DES MOINES — You’d have to say this one was over shortly after it began. Or maybe before it began.
Cedar Rapids Kennedy won its first state baseball championship last night by destroying Iowa City West, 11-1, in the Class 4A title game at Principal Park.

This much-anticipated battle of Mississippi Valley Conference rivals never materialized, perhaps in part because of who didn’t play as well as the actions of the guys who did. That’s not in the least meant to slight the Cougars (32-10), who played …

DES MOINES — The drought is over. The 2010 state baseball champion in Class 4A will come from the Mississippi Valley Conference.
From the Corridor, actually. Cedar Rapids Kennedy assured it’ll be a first-time champ, too, with a 10-2 win over Mason City in a state tournament semifinal Friday night at Principal Park.
The MVC hasn’t won a 4A title since 1994, but it’s league foes Kennedy (31-10) and Iowa City West (30-8) in Saturday night’s 8 p.m. final. Both played in the same division as well, splitting their …

What a day it was for the beleaguered Mississippi Valley Conference at the state baseball tournament. Guess it’s fair to say ”beleaguered,” considering it has been 16 years since the league has won a Class 4A title.
Three MVC teams had quarterfinals Wednesday at Principal Park, and they all won - by 10 runs. Cedar Rapids Kennedy put a caper on this memorable round by squashing West Des Moines Dowling, 12-2, Wednesday night.
“That’s really good to see,” said Kennedy’s Austin Christensen. “People say it’s (all about) the CIML, and it is a really great conference. …

CEDAR RAPIDS — Randy Taylor, director of recruiting for the National Collegiate Scouting Association, has compiled the top 150 football recruits for the Class of 2011.
Christian French of Cedar Rapids Kennedy is the only Iowan at No. 92.
Kennedy Coach Tim Lewis said French has Division I scholarship offers on the table. The schools, in the order that Lewis named them: Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Nebraska, Missouri, Wisconsin, Notre Dame, Oregon, Texas A&M and Louisville.
French (6-5, 215) visited Iowa unofficially twice and has been at ISU, Missouri and Notre …

CEDAR RAPIDS – The Waterloo West baseball team dropped two games against Cedar Rapids Kennedy Friday, first losing 15-5 before enduring an 8-7 defeat.
The Wahawk’s Jake Raecker went 5-for-7 on the night, hitting two doubles and a grand slam, and registering six RBIs.
Click to read the entire article from the Waterloo Courier.

Call it the great pinch hit that shouldn’t have been. Well, maybe.
Whether you think Ryan Raaf struck out in the sixth inning of last night’s prep baseball doubleheader opener at Cedar Rapids Kennedy is up to you. The Iowa City West senior swung at a two-strike pitch that sounded as if it hit something before squirting away from Kennedy catcher Sam Hunter.
Was it Raff’s bat, then Hunter’s gear? If so, that’s a foul ball. That’s what the home plate umpire ruled.
But Raaf said he never …

CEDAR RAPIDS – Cedar Rapids Kennedy Coach Joe Benedict said his girls tennis team not be the most polished tennis players, but he’ll take the results over style points any day.
The Cougars parlayed their tough, competitive natures into a near monopoly on state tournament berths, claiming five total spots at the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union’s Class 2A state singles and doubles meet at Johnston Thursday and Friday. They also earned another state team tennis berth Saturday at Johnston and Des Moines Hoover …

CEDAR RAPIDS — Katie Kuch kept Cedar Rapids Prairie in the game with her arm.
Then she won it with her bat.
Kuch laced a two-run double with one out in the top of the ninth inning to give Prairie a 3-1 victory over Cedar Rapids Kennedy in the first game of a Mississippi Valley Conference softball double-header Tuesday night at Kennedy.
“It couldn’t have come at a more perfect time,” Kuch said. “My heart was beating so hard.
“I just wanted to put the ball in play hard …

Cedar Rapids Kennedy’s Kristen Hahn has been selected as a first-team “Gym Dandy” by PrepVolleyball.com.
Hahn, a defensive specialist bound for Iowa State, was one of 13 players selected to the first team. The players selected as Gym Dandies are primarily back row players.
She garnered Elite All-State honors for the second-straight year, racking up 628 digs as a senior.

CEDAR RAPIDS — Max Martino will guard the big guys. Or the little guys.
He’ll use his size. Or his speed.
“I’ll be whatever they need me to be,” Martino said Tuesday, after it was announced that the senior from Cedar Rapids Kennedy has signed to play men’s basketball at the University of Northern Iowa as an invited walk-on.
A two-year varsity starter at guard, Martino averaged 8.3 points and 4.0 rebounds per game last season.
Martino (6-5, 195) is Kennedy’s 2010 Male Athlete of the Year and has been a standout on the track and football …