Van Scoyocs power Jefferson to Metro finals

CEDAR RAPIDS - Cedar Rapids Jefferson junior Spencer Van Scoyoc took the mound with baseball in hand and a bit of chip on his shoulder.

He had a point to prove to little brother, Connor, who is a freshman for the J-Hawks.

After Connor Van Scoyoc threw a five-hit shutout against Mount Vernon in the season opener, Spencer Van Scoyoc tossed a no-hitter in a 10-0 win in five innings against Cedar Rapids Prairie in the semifinals of the Bob Vrbicek Metro Baseball Tournament on Tuesday at Cedar Rapids Washington.

'We are a very competitive family,” Spencer Van Scoyoc said. 'We try our best to beat each other. It makes us both even better.

'I had to do my best to top my little brother. It's pretty hard to do. He's pretty good.”

Jefferson Coach Kyle Rodenkirk said he feels blessed to coach these brothers, who try to '1-up” each other regularly.

'The Van Scoyoc boys are pretty tough,” Rodenkirk said. 'They're in midseason form already, so it's nice as a coach putting them out there and we have a good defense behind them. That's fun to watch.”

Spencer Van Scoyoc has progressed from a year ago when an arm injury hampered his throwing. The way he threw his change-up caused pronation of his arm, causing a tight forearm and elbow tightness.

They changed his arm slot and everything has been fine.

'I started really throwing good last fall and then that carried over into the spring,” he said. 'It's been going good so far.”

Connor Van Scoyoc got off to a good start. He struck out seven Mustangs, posting more than a 2-to-1 strike-to-ball ratio, in a 4-0. Spencer rose to the challenged against the Hawks.

He faced just 17 batters, striking out eight. The older Van Scoyoc used a strong fastball and nasty breaking balls to stifle the Prairie bats that blasted Washington for 15 runs in its opening win. He fanned the first four batters he faced.

'It builds my confidence but then the whole team rallied behind it with the bats,” said Spencer Van Scoyoc, who walked two batters. 'It just kind of went from there.”

The J-Hawks (2-0) produced all the offense they needed in the third, sending 10 batters to the plate.

The flood gates opened after a throwing error on a potential inning-ending double play.

Tyler Roeder hit an RBI double to deep center that hit off the outfielder's glove. Three batters later Caleb Stekl ripped a two-run double down the third-base line, following Lucas Larson's run-scoring single.

'We've been preaching all year it's about momentum,” Rodenkirk said. 'It was a dogfight the first two innings. It could have went either way.

'Our guys responded and just rode the train out. It was pretty good.”

Roeder added an RBI double in the fourth. he scored twice. Jefferson's Jared Eivins reached base in all four at-bats, hitting two singles and scoring twice.

The J-Hawks advance to the finals for the second straight season, following to Cedar Rapids Kennedy for the championship last year.

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