J-Hawks end 7-year drought

FORT DODGE - Seven years was long enough.

Kennedy Dighton's two-run double in the bottom of the fifth inning gave Cedar Rapids Jefferson some breathing room, and the third-ranked J-Hawks defeated Linn-Mar, 6-3, in a Class 5A quarterfinal at the state softball tournament Monday afternoon at the Rogers Sports Complex.

'I feel like we got a little bit of a monkey off our backs,” said Jefferson Coach Brian Erbe. 'We knew this was going to be tough. Linn-Mar is a good team. John (Begley) is a good coach.”

The J-Hawks (36-7) capitalized on four Linn-Mar errors, tallying four unearned runs. As a result, they reach the semifinals for the first time since 2008.

Jefferson will face No. 2 Johnston at 5 p.m. Thursday. The defending-champion Dragons (34-4) defeated Bettendorf, 12-2, in five innings.

'We haven't been in the winners' bracket in seven years,” Dighton said, correctly. 'This is the first step to the Friday-night championship.”

Jefferson tied for third here in 2008, then the drought began. The J-Hawks lost in the first round in 2009, bowed out in the regional finals in 2010, 2011 and 2012, then had fits with their bats in state-quarterfinal defeats in 2013 and 2014.

Last year, The J-Hawks stranded 11 in a 2-0 first-round loss to Southeast Polk. Monday, they came through enough - and got some help from Linn-Mar (25-18).

'We just made too many mistakes,” Begley said. 'We fought and we battled, but against a team like Jefferson, if you give them too many outs, they're going to make you pay.”

The Lions took a 1-0 lead on Maddy Ryan's RBI double in the top of the first, but Jefferson answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second to take the lead for good. Avery Guy's single plated Liv Erickson, then Lindsey Culver scored on a throwing error.

It remained 2-1 until Dighton's big blow in the fifth. Maddie Hansen led off the inning with the third of her four intentional walks, then Erin Kuba reached on an error. Dighton gapped a hit to the fence in right-center field, and the margin was 4-1.

'When they give you a free baserunner, you've got to step up and execute,” Dighton said.

Jefferson's final two runs scored on errors.

'We lost because of our errors,” said Linn-Mar shortstop Ellison Ollinger, who, ironically, came up with two stellar defensive plays to keep the J-Hawks at bay in the first inning. 'We gave our best effort, but it just didn't come through for us today.”

Alyssa Olson (19-4) earned the win, yielding three hits and two walks. She struck out five.

'It wasn't my best,” she said. 'I came out the first five innings, then something happened. (The home plate umpire) squeezed me a little, and I started to think too much.

'But we won, and we're climbing our mountain of goals.”

An RBI single by Ollinger and a run-scoring ground-out by Maddy Ryan got the Lions within 5-3 in the sixth before the J-Hawks got an error-aided insurance run.

Linn-Mar meets Bettendorf (23-14) in a consolation semifinal at 10 a.m. Wednesday, then plays for fifth or seventh place at 2 p.m.

CEDAR RAPIDS JEFFERSON 6, LINN-MAR 3

Class 5A State Quarterfinal, at Fort Dodge

Linn-Mar 100 002 0 - 3 3 4

C.R. Jefferson 020 031 x - 6 6 2

Maddy Ryan and Christina Lincoln. Alyssa Olson and Maddie Hansen. W - Olson (19-4). L - Ryan (19-11).

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