MOUNT VERNON — They unloaded the vans after a regional loss last year, and Gary Stamp tossed a gift to catcher Kara Henik.
A first-baseman’s mitt.
“That’s how I broke the news that she was probably switching positions (this season),” said Stamp, the softball coach at Mount Vernon High School.
Henik had been a solid catcher for two seasons. But Micah Wieditz was developing as a defensive dynamo behind the plate and Henik’s 6-foot frame made her a natural at first, though she probably would have preferred to continue as a backstop.
If Henik …

CLASS 4A
1. West Des Moines Valley, 2. Cedar Rapids Jefferson, 3. Burlington, 4. Bettendorf, 5. Waukee, 6. Johnston, 7. Sioux City East, 8. Waterloo West.
CLASS 3A
1. Clear Creek Amana, 2. Carlisle, 3. Winterset, 4. Sioux City Heelan, 5. Dubuque Wahlert, 6. Mount Vernon, 7. Keokuk, 8. Charles City.
CLASS 2A
1. Bondurant-Farrar, 2. Conrad BCLUW, 3. Emmetsburg, 4. Okoboji, 5. Wilton, 6. Belmond-Klemme, 7. Iowa City Regina, 8. Riverside.
CLASS 1A
1. Akron-Westfield, 2. Newell-Fonda, 3. Woodbury Central, 4. Martensdale-St. Marys, 5. North Butler, 6. Earlham, 7. Southeast Warren, 8. North Mahaska

CEDAR RAPIDS JEFFERSON
Coach — Larry Niemeyer
Record — 29-5
Ranking — No. 3 in 4A
State-tournament history — 19th appearance, including eight in a row (longest active streak of any team). State champion in 1983, 1997 and 1998.
First-round opponent — Johnston in a 4A quarterfinal at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Top hitters — Morgan Allee leads at .441. She and Alex Jacobson (. 426) share the RBI lead with 28. Jacobson has 5 home runs. Amanda Burger (. 407) is tops in runs, with 38.
Top pitchers — Hannah Petersen is 15-3 with a 2.21 ERA, …

Austin Christensen made only one mistake last night, and it resulted in an extra base for himself.
The Cedar Rapids Kennedy sophomore rounded second base after crushing a ball to the right-center field gap in the first inning. He ran through the stop sign by his third base coach and huffed his way to third base. He was safe but winded.
“I couldn’t tell (if an outfielder bobbled the ball), but I guess our coach was actually holding me up at second,” Christensen said. “Oh well. It worked out.”
Christensen tripled, homered and …

Sometimes the opponent just doesn’t let Chad Christensen play.
The Cedar Rapids Washington slugger walked three times in a Class 4A substate first-round baseball game against Dubuque Senior last night at Washington, including twice intentionally. The only time Christensen was thrown to showed exactly why he gets pitched around so often.
His three-run home run capped a six-run second inning that lifted third-ranked Washington to an 8-2 win. It was the Nebraska signee’s 14th homer this season and the Metro-record 41st of his four-year varsity career.
Guess you shouldn’t expect to see strikes …