A sleeping giant has fully awoken at Kennedy

FORT DODGE — The 2014 softball season had just ended in a thud, a 12-0 regional-final loss at Southeast Polk.

'We went over there and got beat bad,' Cedar Rapids Kennedy's Jenna Schwartzhoff said. 'That team from Southeast Polk, they were all seniors.'

'We thought then, 'Let's do that someday.''

Someday has arrived.

Kennedy is in the state semifinals for the first time; the fourth-ranked Cougars (36-7) tangle with No. 1 Waukee (39-3) in a Class 5A encounter at 11 a.m. Thursday.

After years of hibernation, a sleeping giant has awoken with a vengeance. It's been a steady, four-year journey from mediocrity to championship contention.

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Led by five-year starter Ashley Hamilton, this year's senior class has been the trigger behind the turnaround.

Hamilton was an eighth-grader in 2013, when the Cougars went 13-25.

'It was different. We didn't have much leadership,' said Hamilton, this year's MVC Valley Division player of the year and a University of Iowa signee.

It went beyond that.

'We lacked structure, leadership, accountabilty, knowledge of the game,' said Coach Maddison LeClere, who has been with the program since 2011, and was elevated to head coach before this season.

Dan Gratz was hired before the 2014 season, and the fortunes changed quickly.

'He obviously was a huge part of the process of turning it around,' LeClere said. 'He was gifted some pretty good young talent. It took our staff a while to provide the girls the type of coaching they were used to at the youth level.'

Four freshmen started in 2014 — Hamilton, Schwartzhoff, Megan Weber and Sydney Kinney. Kennedy's record flipped from 13-25 to 27-14, and a transformation was under way.

'(Gratz's) attitude, his coaching style, that made a big difference,' Schwartzhoff said. 'He had a plan. We wanted to be there, and we wanted to be part of it.'

Kennedy climbed to 28-13 in 2015, then 37-5 last year. The Cougars were ranked No. 1 in the final 5A rankings, but were tripped up by Cedar Rapids Prairie, 2-1, in the regional finals.

'I believe the last three or four years, we've been a state-contending team, but it wasn't in the cards,' LeClere said.

As Maddison Wooldruff, LeClere won 106 games as a pitcher at Emmetsburg (2006-2010). Then, starting in 2011, she played at Coe College in the spring and was an assistant at Kennedy in the summer.

She applied for the head position after Katie Bova resigned in 2013.

'I wasn't 100-percent sure if I was ready, but I didn't want the administration to think it wasn't something I was interested in,' she said.

Gratz got the job, then LeClere was elevated to associate head coach last year.

When Gratz moved on last August to become director of softball operations at Iowa, LeClere applied again. And this time, she knew she was ready.

Kennedy has a deep pitching staff headed by freshman Kaylin Kinney — a University of Nebraska signee — and eighth-grader Jayme Scheck.

But the seniors are the glue. Hamilton has hit in the .400s all five seasons, and possesses a steady glove and strong arm to anchor the left side of the infield.

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Weber was the Gatorade state player of the year after hitting .529 with 13 home runs last season. Schwartzhoff has showed steady improvement at the plate throughout her career (and owns a career pitching mark of 52-24). Kinney has been a consistent hitter in the .300s, and has supported her younger sister as she developed into a star.

'She's a great player, and I look up to her,' said Kinney, who will join Weber at Coe next year. Schwartzhoff will play at Clarke.

Regardless of what happens in the next two days, their legacy is cemented as the group that spearheaded the turnaround.

'We compete and we play for each other,' Hamilton said.

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com