‘Tough day’ ends in victory for Mike Kuba, Cedar Rapids Jefferson softball

CEDAR RAPIDS — This was where Mike Kuba belonged.

His sister told him so.

“She made it a point, ‘Don’t miss anything when I pass away,’” said Kuba, softball coach at Cedar Rapids Jefferson. “She said, ‘You’ve got to be with the team.’

“So ... tough day and all, but this is where I needed to end up. This is where the magic happens.”

Olivia Young hit a two-run double in the sixth inning to give Jefferson its first lead of the night, and the J-Hawks salvaged a doubleheader split with Class 4A No. 6 Western Dubuque on Thursday at Niemeyer Field.

“I like to be in situations like that,” Young said.

Western Dubuque claimed the opener, 6-5; the J-Hawks overcame a three-run deficit to win the nightcap, 7-6.

Because this was an interdivisional twinbill, only the first game counts in the Mississippi Valley Conference standings.

Kuba missed the first game due to the visitation of his older sister, Lisa Canney-Willett, who passed away May 17 to pancreatic cancer.

He arrived to the ballpark in time for Game 2, and, yeah, that’s where the magic happened.

The J-Hawks (2-3 overall, 1-2 MVC) had cut a 5-2 deficit to 5-4 heading into the sixth. Singles by Brooklyn Bennett and Ady Secora put runners on the corners, and an intentional walk to Sophia Kevitt loaded the bases and brought Young to the plate.

“Strategically, I understood (the move),” Young said. “That allowed them to go to any base.”

Instead, Young drove a double to deep right field to score two runs and put the J-Hawks in front for good, 6-5.

Kevitt scored an insurance run on a wild pitch, and it turned out to be huge because the Bobcats (4-1, 3-0) tallied a run in the seventh.

It wasn’t always a clean doubleheader. The teams combined for 13 errors, and 14 of the 24 runs were unearned.

In the first game, Western Dubuque broke a 3-3 tie with a pair of runs in the sixth inning; Evelyn White’s single scored one run, then White eventually scored on a wild pitch.

Western Dubuque 6-6, Cedar Rapids Jefferson 5-7

At C.R. Jefferson

Game 1

Western Dubuque 101 012 1 — 6 7 2

C.R. Jefferson 002 010 2 — 5 9 3

Kiya Steger, Bayley Neyen (6) and Kaitlyn Thole. Olivia Young and Mackenzie McWhorter. W — Steger (2-0). L — Young (NA). SV — Neyen (2).

Game 2

Western Dubuque 200 300 1 — 6 7 4

C.R. Jefferson 200 203 x — 7 8 4

Hannah Hoefer, Bayley Neyen (6) and Kaitlyn Thole. Morgan Hewitt and Mackenzie McWhorter. W — Hewitt (NA). L — Hoefer (0-1).

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com