Tait Tierney helps Cedar Rapids Prairie earn split with Class 4A top-ranked Cedar Rapids Kennedy

CEDAR RAPIDS – Tait Tierney has played baseball his whole life.

At one point, however, he was a formidable soccer player, too. As his love for baseball grew, Tierney opted for throwing and hitting pitches over playing on one.

“I was a big soccer player when I was younger,” said Tierney, a sophomore for Cedar Rapids Prairie. “As I got older, I realized I was better at baseball and maybe I should focus on baseball. I just stuck with it and it has worked out well, so I plan to keep doing that.”

The Hawks have to be glad for that decision. Tierney tallied four hits and four runs, helping Prairie upset Class 4A No. 1 Cedar Rapids Kennedy, 13-9, in the opener of a Mississippi Valley Conference doubleheader Monday night at Prairie. The Cougars rebounded with a dominant 11-0 victory in five innings to salvage a split.

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“It feels really good,” Tierney said. “That is obviously a very good team. It felt good to get a win and help the team out.”

Tierney played a few roles for the Hawks, as he has all season. He served as the leadoff batter and started in center field. Interestingly, Tierney is an infielder by trade but moved to center to help the team. Prairie Coach James Nelson said he is a versatile talent that is willing to do whatever as long as he is on the diamond.

“He’s that dynamic,” Nelson said of Tierney. “He’s just a great athlete.”

Nelson had Tierney near the bottom of the order to start the season. The strategy was by design, placing a leadoff-type batter to roll over the lineup. Nelson said it was evident he needed to move Tierney to the No. 1 spot.

“I’m just trying to get on for the guys behind me,” Tierney said. “We have good hitters behind me. My role is to hit a groundball, get on base, steal a bag and get in to score runs.”

The doubleheader served as a prime example.

Tierney consistently sparked the Hawks, going 4-for-5 and scoring every time he reached base in the seesaw affair of Game 1. He had base hits in each of the first three innings often connecting with a two-strike count.

“I hit line drives everywhere,” said Tierney, who led off the second game with a single and finished with five hits overall. “They couldn’t defend the line drive. Just stay flat in the zone and keep getting hits up the middle.”

Michael Day drove in Tierney and Kamren Francois in the bottom of the first for a 2-1 lead. In the second, Maddux Mueller’s RBI single plated Drew Long and Tierney scored on a Shraden Lechtenberg sacrifice fly.

Spencer Wood’s two-out double sparked a four-run rally the following inning. Tierney and Mueller scored as the Hawks capitalized on a couple Kennedy errors for an 8-4 lead through three.

Kennedy leads the state in home runs and increased its total to 31 with four against the Hawks. Grant Mather had a solo home run in the first, tying him for the state lead with nine.

Nolan Grawe added a solo home run in the three-run third, giving him eight this year. The Cougars received a two-run single from Jacob Doyle in the three-run fourth. Lincoln Meyers gave Kennedy a 9-8 advantage with a two-run home run over the left-center field fence in the fifth.

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Tierney and the Hawks answered in the sixth. Wood, Long and Tierney hit three straight singles. Mueller followed with a two-RBI base hit and Francois added a two-run double to cap the scoring.

Tierney relieved Kam Volz in the sixth and tossed two innings of shutout baseball, allowing just one runner against one of the state’s top offenses.

“I’ve always believed in myself pitching,” Tierney said. “I just had to stay confident on the mound and make my pitches. I knew the defense would help behind me. They got six outs and we won the game.”

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The victory was vital for the Hawks, who were swept by Cedar Rapids Xavier and slid out of the Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association rankings for the first time this season, one of the rare times in Nelson’s tenure.

“I’m happy with the split,” Nelson said. “We had a good talk with the guys today and I think they responded.”

Kennedy (21-2, 15-2 MVC) rebounded and dominated the nightcap. The Cougars pounded out 13 hits, breaking the game open with an eight-run fifth inning.

Kennedy sent 13 batters to the plate in the frame. Ty Donels and Grawe opened with consecutive doubles. Doyle reached baseball and Matt Stoltenberg belted his fourth home run of the season.

Colton Duerling, Meyers, Owen Anderson and Owen Hutchison had four straight hits and all scored.

Duerling threw a two-hit gem, pitching all five innings. He allowed just three baserunners the last four innings and retired nine of the final 10 he faced.

Comments: kj.pilcher@thegazette.com