CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Back on the diamond for the first time in 11 days, the No. 12 Coe baseball team showed no rust as they delivered 19 hits in a 10-3 win over Dubuque Thursday evening on the first day of the American Rivers Conference Baseball Tournament at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Cedar Rapids.
Coe had three hits in the first inning, but was not able to score. They added three more hits in the second and were able to get a pair of runs to cross the plate to open the scoring. Nolan Arp (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Xavier) singled to center to start the frame and later moved to second on a wild pitch and to third on a ground out. Kevin DeLaney (Coralville, Iowa/West) would drive him in with a two-out single through the left side. Riley LeGrand (Dyersville, Iowa/Beckman Catholic) followed with an RBI single up the middle to score Isaac Evans (Dubuque, Iowa/Wahlert) from second.
The Kohawks added three more hits and a run in the third. TJ Johnson (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Prairie ) and Arp each singled with one out. Johnson scored on an infield single from Daniel Berger (Scottsdale, Ariz./Horizon) to give Coe a 3-0 lead.
While Coe was busy running the bases through the first three innings, starting pitcher Zach Kammin (Woodstock, Ill./Woodstock) was busy keeping Dubuque off the base paths. He retired the first 10 batters he faced, five via the strikeout. The lone run he allowed came in the fourth. He pitched into the seventh inning allowing four hits while striking out nine to pick up his ninth win of the season.
Coe added crooked numbers in the sixth and seventh innings to break the game open. Jacob Burns (Gilbert, Ariz./Campo Verde) drove in a pair with a single through the right side as part of a three-run inning. The senior drove in two more with a double to right as part of another three-run frame that gave Coe a 10-1 lead.
Burns had a stellar evening going 4-for-5 with five runs batted in. DeLaney, LeGrand, and Evans all had three hits. Johnson and Arp each collected two hits.
The top-seeded Kohawks (33-3) face No. 2 seed Buena Vista Friday in a winner's bracket game at 1 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
