CEDAR RAPIDS — A spectator made the observation early and accurately:
“This doesn’t seem like Jeff/Linn-Mar.”
Class 4A third-ranked Cedar Rapids Jefferson struck for 22 hits and dominated rebuilding Linn-Mar, 4-0 and 11-1, in a Mississippi Valley Conference softball double-header Thursday night at the Jefferson Softball Complex.

In May 2008, Ed Thomas lost his home, on Wednesday, he lost his life.
But Thomas’ legacy won’t be that of a victim, according to Tom Stone.
“He had ‘winner’ written all over him,” said Stone, veteran football coach at Pekin High School. “He touched so many lives. He brought out the best in so many people. He had a real knack in getting along with kids.”
Thomas, the iconic Aplington-Parkersburg football coach and athletics director who led the community’s rebirth after a devastating tornado, was shot and killed in the school’s weight …

MOUNT VERNON – They don’t really care about rankings or won-loss records.
The Mount Vernon Mustangs softball team does, however, care about its 6-1 victory over Williamsburg at home Wednesday.
“We worry about the game that’s right there in front of us,” said senior second baseman Emily Ryan, who drove in two runs with two hits.
Right in front of the Class 3A, No. 11 Mustangs (24-5, 14-3 Wamac) Wednesday was an 18-7 Williamsburg team that just fell out of the state rankings and sent a hot pitcher to the mound in Kayley …

For a day, Larry Niemeyer felt young again.
The nation’s all-time leader in softball victories, Niemeyer has been selected as the 2009 National High School Coaches Association national coach of the year.
“It’s got to be one of the bigger (awards I’ve won),” said Niemeyer, who has coached Adel and Cedar Rapids Jefferson to 1,972 victories heading into last night’s doubleheader at Cedar Rapids Prairie. “You read some of the bios of the winners … some of those guys are 80 years old.
“Maybe I’m just a pup.”
Niemeyer, 71, was the national softball …

It was getting toward late summer a year ago, and Nick McCool hadn’t received a job offer.
Finally, a call came from Iowa Valley in Marengo. An elementary physical education job. And a varsity head coaching position.
Just what he wanted. Plus a bonus – the softball team is quite good.
The Tigers take a 13-1 record, the South Iowa Conference lead and a Class 2A No. 11 ranking into their game today at Belle Plaine.
“This group of girls has really jelled together,” said McCool, who had coached four years of varsity baseball …

Larry Niemeyer didn’t panic when his team started this season by dropping both ends of a doubleheader to Dubuque Wahlert.
After all, it happened last year.
Cedar Rapids Jefferson has rebounded with 12 consecutive wins, and 14 in its last 15 games.
The J-Hawks (14-3 overall, 11-3 Mississippi Valley Conference) have opened a 2 1/2-game lead in the Valley Division.
“It’s like our teams usually are – our pitching is good, our defense is good and we’ve got to improve our hitting a little bit,” Niemeyer said.
Niemeyer, whose all-time national leading career victory total …

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Bill Quinby remembers his shock and sadness when he heard about the death of Nile Kinnick.
“We didn’t have TV then. I remember (former Gazette sports editor) Tait Cummins wrote a very warm summary after his death,” said Quinby, 77, a former NFL official who returned to Cedar Rapids after his retirement.
“It was pretty sad then. And this is very, very sad now.”
Quinby was refering to Wednesday’s death of Ed Thomas, the Aplington-Parkersburg football coach that was shot to death at the school’s weight room.
Mark Becker of Parkersburg was …

Law enforcement officials are trying to determine why the man accused of killing legendary high school football coach Ed Thomas was set free from a hospital when he was wanted on multiple charges for an incident last weekend.
At the same time, family and friends wonder why a former football player would attack his coach.
“God always has a reason,” said his son, Aaron, 30. “At this time, it’s very tough for us to understand that.”
Mark Becker, 24, of Parkersburg, who was wanted on felony charges, left Waterloo’s Covenant Medical Center on …

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Charles City head football coach Steve Stallsmith attended his first coaching clinic with Ed Thomas in 1985 when Stallsmith was serving as an assistant coach at Cedar Rapids Kennedy.
"He was just a great human being. He was a very selfless person," Stallsmith said. "My first coaching clinic I went to with Ed Thomas. He accepted me like I was a 20-year veteran. We’re going to miss a person of his stature and just the way he was as a person."
Thomas, 58, died at a Waterloo hospital Wednesday after …

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CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – For a day, Larry Niemeyer felt young again.
The nation’s all-time leader in softball victories, Niemeyer has been selected as the 2009 National High School Coaches Association…
Source: Iowa Sports Connection