Kennedy’s progress leads to substate final

CEDAR RAPIDS - Cedar Rapids Kennedy opened the season as the top-ranked team in Class 4A.

The Cougars returned talent from last year's state quarterfinal team, but had to replace six bats and three infielders in their lineup. Progress came slow with weather pushing many early games to the last half of the regular season.

The three weeks leading up to the postseason contained more than half of Kennedy's games. The packed schedule aided the Cougars' development.

'We had a lot of games bunched together and I think that brought them closer together down the stretch,” Kennedy Coach Bret Hoyer said. 'I know it helped them from a performance perspective. We replaced those spots with good players but we needed that experience to really develop. Our schedule the last two weeks of the season had about half our regular-season games. It really helped us more than what we as coaches could do in practices.”

Sixth-ranked Kennedy will face a tough test when it hosts Cedar Falls in a Class 4A substate final at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The Cougars (28-11) are trying to earn their second straight trip to the state tournament and 12th under Hoyer since 2000.

'It will be two terrific teams,” Hoyer said. 'There are a lot of talented players, who will play extremely hard.”

Hoyer watched the Tigers (22-13) scratch out a 7-6 win in 11 innings against Linn-Mar to advance. He also recalled that Cedar Falls nearly swept the Cougars, needing two late runs in the nightcap to split one-run decisions.

'It is an extremely tough matchup for us,” Hoyer said. 'They are an extremely resilient group.

'They played through real difficult situations and showed that they are a state-tournament caliber team. We are going to have to play really well, if we hope to win.”

Kennedy is the top-seeded substate team and earned a second-round bye with an 8-0 win over Waterloo East. The Cougars are rested and have plenty of arms to throw, including senior leaders Sammy Lizarraga and Zach Daniels. They have combined for an 8-1 mark. Lizarraga has a minuscule 0.90 earned-run average.

'I know our kids will be ready to go,” Hoyer said. 'The adrenaline will be pumping. They will be fired up. They will take the ball and whoever plays the best will win.”

Fifth-ranked Cedar Rapids Prairie has produced one of its best seasons in program history, looking for its second trip to the state tournament and first since 2005.

The Hawks (31-7) host No. 8 Iowa City West (31-11) in a 4A substate final, starting at 7 p.m. Prairie swept the Trojans in a doubleheader earlier this season. The Trojans were state semifinalists last year.

A pair of top-10 teams will battle for a spot at the 3A state tournament. Fourth-ranked West Delaware (32-5) faces No. 2 Waverly-Shell Rock (31-4) at Oelwein in a rematch of last year's substate final won by the Go-Hawks.

West Delaware beat Waverly-Shell Rock, 7-2, to open the regular season. The Hawks look to earn their eighth state tournament appearance and first since back-to-back trips in 2007 and 2008.

Wamac Conference foes will compete to represent the conference in the 3A state quarterfinals. Vinton-Shellsburg (24-16) heads to Williamsburg (27-11) in a substate final. The Raiders swept a regular-season doubleheader.

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