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Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Cedar Rapids Kennedy baseball team becoming dangerous again
Last year’s Class 4A state champion, the Cougars top second-ranked Prairie, 11-5, for their sixth win in a row and their 10th in 11 games
Jun. 23, 2025 9:11 pm, Updated: Jun. 24, 2025 11:58 am
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CEDAR RAPIDS - Beware Cedar Rapids Kennedy’s baseball team.
That’s pretty much an evergreen statement, but it took a little while for it to become accurate this season.
The Cougars continued their recent roll Monday night, knocking off Cedar Rapids Prairie, 10-5, in the first game of a Mississippi Valley Conference double-header on the far west side. The second game was postponed by storms and will be attempted to be played Tuesday night.
“We’re finally putting the pieces together,” Kennedy catcher Brady Dill said. “We’re coming together as a team. This team, I feel like, is bonding more and coming together. All the pieces are being put together.”
Kennedy (20-8) was last year’s Class 4A state champion, with a ton of important guys graduating, making this club a work in progress. But progress these Cougars have done.
This was their sixth win in a row and their 10th in 11 games. Kennedy crept into the Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association’s 4A rankings this week at 10th.
Prairie (22-4) is second.
“We’re getting closer,” said Kennedy Coach Bret Hoyer. “Obviously we’re not there, yet, with all the miscues tonight ... But as you can see, we’re getting closer.
“As (assistant) Coach (Jake) Nauman said, we’ve got to find out which pieces go where ... It feels like we’ve figured out the pieces to the puzzle, now those pieces just have to start playing more consistently.”
Kennedy scored three runs in the top of the first inning and two in the second for a quick 5-1 lead. A pair of runs each in the fourth and fifth made it a rout. The Cougars added a run in the sixth but had another disallowed on appeal after fine sophomore shortstop Danny Doyle was ruled to not have touched third base scoring from second on a base hit to the outfield.
Prairie scored four unearned runs in the bottom of the seventh for the final margin. The Hawks have lost three in a row.
Dill went 3-for-5 with a pair of RBIs for Kennedy, which outhit Prairie, 13-4. Starting pitcher Ty Donels had an effective, though peculiar line: six innings, one hit, one run, six walks and no strikeouts.
Collin McClintock had a hit and three RBIs for Prairie. Ace starting pitcher Jordan Woodhouse lost for the first time this season.
“Now we’re finally hitting our stride and playing together,” Dill said. “There were a few bumps, you get a little frustrated, but you’ve got to come together as a team, and I feel like that’s what we did and why we’re winning right now.”
Comments: (319)-398-8258, jeff.johnson@thegazette.com
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