Prairie’s Levi Usher belts three home runs in doubleheader split with City High

CEDAR RAPIDS — Levi Usher has had some good days on the baseball diamond.

In his own words, none compared to the nearly five hours he spent on the field Tuesday night. Few have matched this production in the doubleheader.

The Cedar Rapids Prairie junior belted three home runs and tallied 15 total bases in the Hawks' Mississippi Valley Conference Valley Division split with Iowa City High at home. City High thumped Prairie, 13-3, in the opener. The Hawks rebounded for a 9-3 victory in the nightcap.

'I just felt like my swing was smooth (Tuesday night),' Usher said. 'My timing was down.'

Usher entered the twinbill with a .500 batting average and three extra-base hits. He went 5-for-7 with a walk, six RBIs and scored four times. He smacked two home runs in the opener, accounting for all three runs for Prairie (4-3, 1-1).

'He's been great for us all year,' Prairie Coach Todd Rima said. 'At any time with any swing, we feel he can leave the yard. When the wind is blowing out and he gets pitches to hit he can be a really special hitter.'

Usher continued his assault on pitchers in the second game. He belted a solo home run to give Prairie a 3-1 lead in the third. Usher stepped to the plate with the bases loaded in the following inning. He worried about adding to his big totals and hit a two-run double that padded the Hawks lead.

'Everyone in the dugout was asking me about it,' Usher said. 'I'm just trying to hit the ball as hard as I can. Not really wishing for a home run but just getting a base hit for us.'

Usher added a single in the sixth. He scored from second on a third-to-home-to-first double play, and that impressed Rima more than anything else.

'Levi is too fast that I looked up and he was already by me,' Rima said. 'I had nothing to do with that. It was all baseball instincts.'

The first game was all City High. The Little Hawks (4-3, 1-1) opened with six runs in the first and put up another six-run spot in the fifth. Brett McCleary and Jacob Dykes each had three RBIs in the opener.

Zachary Stone had four hits, including a home run, and four RBIs for City High.

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