rated Cedar Rapids Jefferson to a 12-10 nightcap win over No. 11 Cedar Rapids Xavier to wrap up a Mississippi Valley Conference softball double-header sweep at Bob Erusha Field.

The J-Hawks (7-1 overall, 4-0 MVC) claimed the opener, 6-2.

"Any time you can win at Xavier, it's a good night," said Jefferson Coach Larry Niemeyer. "That second game, we kept coming back."

Jefferson fell behind, 6-1, after one inning, then took a 7-6 lead on Rachel Sedlacek's three-run homer in the fourth. Xavier (6-3, 5-3) regained the lead at 10-7, but the J-Hawks had one more answer.

A hit batter, a miscommunication at second base on a ground ball and a walk loaded the bases, then Fry unloaded to straightaway center.

"I knew I had to do something," she said. "Luckily, I got one right down the middle.

"We had some ups and downs, but we came out on top."

The J-Hawks' leadoff hitter, Sedlacek hit a three-run homer in each game, scored five runs and drove in seven.

"Recently, I hadn't been having much luck at the plate," Sedlacek said. "I just wanted to get back on track and help the team any way I could.

"This is really exciting. It makes me excited for the rest of the season."

Jefferson's first three runs in the first game were unearned. Sedlacek's bomb in the sixth inning made it 6-1.

J-Hawks pitcher Hannah Petersen struck out nine in the opener, then came on in the fourth inning of Game 2 and won in relief. The shut the Saints down in order in the bottom of the seventh, the only 1-2-3 inning for either team in the last game.

AT C.R. XAVIER

Game 1

C.R. Jefferson      020 013 0 -- 6  5  1

C.R. Xavier            000 011 0 -- 2  5  5

Hannah Petersen (W) and Nicole Marquart. Jacey Wiebold (L) and Emily Walton. HR -- CRJ: Rachel Sedlacek; CRX -- Kristen Winter.

Game 2

C.R. Jefferson      102 404 1 --  12  9  2

C.R. Xavier            600 400 0 -- 10  8  3

Brooke Stauffer, Hannah Petersen (4, W) and Nicole Marquart. Erin Drahozal (L) and Erica Miller. HR -- CRJ: Rachel Sedlacek, Kenna Fry; CRX -- Drahozal.