Sports

A busy week of seven games saw the Waukon softball team put two of them in the win column this past week, the squad remaining in search of its first Northeast Iowa Conference (NEIC) victory of the season. The Indians opened the week winning a 5-0 home battle with Central Elkader Monday, June 6 before dropping both games of a doubleheader at New Hampton Tuesday, June 7 by scores of 12-0 and 14-2 in three innings each. The Tribe then fell at Charles City Friday, June 10 by a 12-1 result in five innings before winning one of three games at the Riceville Tournament Saturday, June 11, defeating MFL/MarMac, 6-2, before falling to both Osage and St. Ansgar by 7-6 final results to currently hold a 3-9 overall record that includes a 0-6 mark in Northeast Iowa Conference play.

The Kee softball team ended up playing just four games this past week, as the second day of the North Fayette Valley Tournament was canceled by rainy weather Saturday, June 4. Prior to that cancellation, the softball Hawks first recorded a home sweep of Clayton Ridge in “grand” fashion Wednesday, June 1 by scores of 11-1 in five innings and 8-5 in walk-off fashion. The Kee girls also played two games the first day of that North Fayette Valley, suffering losses of 12-0 in three innings to Osage and 5-2 to Don Bosco.

The Lady Hawks were next scheduled to play a varsity doubleheader at North Fayette Valley Monday, June 6 before hosting Turkey Valley for the same Wednesday, June 8 and then playing in the Vinton-Shellsburg Tournament Saturday, June 11. The Kee diamond dwellers will then play a varsity doubleheader at MFL/MarMac Monday, June 13 before hosting Decorah Wednesday, June 15 and then playing in the West Delaware Tournament Friday and Saturday, June 17-18.

For the second consecutive week, the Waukon softball team had its schedule shortened by Mother Nature, as the Indians had the Saturday, June 4 North Fayette Valley Tournament canceled by rainy weather. Prior to that washed out weekend, the diamond Tribe played four other games, putting one of those in the win column for the first Indian victory of the season. A Tuesday, May 31 Northeast Iowa Conference (NEIC) doubleheader at Crestwood resulted in losses of 6-0 and 8-5 before back-to-back home games ended up in a split, including a 14-9 loss to Decorah Thursday, June 2 followed by a 3-2 win column ice-breaker over South Winneshiek Friday, June 3.

The Kee baseball team played another busy slate of six games during the holiday-shortened past week, putting five of those six games in the win column to currently hold a 13-2 season record that includes an undefeated mark in seven Upper Iowa Conference (UIC) games. Three of those UIC wins led off this week, including a home doubleheader sweep of 15-0 and 17-2 in four innings each over Postville Tuesday, May 31 and an 11-1 home win over North Fayette Valley in six innings Thursday, June 2. The Hawks then traveled to Eddyville-Blakesburg for a weekend trio of games, falling to fellow Class 1A top-10 rated New London by a 10-0 result in six innings Friday, June 3 before sweeping two games in tournament play Saturday, June 4, 8-5 over the host school and 13-2 in five innings over Pekin.

The Waukon baseball team recorded two wins in its five games played this past week, with four of those games being played in the Northeast Iowa Conference (NEIC). That week began with a split at Decorah Tuesday, May 31 that included a 14-3 win and 7-6 loss in nine innings before the Indians recorded a 6-4 win at Sumner-Fredericksburg Thursday, June 2. The week wrapped up with sweeping losses in a doubleheader at Charles City Friday, June 3 by scores of 11-4 and 8-7 to leave the Indians with a 3-6 overall record and 1-5 mark in NEIC play.

The Waukon baseball team put together some late-inning rally excitement on a couple occasions in its opening week of four games, but ultimately came away with a 1-3 start to the season. That lone win came in the Tribe’s season opener at Clayton Ridge, 10-0, Monday, May 23 and was followed by the first of those rallies that came up just a bit short in a 5-4 home loss to North Fayette Valley Tuesday, May 24. The Indians wrapped up the week with a home Northeast Iowa Conference doubleheader with Waverly-Shell Rock, having another rally be full denied in game one, a 9-5 defeat in eight innings, before also suffering a 6-1 loss.

The Kee softball team got its 2022 season underway with a four-game slate this past week, being able to put one of those four games in the win column. A pair of home match-ups against area Class 3A opponents resulted in a split for the Lady Hawks, as they opened the season with an 11-0 loss in five innings to Crestwood Monday, May 23 but posted a 4-2 win over Waukon Friday, May 27. The Kee girls then played in the Jesup Softball Classic Saturday, May 28, falling in a pair of contests, 6-3 to Springville and 12-4 to Sumner-Fredericksburg.

Following an initial week of just one game that started the 2022 season off with a loss, the Kee baseball team’s schedule and momentum picked up considerably this past week as the Hawks played a full slate of eight games and pushed every one of them to the win column. Kee’s undefeated week included home doubleheader sweeps of Decorah Monday, May 23, 7-2 and 11-6, and Turkey Valley Tuesday, May 24, 6-0 and 7-3, before a road doubleheader sweep at MFL/MarMac Thursday, May 26, 8-2 and 20-4. The Hawks then swept through a pair of Class 1A foes at their own Shooky Fink Tournament in New Albin Saturday, May 28, blasting Wapsie Valley by a 14-0 count in five innings and doing similarly to Alburnett, 8-0, to complete their undefeated week of competition and improve Kee’s season record to 8-1 overall with a 4-0 start to its Upper Iowa Conference schedule.

The grand finale of the 2022 Iowa high school boys track and field season saw the Waukon boys track and field team qualified in eight events for the State Track Meet Thursday through Saturday, May 19-21 at Drake Stadium in Des Moines. Those eight events involved seven Indian competitors, three of which were repeat performers from last spring and four of which are slated to return as underclassmen next season. Although none of those events found the team scoreboard with top-eight finishes, a couple neared that landmark and more than half of them resulted in finishes within the top half of their respective Class 2A fields of elite competitors.

The 2022 Waukon girls track and field season came to a close where all high school track and field athletes long to be at season’s end, as the Lady Indians competed in five events at this year’s Class 2A State Track and Field Meet at Drake Stadium in Des Moines that took place Thursday through Saturday, May 19-21. Although none of those five event efforts by the Indians cracked the top half of their respective 24-qualifier elite fields at this year’s season grand finale and avoided the final team scoreboard, all nine athletes who competed for the track Tribe are all underclassmen and are set to return again next season - and some for even longer than that.