After being put in a 2-0 hole through four innings, the Kennedy Cougars scored five runs in the top of the fifth to break through as they surged to victory against West Des Moines Dowling Catholic, 12-2 in a Class 4A first-round game at Principal Park. Austin Christensen did it on the mound and at the plate for the Cougars. He recorded eight strikeouts in five-plus innings on the hill and had two hits and two RBIs at the plate.

The Maroons made their mark on the scoreboard first in the bottom of the fourth inning. After Christensen struck out the first two Dowling hitters of the inning, Alex McMurray sparked a two-out rally for the Maroons by hitting a single. Brad Chelleen followed him with a double slapped the other way, scoring McMurray and putting the Maroons on the board. Eric Lee singled Chelleen in, giving Dowling a 2-0 lead through four innings.

With one out in the top of the fifth, B.J. Cunningham hit a single to begin a string of eight consecutive Cougar hitters to reach base. Kennedy stranded two runners in the inning and Griffin Michael was thrown out at the plate trying to score on a double by David Yancey. The Cougars batted around in the inning and were helped by two errors by Dowling and led the game by the score of 5-2.

Kennedy was able to strike for two more runs in the top of the sixth inning. Ryan Dusil drew a one-out walk and was doubled in by Terrell Sykes two batters later as Sykes picked up his second of four RBI’s on the game. Sykes also scored on the play as the ball bounced out of catcher Navin’s glove and the ball went into the Dowling dugout, increasing Kennedy’s lead to 7-2.

Dowling made a valiant effort to come back in the bottom of the sixth. They were able to load the bases with no outs but relief pitcher Ryan Dusil was able to get Lee to pop out to the catcher and coaxed Jason McMurray to line out into a double play, thus ending the threat.

The Cougars batted around again in the top of the seventh, plating five runs. Pinch hitter Cody Bell was walked with the bases loaded, increasing the lead to 8-2. Sykes hit his second double in as many innings, followed by an RBI groundout for Christensen. Two batters later, Devon Jacobus knocked an RBI single, scoring the 12th run of the game for the Cougars and making it a 12-2 ball game.

Sykes went 3-for-5 for the Cougars with four RBIs and three runs scored. Christensen picked up the win on the mound, upping his record to 8-4 on the season by tossing five-plus innings, surrendering six hits, two runs, two walks, while striking out eight.

On the other end, Jonathan Musser for Dowling came into the game with a perfect 6-0 record and an ERA of 0.90 and got knocked around pretty good by Kennedy, suffering his first loss. In six and one-third innings, he surrendered eight hits, nine runs (five earned), five walks, while striking out four.

Sixth-ranked Cedar Rapids Kennedy pushed their season record to 30-10 and will play the winner of the Mason City/Ankeny game Friday night at 8 p.m. at Principal Park.

Third-ranked Dowling ends at 32-9.