Momentum from last year has carried over into a 10-0 start for Cedar Rapids Prairie

Whatever word is the opposite of “hangover,” it applies.

For the Cedar Rapids Prairie softball program, one swing changed everything.

“I hope we can keep it rolling, because we have a good thing going right now,” Coach Alisha Frese said.

Good, as in 10-0. That’s where the Class 5A sixth-ranked Hawks stand after Tuesday’s home doubleheader sweep of Cedar Falls.

“Some of the kiddos, the sophomores and the upperclassmen, they’ve been a part of our program for three-plus years,” Frese said.

“They’re starting to understand, just because they get behind for a couple of innings ... in previous years, they would get down and come up short.”

Not in last year’s regional finals.

Riley Redig’s three-run home run with two outs in the top of the seventh inning rescued the Hawks in a 3-2 win at Cedar Rapids Kennedy.

Now a senior, Redig “is really hot right now,” Frese said.

Redig is hitting .500 and leading the Hawks in home runs (two) and RBIs (nine).

Lola Hawkins, a sophomore, owns a .480 batting average, and “everybody else around them is doing their job,” Frese said.

Senior Tatum Goerdt and junior Lyla Canny both are 5-0 in the pitching circle, with ERAs in the low-1s.

The Hawks swept Cedar Falls on Tuesday by verdicts of 14-5 and 8-0, kicking off a week that could entail as many as 10 games.

Prairie hosts Kennedy tonight.

1-vs.-2 showdown set for Friday

When North Polk visits Cedar Rapids Xavier for the Xavier Softball Classic on Friday, it is likely to be a matchup of the top two teams in Class 4A.

At least, it will be if the current rankings hold.

North Polk (10-1) was the preseason No. 1 team, then was replaced by Xavier (15-0) last week.

The Saints have posted seven shutouts in their last eight games. Senior ace Braylen Conlon is 9-0 with a 0.14 ERA.

Led by Conlon (.462, 23 runs), Katie Pilcher (.479, 11 home runs, 25 RBIs) and Maddyn Gates (.510, 7 HR), the Saints are hitting .420 as a team.

They’ll also host Marion on Friday, then it’s Boone and Ames on Saturday.

“It will be good to see if we can get exposed a little bit (by this level of competition),” Coach Nikki Gahring said.

State statistical leaders

Pilcher’s 11 home runs and Conlon’s 0.14 ERA are tops in the state.

Other leaders among area players, as of Wednesday morning:

* Rachel Eglseder of Edgewood-Colesburg, strikeouts (116) and doubles (11).

* Makenna Hughes of Williamsburg, stolen bases (23).

* Marlie Schissel of Jesup, triples (six).

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com