Jefferson sweeps Xavier behind big night at the plate

CEDAR RAPIDS - Last Saturday against Waukee, Cedar Rapids Jefferson struggled at the plate.

The J-Hawks couldn't get a run past the Warriors and struggled to get hits, falling 4-0 in Des Moines.

Just three days later, the J-Hawks put that problem way behind them.

Class 5A No. 1 Jefferson swept 4A No. 15 Cedar Rapids Xavier Tuesday night at Jefferson High School, winning the first game 11-4 and the second 15-1 in just three innings.

'I feel great,” Jefferson Coach Brian Ebly said. 'We're seeing the ball well, obviously. We had good pitching, played good defense. I just think right now offensively, the kids are seeing the ball well ... I think tonight they had really good focus.”

Jefferson (14-1) made easy work of the Saints (6-7) in Game 1. The J-Hawks mounted a 5-0 lead in the first three innings. Then, following a pair of runs in the fourth inning from the Saints, J-Hawk second baseman Lindsey Culver drilled a shot over the left field fence to score two runs in the sixth inning. Just three batters later, pitcher Erica Oler hit a near-identical home run to score three more runs, bringing the lead to 11-2.

'All through the lineup, we were making solid contact and we were really stringing them together, which is sometimes what we struggle with, timely hitting,” senior Avery Guy said. 'We did really well tonight.”

While the Saints brought in two more runs in the seventh inning, the J-Hawks didn't let them rally for long, quickly ending the inning and the game.

Game 2 didn't differ any for the J-Hawks. They opened by grabbing four runs in the first inning, thanks to a home run from senior Kennedy Dighton. Jefferson scored four more runs in the second inning on home runs from Culver and Emily Oler.

The hot streak continued in the third inning. Guy hit a two-RBI single and Oler hit a three-run home run to seal the game in just three innings.

'Game 1, we just finished really strong,” Dighton said. 'We kind of came on late. The bats got hot, and they just stayed hot in Game 2. We kept the energy up and we knew we had to bring it for Game 2 because they weren't just going to roll over.”

And while it's still early in the season, Ebly and Dighton said they love how they're performing behind the plate.

Any issues from last Saturday, they said, are behind them.

'I just think that right now - hopefully it stays, I don't want to jinx it - we're seeing the ball really well,” Ebly said. 'It probably looks like a pumpkin coming in.”

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