WATERLOO - Waterloo East knows that every postseason softball game will be a battle.

The Trojans prepped for what lies dead ahead Thursday night with a hard-earned sweep of Cedar Rapids Kennedy to close out their regular season. East won the opener, 1-0 in 10 innings, then squeezed out a 2-1 victory in the nightcap.

"It was a great couple of games for us," said East head coach Gene Laughlin. "This is definitely good for us heading into regional play (Saturday)."

The opening game was a classic pitching duel as Kylie Rash of the Trojans and Sophie Bielefeldt of the Cougars lined the scoreboard with goose-eggs all afternoon.

"I was never really tired," said Rash. "I knew I had it in me."

Both teams had baserunners throughout regulation, but neither could capitalize. In the extra innings, both teams moved runners into scoring position, but strong defense and pitching kept them from crossing the plate until the bottom of the 10th inning.

Jessica Kinnetz started the game-winning rally with a walk. Rash sacrificed, and Kinnetz scooted all the way around to third. When the throw from first sailed over the third baseman's head, Kinnetz scrambled home for the win.

"Jessica is a great baserunner for us," said Laughlin. "She is very aggressive and smart on the basepaths. When she saw that no one was at third, she just took off for it. Fortunately for us, they made an error and we took advantage of it."

In the nightcap, Trojan 8th-grader Alyson Netty gave up an early run to the Cougars before settling into a productive rhythm and shutting Kennedy (4-22) out the rest of the way.

"Alyson was a bit shaky to start the game, but she settled down after the first inning," said Laughlin.

The Trojans sealed the victory in the bottom of the sixth inning when Erin Klein knocked in the winning run on the first pitch she saw.

"I hadn't been hitting the ball very well all night," said Klein. "I just went up there and heard someone yell, 'Be aggressive.' Normally I don't swing at the first pitch, but I swung at that one and got a good hit."

"Klein is a great performer for us," noted Laughlin. "She works so hard and it is good to see her rewarded.

"Overall our pitching was great tonight. Our defense played extremely well, and I think we are in a good position heading into district play."

East (will take on Cedar Falls at Robinson-Dresser Complex at 7 p.m. Saturday in the opening round of Class 4A regional play.

Contact Ryan Pothast at sportsdoor@wcfcourier.com

FIRST GAME

C.R. Kennedy ab r h bi East ab r h bi

Smothers, 2b 4 0 1 0 Kinnetz, cf 4 1 0 0

Strait, ss 4 0 0 0 Rash, p 4 0 2 0

Bielefeldt, p 4 0 1 0 Am.M'gnsn, ss 4 0 0 0

O'Bannon, c 3 0 0 0 Wright, c 4 0 1 0

J'ngjhnn, 3b 4 0 1 0 Ab. M'gnsn, lf 4 0 1 0

Holten, cf 4 0 1 0 Klein, 1b 4 0 0 0

B.Kn'ngkhvn, 1b 4 0 1 0 Netty, dh 4 0 0 0

K.Kn'ngkhvn, rf 4 0 0 0 Dunn, 2b 4 0 1 0

Caspers, dh 3 0 0 0 Schmitz, 3b 4 0 2 0

Slater, lf 0 0 0 0 Bert, rf 0 0 0 0

Totals 34 5 0 0 Totals 36 1 7 0

C.R. Kennedy 000 000 000 0 ? 0 5 3

East 000 000 000 1 ? 1 7 1

E - Jungjohann, Strait, B.Knungkhoven, Schmitz. LOB - C.R. Kennedy 5, East 6.

Pitching summary IP H R ER BB SO

CR Kennedy

Bielefeldt (L) 10.0 7 1 0 2 5

West

Rash (W) 10.0 5 0 0 2 1

WP - Rash. T - 1:51

SECOND GAME

C.R. Kennedy ab r h bi East ab r h bi

Smothers, 2b 3 0 0 0 Kinnetz, lf 3 1 1 0

Strait, ss 4 0 0 0 Rash, cf 3 0 2 1

Bielefeldt, dh 3 1 2 0 Am.M'gnsn, ss 2 0 0 0

O'Bannon, c 4 0 1 0 Wright, c 3 1 1 0

J'ngjhnn, 3b 3 0 1 1 Ab.M'gnsn, rf 3 0 0 0

Holten, cf 3 0 0 0 Klein, 1b 3 0 1 1

B.Kn'ngkhvn, 1b 1 0 1 0 Netty, p 3 0 0 0

Corcery, lf 3 0 0 0 Dunn, 2b 3 0 0 0

Caspers, p 3 0 0 0 Schmitz, 3b 2 0 2 0

K.Kn'ngkhvn, rf 0 0 0 0

Totals 27 1 5 1 Totals 25 2 7 2

CR Kennedy 100 000 0 ? 1 5 1

East 000 011 x ? 2 7 1

E - Smothers, Dunn. 2B ? Jungjohann. LOB - C.R. Kennedy 9, East 7.

Pitching summary IP H R ER BB SO

C.R. Kennedy

Caspers (L) 6.0 7 2 2 2 6

East

Netty (W) 7.0 5 1 1 4 2

WP - Rash. T - 1:34