Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – When Jeff Koenig took over as City High softball coach five years ago he inherited a program in need of a boost.

City High was coming off a nine-win season in 2014 and was low on numbers and lower on energy.

Enter the always upbeat Koenig who brought a no-nonsense approach and a new approach to playing the game – ‘Elevate and Celebrate’.

Koenig brought the ‘Elevate and Celebrate’ motto with him to City High in 2015.

The slogan is catchy but it’s more than that, it’s an offensive approach the Little Hawks have embraced and a type of hard-swinging, high-scoring softball that has breathed life and excitement into the City High program.

“We really do just really focus on elevating and celebrating,” City High senior Alexa Fredericks said. “The game is fun when you are playing defense, it’s fun when you are running the bases but it’s so much more fun hitting the ball and trying to hit the ball as hard and as far as you can.”

Hitting the ball hard and far. That’s what Koenig had in mind when he implemented his offensive ‘Elevate and Celebrate’ style in 2015.

It was mostly just a slogan in 2015 when City High hit 10 home runs during a seven-win season but progress came quickly after that.

From 12 wins and 13 home runs in 2016 to 28 home runs during a 20-21 season in 2017.

The breakthrough was a year ago when City High slugged 34 home runs and went 25-19 while snapping a 17-year state tournament drought.

“They love it, they love the style,” Koenig said. “When I throw front toss on the field, it’s like a home run derby. The theory is hit the ball hard in the air.”

This season Sixth-ranked City High (34-7) has done plenty of elevating and celebrating while notching the first back-to-back state tournament appearances in program history.

The Little Hawks rank second in the state and lead Class 5A with a school-record 54 home runs and have a pair of players with double digit dingers.

“I love it, I think it has really helped us as a team,” City High senior Ayana Lindsey said. “That’s what makes us, us.”

Lindsey headlines the list of City High sluggers with a 5A-best 18 home runs this season.

A talented sophomore that doubles as the Little Hawks ace pitcher Lindsey and fellow sophomores Carey Koenig and Ella Cook have combined for 35 home runs this season.

There is certainly a direct line that can be drawn between the uptick in wins and home runs for City High and the arrival of its talented sophomore class two seasons ago.

However ‘Elevate and Celebrate’ is more than something that goes on a shirt or poster, it’s a style that Koenig believes in.

“We have lines in our hitting facility and we try to make sure everything is above it,” Koenig said. “We hit our long 65-foot cage and everything has to be above it and I throw front toss and I want them to hit the ball out of the park. I want them to feel the swing path and I want them to hit the ball hard and good things will happen.”

In a sport where slap hitters and small ball is prevalent and low scoring games are common, trying to hit home runs was a new concept for many City High players.

Koenig is unapologetic in his approach and the Little Hawks love it.

“Elevate and celebrate is something that we’ve talked about a lot and this year it’s really coming into play,” Lindsey said. “Last year we were getting hard hit balls out into the field and this year we have fine-tuned those hits.”

Adjusting swing paths and stressing launch angle was the on-field adjustments Koenig implemented early in his tenure but more important was the off-field program he began.

When he started weight lifting wasn’t part of the program’s daily schedule. Koenig changed that immediately.

“A couple of years ago we started a good weight program and these girls have bought in so we’ve got some strong girls,” Koenig said. “We have girls that are squatting 300 pounds and that correlates.”

This season City High has made a concerted effort to get in the weight room at least three mornings a week during the season.

At night the Little Hawks have elevated and celebrated more than any other season.

“The weight lifting is something that we have embraced,” sophomore catcher Carey Koenig said. “Last year we didn’t lift as much during the season and this year we have and I think it has shown. We are hitting more home runs and hitting the ball harder than we did last year.”

The home run numbers bear out what Koenig says.

Lindsey hit two home runs in each of her first two seasons before pounding 18 this year.

Koenig didn’t have a home as an eighth-grader, hit eight last season and has 12 this summer.

“I think having the experience and obviously lifting has helped us,” Carey Koenig said. “We come in two or three teams a week as a team and lift and we are all stronger and that has helped on the field.”

Lindsey and Koenig have combined for 30 home runs this season but it has been a team effort in leading 5A in long balls.

Freshman Makayla Ribble has six homers, Cook and junior Kelli Potter each have five and junior Sydney Fellows has four.

Fellows and Potter each have 13 career home runs after combining for three in their first two seasons.

“I think we had some girls that wanted to do that, they wanted to hit the ball,” Jeff Koenig said. “The other thing you look at is it’s hard to string together two or three or four singles. You might get three singles and not score a run but if you get a single and walk and hit a three-run bomb, that’s a boost and we’ve got that ability all throughout our lineup.”

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