Squeeze bunt lifts seventh-ranked Cedar Rapids Kennedy over No. 5 Pleasant Valley, 2-1

ALBURNETT — Before the inning started, Maddison LeClere revealed the plan.

It was up to her red-hot Cedar Rapids Kennedy softball team to put the strategy into triumphant motion.

Kennedy junior Camryn Jeffords executed a perfectly-placed squeeze bunt that scored hard-charging senior Sydney Kinney from third base, which gave the Class 5A No. 7 Cougars a 2-1 victory over fifth-ranked defending state runner-up Pleasant Valley (22-7) in the championship game of the Linn-Mar/Alburnett tournament on Saturday.

'We talked a lot about 'we over me' as kind of our motto for the team this year,' the first-year Kennedy coach said. 'Putting our team before ourselves and just taking that next step to get better.'

Tournament rules dictated that once the game reached the 90-minute mark, each subsequent frame would begin with a runner on second base. Before Kinney took her base to begin the bottom of the seventh inning in the 1-1 contest, LeClere confidently instructed senior Jenna Schwartzhoff to bunt Kinney to third, then immediately looked to Jeffords to win the game.

'I had some time to think about it when I was on deck,' Jeffords said. 'I was ready when I went up there. I was just thinking about the team and how much it would mean to get this win.'

As Pleasant Valley pitcher Ellie Spelhaug began her delivery, Kinney charged for the plate and Jeffords deftly slapped the ball toward third base, where the desperation heave from the PV third baseman had no chance.

'They took two pitches, they embraced it and they bought in,' LeClere said. 'That's what we can do when we have full buy-in.'

Kennedy freshman pitcher Kaylin Kinney improved to 8-2 in the circle this season. The Nebraska commit yielded six hits through the first five innings, but held the Spartans hitless over the final two. She struck out seven.

Kennedy shortstop Ashley Hamilton brilliantly snagged a pair of line drives that prevented a go-ahead run from scoring in both the fourth and seventh innings.

'I had a lot of lower line drives all weekend,' said Hamilton, a University of Iowa signee. 'I was just waiting for that one that I would reach my glove and try to catch it. I got the lucky one.'

Hamilton reached base twice and scored the opening run of the game in the first inning. Her defensive heroics started an inning-ending double play in the fourth, then preserved the seventh-inning tie that set the stage for victory.

Kennedy (25-5) — winners of eight in a row — defeated host Alburnett in the morning semifinal, 11-0, in five innings.

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