Kennedy overcomes 4-run deficit; 6th-inning home runs beat Liberty

CEDAR RAPIDS — Hers is a high school athletic career in its infancy. Perhaps, many special moments await.

However, Dylan Amling said:

“This was an experience I’ll never forget.”

A mere eighth-grader, Amling hit a go-ahead home run in the bottom of the sixth inning, and Class 5A 10th-ranked Cedar Rapids Kennedy overcame an immediate four-run deficit to edge No. 7 Iowa City Liberty, 7-5, in a Mississippi Valley Conference softball game Thursday night at Kennedy High School.

The second game, a non-counter in MVC standings, was suspended in the fourth inning, with Liberty in front 4-0. When — and if — the game will be completed is yet to be determined.

After the field was deemed unplayable, the majority of the Cougars raced from the dugout for an impromptu dance on the sloppy, soaky infield.

One of their parents, surely, will be unhappy to discover a mud-caked white jersey in the laundry, courtesy of a head-first slide in the muck.

At any rate, the Cougars (16-9 overall, 9-5 MVC) won an important game in terms of regional seeding.

“They were ahead of us (in the rankings), and we wanted to show that we’re the better team,” said Emerson Blocker, who started the Cougars’ long road back with a second-inning home run.

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Kennedy trailed 4-0 before it came to the plate, and the Cougars still faced a 5-1 deficit heading to the bottom of the fifth inning.

Cara Crock opened the frame with a triple to the right-center-field gap, and an error fanned the flames.

Alli VanderZee drove in a run with a single, then Blocker did the same to make it 5-3. Brown’s long two-run single tied the game, with Blocker wheeling home from first.

That set the stage for back-to-back bombs by Amling and Crock in the sixth.

Amling’s first-pitch laser knocked a small branch from a tree beyond the fence, just left of dead centerfield.

“All of the hype from my teammates brought the energy up for me to hit a dong,” she said.

Crock’s drive landed just left of Amling’s.

Liberty (16-9, 11-4) jumped on Kennedy starter Lily Knutson (10-3) immediately, turning two hits, two walks and an error into four runs. Kennedy Conner’s two-run single was the highlight of the inning.

Blocker won an eight-pitch battle with a homer to lead off the second — “I was just looking for a ball to hit,” she said — then Liberty’s Haley Schroeder matched it with a third-inning solo shot to make it 5-1.

Knutson settled down after that, though, retiring 14 of the final 17 batters she faced. That included an F-1/1-4 double play on a bunt attempt in the seventh to erase the Bolts’ final threat.

Despite the loss, Liberty remains in a first-place tie with Dubuque Wahlert in the MVC Mississippi Division. Both teams have five league games to play.

Cedar Rapids Kennedy 7, Iowa City Liberty 5

At C.R. Kennedy

Game 1

Iowa City Liberty 401 000 0 — 5 6 1

C.R. Kennedy 010 042 x — 7 10 1

Ellie Tague, Addyson McKillip (6) and Mischa Reiners, Delaney Ball (6). Lily Knutson and Dylan Amling. W — Knutson (10-3). L — Tague (7-2). HR — ICL: Haley Schroeder (4), CRK: Emerson Blocker (2), Dylan Amling (3), Cara Crock (3).

Game 2

Suspended, 4th inning, Liberty ahead 4-0.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com