Sports

The Waukon baseball team not only picked up its first win of the abbreviated 2020 season this past week, but did so in a big way in posting a single win in its four games scheduled for the week. That win came in a Northeast Iowa Conference (NEIC) split at Decorah Tuesday, June 30, the Indians roaring to a 14-4 victory in game one before falling in the nightcap, 7-0. The Tribe then came within a half-inning and a clutch hit of recording a second win, falling in a home NEIC doubleheader to New Hampton by scores of 2-1 and 11-2 Friday, July 3.

Holding a 1-10 season record, 1-9 among NEIC opponents, the Indians were next scheduled to wrap up their regular season with a Tuesday, July 7 road trip to Oelwein before beginning postseason tournament play this Saturday, July 11 in New Hampton, with the Indians’ postseason possibilities printed elsewhere on the July 8, 2020 Sports pages in a shaded box.

The Waukon softball team continues to fight right up to the end of each of their ballgames, doing so again in three games this past week before having all three end up on the short side of their final results. That trio of losses included a 9-5 defeat at Oelwein Monday, June 30 before the Tribe suffered a loss of 13-7 at home to New Hampton Wednesday, July 1 and took Decorah right down to the game’s final out in a 10-9 road loss Friday, July 3.

The Kee softball team posted an undefeated week this past week, with Mother Nature being the only one able to get the upperhand on the Hawks by postponing a Wednesday, July 1 Upper Iowa Conference (UIC) doubleheader at North Fayette Valley to a date likely to be played this week but yet to be announced. On each side of that postponement, the Lady Hawks swept a pair of UIC foes by a combined outscoring of 56-4, including wins of 6-1 and 13-1 in just three innings at home against South Winneshiek Monday, June 29 before routing Postville by tallies of 14-0 and 23-2 in just three innings each on the road Thursday, July 2.

The Kee baseball team was within one final game of posting an undefeated week during a busy, seven-game schedule this past week, that lone loss coming to one of Class 1A’s most highly-regarded squads in sixth-rated Alburnett by a 12-3 result at home Friday, July 3. Prior to that lone loss of the week, the Hawks posted six straight wins that began with a 15-1 win at North Fayette Valley in five innings before game two of that Upper Iowa Conference doubleheader was suspended in the fifth inning with Kee holding a 14-4 advantage.

Kee also posted sweeps of 12-2 and 10-0 in five innings at home over Clayton Ridge Tuesday, June 30 and over Oelwein Wednesday, July 1 by scores of 5-4 and 10-0 in five innings in a non-conference doubleheader played at Riverfront Stadium in Waterloo. A 20-0 Kee win in four innings at Turkey Valley Thursday, July 2 kept the Hawks’ undefeated week going before Friday’s 12-3 loss at home to sixth-rated Alburnett.

The Waukon softball team had another week in this already abbreviated season cut even shorter once again, as Mother Nature forced postponement of the final game of an original four-game schedule, a Friday, June 26 Northeast Iowa Conference (NEIC) contest at Waverly-Shell Rock. Prior to that postponement, the Indians battled three other NEIC squads, all of them ranked within the top 15 of their respective classes, and all three of those games avoiding the win column by differing degrees.

The Indians first fell to Class 4A 12th-rated Decorah at home Tuesday, June 23 by a 9-6 final result before suffering a similar fate at home to Class 4A ninth-rated Charles City, 14-7, Wednesday, June 24. The softball Tribe ended up wrapping up its week Thursday, June 25 with a 9-0 loss at Class 3A 13th-rated Crestwood in a game rescheduled from Monday, June 22 due to weather, that game completing the gauntlet of NEIC competition this past week for the Indian diamond dwellers.

The Waukon baseball team was able to get its full slate of games in this past week, playing a schedule of six Northeast Iowa Conference (NEIC) games but having all six of those end up on the wrong side of the win-loss column. The Tribe opened the week with a road doubleheader at Charles City and fell by a 9-0 result before having a 5-4 loss dealt to them in the final inning of game two Tuesday, June 23. The Indians then fell to Waverly-Shell Rock at home, 16-0 in six innings and 8-0, Thursday, June 25 in a double-dip rescheduled from Friday, June 19 before also suffering that same fate in a home NEIC twinbill with Crestwood, falling by scores of 12-2 in six innings and 9-5.

The Kee baseball team once again had a busy week shortened up just a bit near its tail end when the Hawks had their Friday, June 26 Upper Iowa Conference doubleheader at MFL/MarMac postponed by stormy weather until July 8. Prior to that rain-out, the Hawks played three additional nights, having one of those nights also be shortened by rain after having been postponed already from Monday, June 22.

The Kee diamond dwellers were able to open their week of competition Tuesday, June 23 at home with a dramatic 4-3 comeback win over Wapsie Valley before making up that Monday, June 22 rain-out at Clayton Ridge Wednesday, June 24 but having the second game of that doubleheader rained out after the Hawks posted an 11-2 win in game one. The Hawks ended up wrapping up their week early with a 6-0 home loss to undefeated and Class 1A fourth-rated South Winneshiek Thursday, June 25.

For the second consecutive week the Kee softball team was able to get its entire week of competition in, but not without a bit of a schedule adjustment due to weather. The Hawks had a Monday, June 22 home doubleheader with West Central pushed to Thursday, June 25 by rainy weather, ultimately earning a split of that home pair with an 8-6 loss in game one followed by a 15-11 victory in game two. Prior to that split, the Kee girls fell in a non-conference road game at Sumner-Fredericksburg by a 5-2 final result.

The Lady Hawks were next scheduled to host South Winneshiek Monday, June 29 before playing at North Fayette Valley Wednesday, July 1 and then at Postville Thursday, July 2. The Kee girls will then host MFL/MarMac Monday, July 6 before playing at Clayton Ridge Wednesday, July 8 and then hosting Riceville Thursday, July 9 prior to beginning postseason tournament play possibly as early as Monday, July 13 at a finalized assignment to be announced in the near future.

The Waukon baseball team got its 2020 season underway this past week, and that start to a season already limited by the COVID-19 pandemic was even further limited by Mother Nature. The Indians were scheduled to book-end that initial week of competition with home dates but had a nearly all-day rain postpone a Friday, June 19 home doubleheader with Waverly-Shell Rock until Thursday, June 25.

The only game the baseball Tribe did get to play was its Monday, June 15 season opener against a surprising MFL/MarMac squad that even further limited the Indians to just two hits while scoring its own runs in bunches to deal the Tribe an 8-6 loss. The Indians battled back from an early 3-0 deficit to tie the game and eventually take a late lead, only to give up the game’s two final, yet decisive, runs in the last inning.

The already limited 2020 Waukon softball season was limited even further in its first week of competition this past week, as rain postponed a Friday, June 19 home game vs. Decorah to June 23. The two games the Indians were able to play both fell in the loss column, but to different degrees, as the softball Tribe fell at home to Oelwein Monday, June 15 by a 16-14 result before suffering a 10-0 loss in five innings at New Hampton Wednesday, June 17.