Older brother gets the best of younger brother

CEDAR RAPIDS - No, the catcher wasn't tipping off pitches to A.J. Reuter or anything Thursday night.

That catcher was his brother, Michael, but family ties only go so far. Especially when you're in a big tournament like this.

'He hit the ball well, hit it where we pitched it. You have to give him props,” Michael Reuter said after A.J. and the Coe Kohawks knocked off his Central baseball team, 7-2, in an Iowa Conference Tournament game at Veterans Memorial Stadium. 'There were some tough pitches that he squared up and hit into the gaps. And they ended up getting the win. So, overall, he got us pretty good tonight.”

A.J. Reuter had a pair of doubles, a single and two RBIs as second-seeded Coe (29-12) advanced in the winner's bracket of this double-elimination event. Michael Reuter lofted a two-run home run onto the porch in left field to account for both of Central's runs, but this decision was unanimous in older brother's favor.

A.J. is a senior first baseman, Michael a sophomore. They prepped at Monticello.

'We grew up playing together in little league and in high school,” A.J. said. 'My senior year, he got a little bit of time there as a sophomore. It's a little different. He knows all my tricks, I kind of know all of his, too. It's just really exciting to play against him, having my mom and dad kind of go back and forth, not really knowing what to wear. I don't think I've ever seen my dad wear either Coe gear or Central gear when we play each other. I think he was in a white polo or something like that tonight.”

Michael didn't play in any of the five Coe-Central games last season, but the boys squared off four times this regular season. There was no pre-tournament discussion between them here, and the usual light-hearted banter during the game was eliminated.

'The first time, when we went to Coe in the regular season, it was a lot more fun and talkative,” said Michael. 'Obviously, you want to win them all, but there wasn't as much on the line. Tonight it was just another person out there. I didn't really say anything to him, didn't do anything different. We just treated each other like competitors.”

'For the most part, we kept it civil, never really said anything to each other,” A.J. said. 'We knew there was a rivalry there, and we were going to bring the intensity tonight. When it comes down to tournament games, it's a whole other level than during the season.”

Third-seeded Central (20-20) defeated Loras in a pig-tail game Thursday and remains alive. Coe plays either top-seeded Wartburg or Luther Friday afternoon at 1.

The Kohawks peppered Central ace Dylan Diveney, an IIAC pitcher of the year candidate, to the tune of nine hits and seven runs, five earned, in six innings. Connor Alberhasky gave up just five hits for Coe in an ever-important complete-game win.

Saving pitchers is huge.

'We came out swinging the bats early,” said Coe Coach Steve Cook. 'I was telling the guys that even our outs were hard hit. That's what you like to see ... We got the four spot there in the third inning, but I thought that was really a consequence of our earlier at-bats. We were on top of (Diveney) and really pressing the situation.”

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