No. 4 Cedar Rapids Jefferson bounces back against Kennedy

CEDAR RAPIDS - Cedar Rapids Jefferson exacted a little revenge against crosstown rival Cedar Rapids Kennedy.

One day after the Cougars were victorious on the J-Hawks' home field, the script was flipped.

Class 4A fourth-ranked Jefferson defeated Kennedy, 9-3, in a Mississippi Valley Conference game Friday night at Herkelman Field. The J-Hawks (10-5, 6-2 MVC) snapped a three-game losing streak.

Jefferson jumped to a lead in the first. Willie Guy drew a leadoff walk and scored on Zach Grant's blooper down the right-field line. T.J. Kuennen scored on a Drake Frazier groundout for an early 2-0 lead.

The J-Hawks continued to put up runs with six in the following frame, getting a few hits and taking advantage of Kennedy fielding miscues. Brayden Boche's sacrifice fly scored Ozzie Meiborg, who opened the inning with an infield single and moved into scoring position on the first of five errors. Guy smacked a double, driving in Logan Pady.

Brayden Frazier added an RBI single and the J-Hawks scored two more on errors and another on a wild pitch for an 8-0 advantage.

Drake Frazier singled and scored in the fourth, extending the lead to 9-0.

Guy reached base in all five at-bats, tallying two hits and drawing three walks. Brayden Frazier, Grant and Meiborg added two hits apiece, contributing to the J-Hawks' total of 11.

Graham Woods paced the Cougars with two doubles. He opened the bottom of the fourth with his second hit, moving to third on a wild pitch and scoring Kennedy's first run on Nolan Behn's groundout.

Woods came through again with an RBI single in the sixth, scoring on a Lane Thole single. Woods finished 3-for-3 with an RBI and two runs. Cairron Hendred and Zak Packingham both had a hit for Kennedy (6-7, 4-4 MVC).

Jefferson starter Jon Cross improved to 3-0 this season. The junior right-hander allowed three runs on six hits, striking out seven in 5 2/3 innings. Meiborg threw 1 1/3 innings of relief, getting a pop out to strand the bases loaded in the sixth.

Both teams will travel to Dubuque on Monday. Kennedy will play at Dubuque Wahlert. Jefferson faces Dubuque Hempstead.

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