Where’s the weakness? Where’s the spot in which a pitcher can take a breath and get an easy out?
With Fort Dodge St. Edmond, apparently nowhere.
No. 8 batter Josie Heesch, a freshman, poked a two-run home run to give St. Edmond some breathing room, and the 11th-ranked Gaels defeated Mid-Prairie, 5-2, in a Class 2A quarterfinal at the state softball tournament at the Rogers Sports Complex.
St. Edmond (31-5) sports a remarkably balanced lineup. All nine regulars hit .320 or better.
But that, according to Mid-Prairie Coach Justin …

Mid-Prairie rolled Wapello 11-0 in five innings Friday in Kalona to set up a rematch against No. 3 Wilton next week.
Mid-Prairie (19-16) was swept by the Beavers during conference play and will have to beat Wilton on its home field Monday.
“We’ve got another shot at them, and that’s what we’ve been looking for,” Mid-Prairie coach Justin Lutgen said.
Click here to read the entire article from the Iowa City-Press Citizen.

From the Iowa Soccer Coaches Association:
B Soccer_WE-5 1 10_Rankings

When Tanner Miller runs at Drake Stadium, he does so with a thin skin.
You may know that Miller was the Drake Relays runner-up in the boys’ 400-meter hurdles Saturday.
But you might be unaware that he did it with a blister on his left foot that would have left most runners on the shelf.
“There’s still a chunk of skin hanging there,” Miller said Wednesday morning. “It’s still sore when you put a lot of pressure on it.”
Miller finished in 53.51 seconds, behind Linn-Mar’s Kyle Dunn.
The blister developed on the bottom of …

DES MOINES — Same game. Different winner.
Longtime former Eastern Iowa Hawkeye Conference rivals Solon and Mid-Prairie played a duplicate of their regular-season encounter Tuesday afternoon at the boys’ state basketball tournament. This time it was Solon building a big lead and holding on to win a Class 2A quarterfinal, 50-46.
Mid-Prairie won the December meeting in almost identical fashion, 55-52. Deja vu all over again, as they say.
“Yep. Exact same plot,” said Mid-Prairie guard Michael Aldeman. “Just switched.”
Solon (24-2) plays IKM-Manning (25-0) in a 3:45 p.m. Thursday semifinal, and the defending …

THE TEAMS
Team (W-L) Apps Titles
Carroll Kuemper (15-11) 12 1
Des Moines Christian (26-0) 5 0
IKM-Manning (24-0) 1 0
Mid-Prairie (19-5) 7 0
Solon (23-2) 5 1
Turkey Valley (19-6) 1 0
Wapsie Valley (20-5) 7 0
Western Christian (22-3) 16 5
SCORING LEADERS Avg.
Branden Stubbs (DMC) 25.8
Tyler Wolterstorff (WC) 19.3
Tanner Miller (M-P) 18.7
Zach Schmidt (WV) 14.9
Tanner Wentzien (Solon) 13.0
Michael Aldeman (M-P) 12.9
Jared Croghan (IKM) 12.8
Ryan Blumer (DMC) 12.3
Bryce Berg (CK) 12.0
Taylor Sickles (WV) 11.5
REBOUNDING LEADERS Avg.
Zach Schmidt (WV) 9.6
Mitch Balik (TV) 7.8
Dilan Moss (WC) 7.2
Colin Ritzman (WV) 7.0
Jarad Gaskill (IKM) 7.0
PREDICTIONS
Quarterfinals
Des Moines Christian 70, Carroll Kuemper 51
Western …

How about that?
Mid-Prairie ended Solon’s 33-game boys’ basketball win streak via a 55-52 upset win Dec. 22 at Solon. Now the longtime rivals meet again … this time in the quarterfinals of the state tournament.
Mid-Prairie (19-5) is the sixth seed in Class 2A and will play third-seeded Solon (23-2) in a 1:45 p.m. quarterfinal Tuesday, March 9 at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.
The defending 2A champion, Solon surprised a lot of people with a 61-32 blowouts of Danville (22-2) in a substate final Saturday night at Bettendorf. The Spartans …

Here’s a look at the four boys’ basketball games Saturday involving area schools. All games begin at 7 p.m.
CLASS 1A
Central City (13-11) vs. Calamus-Wheatland (19-5) at Clinton: Central City has been hurt by injuries to starters Jacob Etten and Mason Nielsen. Both are back in the lineup, which helped the Wildcats post district wins over Springville (42-40), Lone Tree (65-52) and Lisbon (63-46). Center John Rochford leads CC in scoring (15.2 ppg) and rebounding (11.3 rpg). Point guard Jeffrey Stevens averages 12.3 ppg … Calamus-Wheatland posted a big upset of …

CEDAR RAPIDS — This is a big weekend for Tanner Miller. He’s having an official visit with the University of Iowa football program, taking a tour of U of I facilities Saturday morning and hanging out with a Hawkeye player Saturday night.
But the young man has his priorities, and Saturday afternoon that was to be with his Mid-Prairie basketball team.
“I couldn’t miss this game,” Miller said after he helped the Golden Hawks past rival Iowa City Regina, 57-48, during Rivalry Saturday at the U.S. Cellular Center. “They probably would have …

That’ll be this Saturday at the U.S. Cellular Center. Tickets are $7 and available at the door.
The schedule is:
 
1:30 p.m. – Lisbon (8-7) vs. North Cedar (15-1)
  
3:15 p.m. –
Monticello (7-8) vs. Central City (8-7)
 
5 p.m. –
Mid Prairie (10-4) vs. Iowa City Regina (9-4)

6:45 p.m. –
Marion (12-3) vs. Benton Community (6-8)

8:30 p.m. – Cedar Rapids Washington (6-7) vs. Iowa City High (8-6)
Am intererested to see North Cedar and sophomore Jordan Hay. The best game looks like it could be the Cedar Valley Conference grudge match between Regina and Mid-Prairie.
The records are through …