Linn-Mar romps past Kennedy in regional opener

MARION -- Kelsey Duggan stepped to the plate, self-affirmation in her mind.

"Every time I came up, I told myself, 'I'm gonna hit this,' " she said.

She didn't let herself down. Or her team.

Duggan was 3-for-4 with four RBIs as Linn-Mar continued its late-season surge with a 10-5 triumph over Cedar Rapids Kennedy in a Class 4A regional softball quarterfinal Saturday night at Linn-Mar High School.

The Lions (17-24) have won 11 of their last 16 games and advance to play at No. 3 Muscatine in a regional semifinal Monday. The Muskies (33-7) had a first-round bye.

An uphill climb, certainly. An opportunity, absolutely.

"Muscatine is just so good," said Lions Coach Jon Harms. "We have to go down there and play our best game ever and hope they hit everything right at us.

"Whatever happens, it's a great experience for our young team to play a program like that."

The Lions overcame a shaky defensive inning in the top of the second. They coughed up three errors and allowed two unearned runs that enabled Kennedy (9-32) to take a 2-1 lead.

They responded with five tallies in the bottom of the second to take command for good.

Duggan had an RBI single, Kortlan Ollinger had another, then Maggie Rizor capped it with a two-run bloop single to right.

"We gave up too many extra outs, but we answered," Harms said.

Ellie Rizor laced a home run (her eighth of the season) to left in the fourth to make it 7-2, then the teams traded three-run rallies in the fifth.

Duggan's two-run single pushed Linn-Mar's lead to 9-5, then Ellie Rizor drove home the final run with a single.

Linn-Mar started the season 6-19, and its late-season push has coincided with the arrival of eighth-grade pitcher Alexis Kelsey, who missed the first few weeks of the season with a broken bone in her left hand.

"She's just a very good young softball player," Harms said. "She's a good hitter, she can play a variety of positions, and obviously she can pitch."

Duggan said, "We're a young team and we started (the season) slow, but we've started to come together."

Kelsey (5-2) scattered six hits, struck out eight and walked one.

Allie McQuiston had two hits for Kennedy.

AT LINN-MAR

C.R. Kennedy    020 030 0 -- 5   6  2

Linn Mar             150 130 x -- 10  11  4

Kassi Nunnikhoven, Taylor Sohn (3) and Sydney Green. Alexis Kelsey and Ellie Rizor. HR -- LM: Rizor.