Young pitchers stake Cedar Rapids Kennedy to a sweep of Iowa City High

CEDAR RAPIDS — Jayme Scheck's U-turn was decisive and dominant.

After a somewhat rocky start, the eighth-grade pitcher retired 19 consecutive batters and staked Class 5A eighth-ranked Cedar Rapids Kennedy to a 2-1 win and a Mississippi Valley Conference softball doubleheader sweep of Iowa City High on Tuesday at Kennedy High School.

'I just kind of settled in,' said Scheck, who finished with a tidy two-hitter. 'I tried to make them go after my pitches. I wanted to make them chase things.'

There was a lot of chasing, especially of Scheck's riseball. The rookie whiffed 14 batters.

Kennedy (19-5 overall, 13-5 MVC) won the opener, 7-0, behind Kaylin Kinney's three-hitter and moved into sole possession of the MVC Valley Division. The Cougars are a game ahead of City High (13-14, 12-6) and Cedar Rapids Prairie (19-8, 12-6) with eight league games remaining.

It's a team blessed with pitching depth (four quality hurlers on the roster), and pitching youth. A University of Nebraska commit, Kinney is a freshman. Scheck is a year younger.

'It's just a matter of who matches up with who best,' Kennedy Coach Maddison LeClere said. 'Speed-wise, it's hard to go from somebody that throws in the 60s like Kaylin to facing Jayme, who moves the ball so well.'

The first three City High batters reached against Scheck, on an error, a run-scoring double by Ella Cook and a walk.

Then, she slammed the door shut and hid the proverbial key, striking out 12 of the next 13 batters she faced.

Ashley Hamilton broke a 1-1 tie with a solo home run in the third inning, and that turned out to be the difference.

Kinney knocked in three runs in the opener, Ashley Winterowd scored twice and the Cougars capitalized on six City High errors.

'We're focusing on getting quality at bats,' LeClere said. 'To score seven runs in the first game and put the ball in play hard, that's encouraging.'

CEDAR RAPIDS KENNEDY 7-2, IOWA CITY HIGH 0-1

At C.R. Kennedy

Game 1

Iowa City High 000 000 0 — 0 3 6

C.R. Kennedy 120 202 x — 7 9 0

Ayana Lindsey and Carey Koenig. Kaylin Kinney and Megan Weber. W — Kinney (6-2). L — Lindsey (8-7).

Game 2

Iowa City High 100 000 0 — 1 2 0

C.R. Kennedy 101 000 x — 2 6 1

Gabrielle Hiatt and Jayden Young. Jayme Scheck and Abby Spore. W — Scheck (5-2). L — Hiatt (2-4). HR — CRK: Ashley Hamilton (2).

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com