J-Hawks advance, and nobody wants to leave

CEDAR RAPIDS - Darkness fell. Music played. The crowd lingered. And lingered.

July joy isn't uncommon here. Nor is it taken for granted.

'I'm so proud of our team,” outfielder Hannah Towns said. 'We worked so hard to get here. Now we have to keep playing the way we know how.”

Towns' ground-rule double in the fourth inning accounted for the only run, and Alyssa Olson fanned 11 batters in a five-hit shutout as sixth-ranked Cedar Rapids Jefferson edged Dubuque Senior, 1-0, in a Class 5A softball regional final Tuesday night at Larry Niemeyer Field.

And the crowd lingered. And lingered. Small boys kicked a ball around the outfield. An adult walked a dog on the infield. Players hugged and mugged for pictures as proud parents clicked away.

Jefferson (34-6) advances to the state tournament for the 21st time. The J-Hawks draw No. 3 Southeast Polk (28-9) in the first round at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday at the Rogers Sports Complex, Fort Dodge.

The J-Hawks' next mission? Their first quarterfinal win since 2008. They were fifth last year.

'That's the main goal - win the first one,” Olson said.

Senior (19-23) outhit the J-Hawks, 5-4, but Olson kept the Rams' scoring opportunities at a minimum. Senior got four runners to second base, but nobody beyond.

'I think it was one of her better performances of the season,” said Jefferson Coach Brian Erbe. 'She's a big-game pitcher. And like I've been telling them the last six months, these are big-game kids.”

Towns was a big-moment hitter.

With Erin Kuba at third base (the result of a single, a sacrifice bunt by Tori Brandon and a sacrifice fly by Emily Walton), Towns sent a first-pitch drive over the left-field fence on a bounce for an RBI double.

'(Senior pitcher A.J. Medinger) throws first-pitch strikes, and I knew the first one would be the best one I'd see,” Towns said.

Towns isn't your typical No. 8 hitter. She's third on the team in hitting at .365.

'You wouldn't think she'd be in the 8 spot,” Erbe said. 'But she's very comfortable there. She's gotten some big hits, some big RBIs for us.”

Olson is still ticketed for illegal pitches periodically (she got called for a pair early Tuesday). But her reaction these days is a mere shrug.

'I've kind of pushed it out of the way,” she said. 'If they call it, so what? I just tell myself to push harder and use my legs.”

Avery Guy was 2-for-3, accounting for half the J-Hawks' hits.

CEDAR RAPIDS JEFFERSON 1, DUBUQUE SENIOR 0 (Class 5A Regional Final)

Dubuque Senior 000 000 0 - 0 5 3

C.R. Jefferson 000 100 x - 1 4 0

A.J. Medinger and Alli Tigges. Alyssa Olson and Maddie Hansen. W - Olson (17-5). L - Medinger (14-12).

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@sourcemedia.net