Sports

The Waukon softball team played through another single-win week on the diamond this past week, although coming close to adding to that victory total on several occasions. The Indians first fell at MFL/MarMac by a 3-1 result Tuesday, May 29 before being swept in a home Northeast Iowa Conference (NEIC) doubleheader by Class 4A third-rated Charles City by scores of 10-0 and just a 7-6 margin Thursday, May 31. The Tribe diamond dwellers then fell at South Winneshiek, 4-3, Friday, June 1 before splitting a pair of games at the Charles City Tournament Saturday, June 2, falling to St. Ansgar by a 7-5 count but defeating Woodward-Granger by a 5-4 final result.

The Kee softball team ended up with just one competition venue this past week, as the Hawks’ Wednesday, May 30 home date with South Winneshiek was postponed to June 21 by rainy weather. The Kee diamond dwellers’ lone remaining competition spanned two days and ended in differing results each of those days, as the Lady Hawks split four games at the North Fayette Valley Tournament Friday and Saturday, June 1 and 2. The Lady Hawks swept both Friday opponents, 11-1 in five innings over Maquoketa Valley and 7-1 over Dyersville Beckman, but had that fortune reversed Saturday against a pair of teams rated in the top-15 in their respective classes, Kee falling to Class 4A 10th-rated Adel, ADM by a 12-0 count in six innings and also being tripped up, 3-2, by Class 1A 12th-rated AGWSR.

In what turned out to be its only competition of the week, the Kee baseball team opened its Upper Iowa Conference season in dominating fashion, making short work of Postville in a pair of mercy-rule victories at home Tuesday, May 29 by scores of 14-2 in five innings and 18-2 in just three innings. The Hawks were also supposed to host Riceville Saturday, June 2 for a non-conference doubleheader, but had those games postponed to a date yet to be determined.

Holding a 4-2 season record that includes a 2-0 start to their Upper Iowa Conference (UIC) schedule, the Hawks were scheduled to host Clayton Ridge in another UIC twinbill Monday, June 4 before playing a UIC double-dip Thursday, June 7 at Turkey Valley and then playing two games at Charles City in a tournament Saturday, June 9. Kee will then be on the road the entire next week, playing doubleheaders at Starmont, Monday, June 11, at South Winneshiek, Thursday, June 14, and at Davenport Assumption, Friday, June 15.

The Kee baseball team had its 2018 season get underway with an even split of its first four games, hosting a pair of larger Northeast Iowa Conference schools to open its season with a 2-2 result. That season started with a Tuesday, May 22 home doubleheader loss to Decorah by scores of 6-2 and 10-0 in five innings. The baseball Hawks ended the week on the opposite end of that spectrum, sweeping two games from Waukon Saturday, May 26 on the weekend of the annual Shooky Fink Tournament by scores of 5-4 and 11-1 in six innings.

The Hawks were scheduled to begin their Upper Iowa Conference (UIC) season by hosting Postville in a doubleheader Tuesday, May 29 before playing at Riceville Saturday, June 2. Kee will then host Clayton Ridge in another UIC twinbill Monday, June 4 before playing a UIC double-dip Thursday, June 7 at Turkey Valley and then playing two games at Charles City in a tournament Saturday, June 9.

The Kee softball team got its 2018 season off to an undefeated start, sweeping four non-conference teams in a combination of home and away games. The Lady Hawks started the week with a pair of home sweeps against larger teams from the Northeast Iowa Conference, outlasting Decorah Tuesday, May 22 by a 14-10 count before shutting out Waukon, 10-0 in six innings, Friday, May 25. The Kee diamond dwellers then participated in the Jesup Tournament Saturday, May 26, adding two more wins to their opening week success over a pair of top-15 rated teams by scores of 3-2 over Class 2A 14th-rated North Linn and 7-3 over the Class 2A ninth-rated host school, Jesup.

The Waukon baseball team got its 2018 season off to a busy start, although Mother Nature didn’t allow that initial week to be as busy as it could have been. The baseball Tribe got that full initial week off to a victorious start with a 5-1 home win over North Fayette Valley Tuesday, May 22 before coming up shy, 5-3, at South Winneshiek Wednesday, May 23. A home doubleheader with Charles City was rained out after just four innings of game one and rescheduled to be finished June 15 before the Indians had a doubleheader at Kee swept away from them on the weekend of the annual Shooky Fink Tournament Saturday, May 26 by scores of 5-4 and 11-1 in six innings.

The Waukon softball team opened its 2018 season on each end of the win-loss spectrum, starting off the season with a win but having its initial week ended with three consecutive losses to top-15 rated teams. That win came in five innings, 14-4, in the softball Tribe’s season opener Tuesday, May 22 at home against Central Elkader before the Indians fell at Class 4A 15th-rated Waverly-Shell Rock Thursday, May 24, 9-0 and 11-1 in five innings, and then again at Class 1A top-rated Kee Friday, May 25 by a 10-0 count in six innings.

The 2018 Indian Boys Basketball Camps for boys entering fifth through 12th grades this fall are scheduled to take place July 23-26 at the Waukon High School gymnasium. A session for those entering fifth through eighth grades is being held from 2:30-5 p.m. each day, with a session for upcoming freshmen through seniors taking place from 6-9:30 p.m. each of those days.

A check, payable to “Waukon Boys Basketball,” and the registration form below or one previously handed out should be mailed to Jed Hemann at 1793 Hwy 76N, Waukon, IA 52172. The cost for either the high school camp or the fifth-eighth grade camp is $35.

The Indian Boys Basketball Camp will focus on fundamentals, team play and positive attitude. There will be daily teaching with individual attention, drills, games and contests.

There will be a lot of familiarity on the field for the 2018 Waukon softball team, but a brand new face will be leading that familiarity. First-year head softball coach Shane Schellsmidt will be taking the reins of the Lady Indian softball program this season and will be welcomed by 15 players returning with enough experience from last season to have earned a varsity letter.

Although new to the Allamakee Community School District teaching staff this past year and new to coaching the Waukon softball program, Schellsmidt is anything but new to the fundamentals and finer points of a ball diamond and being able to coach all of those, and certainly familiar to the local area. An extensive baseball resumé for the first-year softball coach begins with his All-State player accolades in helping Kee High School win a State Championship and finish as State Runner-Up in two other seasons from 1992-1996.

The 2018 Waukon baseball team will benefit from the return of 14 letterwinners from a squad last season that played to a 7-23 record that included only a single win in 18 Northeast Iowa Conference tries. That veteran group will include a group of six seniors who will provide the greatest share of that leadership for this season’s 45 players on the eighth-12th grade team roster, many of those seniors sporting multiple varsity baseball letters to their credit.

That group of seniors includes Evan Armstead, Garrett Garin, Abe Schwartz, Colin Waters, Isaiah Welch and Mitchell Snitker. “We have a group of seniors that will provide valuable leadership to the younger players,” Waukon baseball coach Jerry Keenan said.