North Scott grounds third-ranked J-Hawks

CEDAR RAPIDS - For one long inning, the wheels came off the Cedar Rapids Jefferson bus.

By the time they were able to get things rolling again, North Scott was able to pull away and keep them in the rearview mirror.

The Lancers capitalized on miscues, using an eight-run second inning for an 11-8 upset of third-ranked Jefferson in an Iowa High School Athletic Association Class 4A substate first-round game at Lower Kingston.

Jefferson Coach Kyle Rodenkirk and his staff shared an emotional moment in the outfield after the game. The loss, and how it played out, was a bitter pill to swallow.

'It's a tough way for these seniors to go out,” Rodenkirk said. 'Just like in life, it's how you bounce back.”

Jefferson tried to rebound after a damaging second inning when the Lancers (18-20) sent 14 batters to the plate against J-Hawk ace Spencer Van Scoyoc, who entered the game with a 5-1 mark and 0.64 earned-run average.

North Scott smacked five hits, including a double from Ryan Miller that sparked the rally and RBI singles from Tyler Renken, Matt Sacia and Colin Kreiter. Three J-Hawk errors in the frame led to four runs as well.

'That was an inning we couldn't do anything right,” Rodenkirk said. 'It snowballed from there.”

Jefferson tried to chip away, scoring two in the bottom half with a sacrifice fly from Cam Frazier and RBI single from Colton Knox, two seniors who moved into the varsity program when Rodenkirk took the reins.

North Scott increased its lead to 9-2 when Sacia led off with a double and scored. Jefferson added four in the fourth. Knox and Frazier singled and scored. Van Scoyoc nailed his second double of the game and scored, pulling the J-Hawks within 9-6.

Each team added runs late with the J-Hawks bringing the tying run to the on-deck circle when the final out was made.

'I'm proud of the way the boys scratched and clawed and made a game of it,” Rodenkirk said. 'Tip your cap to North Scott. They put the bat on the ball and that's about it.”

The sixth-seeded Lancers knocked off the substate's top seed. The underdog role didn't include pressure to win.

'We had one goal this year and that is to get to state,” North Scott Coach Blake Hanna said. 'We're still alive.”

Alex Jones played a big part, throwing 3 1/3 innings of relief to limit Jefferson's comeback bid. He threw seven innings earlier this week and seemed to tire late. His competitive nature took over and Hanna was riding him to the finish.

'I was sweating it,” Jones said. 'I didn't feel like I was throwing hard at all. I just went out and tried to throw strikes, letting my defense work.

'It's what I've trained for my whole life. I got the opportunity and took advantage of it.”

North Scott suffered through some tough losses during the season. They persevered and showed their potential against the J-Hawks, who knew the challenge presented by the Lancers.

'We just told the kids to keep hanging in there and keep believing they can win,” Hanna said. 'They put it together (Friday night).”

The J-Hawks finished 29-9 and were co-champions of the Mississippi Valley Conference Valley Division. A good season ended sooner than the J-Hawks wanted.

'We said nobody can ever take that away from you,” Rodenkirk said. 'Yeah, you want to do some damage, and we could have done some damage in the postseason, but (Friday night) wasn't our night.”

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