Green and state gold: Cedar Rapids Kennedy captures 4A state baseball title with 7-3 win over West D

CEDAR RAPIDS – Colton Duerling threw his glove in the air, jumped up and waved his arm to the deafening Cedar Rapids Kennedy crowd.

Then came the stampede of teammates who crushed him to the bottom of a pile of rubble consisting of as many as 20 teammates in the middle of the infield.

“I was kind of crushed,” Duerling said, laughing. “It was weird. I wanted everyone to get up quickly, but we stayed there for a while. I liked it.”

Duerling earned his second straight win, pitched a complete game and helped the top-ranked Cougars post a 7-3 victory over No. 7 West Des Moines Dowling for the Class 4A state baseball title Friday night at Memorial Stadium. Kennedy claimed his second state baseball crown and first since 2010.

“The best moment of my life,” said Kennedy senior Nolan Grawe. “That was absolutely insane.”

Grawe, the third baseman, evaded the first group of Cougars and joined in the celebratory scrum.

“I stayed up there,” Grawe said. “I didn’t want to get hurt or anything. I jumped up there. It was a great time.”

This accomplishment was at least a year in the making. Kennedy had had his sights set on it since a disappointing loss in the substate finals that ended the 2023 season. The Cougars (36-4) were determined to stay in that position and reaped the rewards for their efforts.

“It felt great,” said Jace Scott of Kennedy. “I’ve seen this team fall short the last two years. We were one game away from making it to state. This year, we have one goal in mind going into our final run as seniors.

“To get to this point, we put everything into the off-season. We worked hard every day. It felt great to see it all pay off.”

Kennedy Coach Bret Hoyer was grinning from ear to ear. The focus was on being the most improved team from the start of substate to the season finale. Hoyer said he was happy for everyone in the program.

“I’m proud of my players, the seniors and my assistant coaches for the work they’ve done all year,” Hoyer said. “There’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes that people don’t know about and that’s great. That’s why we’re where we are.”

Duerling took the mound for the second straight game. He closed out the thriller over Johnston to advance to the finals and got the call again. Duerling was ready and willing to do what the coaches needed and Hoyer made his decision as the semifinals ended.

“We knew it from the beginning,” Hoyer said. “He fully expected it. He wanted the ball. He felt better today after the warm-up than he ever did.”

Duerling produced a six-hitter, allowing two unearned runs. He induced 11 flyouts to deep and wide, including the game-ending out caught by left fielder Owen Hutchison.

“I just threw down the gauntlet and let my teammates work,” Duerling said. “I ran (two) and my defense did it all. They’re great.”

Kennedy’s vaunted offense leads the state in numerous categories. The Cougars have trounced opponents. They faced a challenge from the Maroons’ Trever Baumler, a highly touted right-handed pitcher signed to Texas Christian University.

Kennedy’s bats responded with eight hits against Baumler in five innings, with Duerling, Scott and Duerling each having two.

The needed runs were scored before Dowling even got on the board and the Cougars took control, breaking the scoreless tie in the third inning.

Scott singled to lead off the bottom of the third. He advanced to second on a groundout and scored on Grawe’s single. Grawe advanced to second on the home run. Matt Stoltenberg followed with a hard shot from the first baseman that ricocheted into the bullpen, driving Grawe home for a 2-0 lead.

“Those first runs are big, especially against a guy of Baumler’s caliber,” Grawe said. “It was great to get ahead early and Colton kept throwing strikes and getting us outs. It was awesome.”

Kennedy walked in the three-run fourth. Jacob Doyle walked and Scott added his second hit. Hutchison’s single to left brought in Doyle. Ty Donels, who hit a solo homer to win the win over Johnston on Thursday, hit a sacrifice bunt. When the pitch went into right field, Scott and Hutchison scored to make it 5-0.

The bottom third of Kennedy’s lineup – Doyle, Scott and Hutchison – had four hits with two RBIs and combined for four runs scored.

“A lot of teams try to ignore the bottom players in the lineup,” Scott said. “Not this team. We go in there with the mindset that we’re just as good as anybody. Our goal is to help the team and perform. We did that tonight.”

Dowling (25-16) used a pair of singles, a walk and a Kennedy throwing error to get on the board. Joey Nahas’ sacrifice fly drove in Nick Frerichs to pull within three.

Kennedy added two more in the fifth, including an RBI single by Hutchison. Dowling closed the scoring in the sixth on an RBI double by Dylan Webb.

Dowling fell to a walk with two outs in the seventh. Kennedy became the first Mississippi Valley Conference team to win a 4A state baseball title since Cedar Rapids Prairie in 2016. The Cougars also set a program record for wins in a season.

Grawe said this team had some setbacks during the special season, but was destined to finish on top.

“We just kept winning,” Grawe said. “We knew our goal was to get this trophy. We got it.”

Cedar Rapids Kennedy 7West Des Moines Dowling 3

CHAMPIONSHIP CLASS 4A

WDM Dowling 000-021-0 — 3-6-3

CR Kennedy 002-320-x — 7-8-1

Trever Baumler, Jack Clendenin (6) and Matt Hanten. Colton Duerling and Trevor Scott. W – Duerling (7-1). L-Baumler (6-3). 2B – WDMD: Dylan Webb.

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