On Oct. 2, Kirkwood’s baseball team scrimmaged agaianst the University of Iowa’s who hosted the event Veterans Memorial Stadium in Cedar Rapids.
The scrimmage was 14 innings, split between two seven-inning intervals.
This was a good opportunity for both schools, as Iowa is the only NCAA D-I baseball program in the state of Iowa while Kirkwood, one of the more successful NJCAA baseball programs in Iowa, consistently develops D-I talent every year.
The Hawkeyes have four Eagles on their current roster. That list includes right-handed pitcher Beau Leisure, enrolled at Kirkwood from 2024-25; right-handed pitcher Reid Burkle, 2025-26; right-handed pitcher Rowan Donels, 2026; and outfielder Wrigley Matthys, 2026.
“They’re excited about where they’re at,” said Kirkwood head coach Todd Rima, “But they also have a lot of pride in what they did and who we are, here.”
Twenty-seven out of the 41 players on Kirkwood’s roster are from Iowa and are fully aware of the Hawkeyes and the team’s impact with baseball in Iowa.
“I did go to Kernels games and it’s truly a great park,” said redshirt freshman two-way Jaxton Schroeder, Cedar Rapids native and graduate of Iowa City High School. “The playing surface is top-tier and you can’t beat that in our hometown.”
Schroeder was recruited by Iowa when he was in high school, but it didn’t seem like the right fit for him to go there.
For Kirkwood outfielder Colton Duerling, who is from Cedar Rapids, the scrimmage meant a little bit more for him.
The 2024 Iowa high school baseball state championship was hosted at Veterans Memorial Stadium. Duerling took the mound for Cedar Rapids Kennedy High School, pitching a complete game while going 2-for-3 at the plate, helping his school win the state championship.
“There are definitely some really good memories at that stadium, so coming back and playing there was really awesome,” said Duerling. “I’ve played in some pretty big moments on that field, so I knew what the atmosphere was going to be like and how to handle it.”
The non-Iowan players on Kirkwood’s roster range from Minnesota to New York. For redshirt freshman pitcher Yunus Hamideh from Buffalo Grove, Ill., the scrimmage showcased a sense of pride in Kirkwood that he and the rest of the team faced playing elite competition.
“I feel like as a community college not too far away from Iowa City and the Hawkeyes, we’re overlooked a lot, and I don’t really think that it should be like that,” Hamideh said. “We’re not much different than them (Iowa). Just because they’re a Big Ten, Power Four school and we’re just what everyone says is just a community college.
To Rima, the most important part of the scrimmage was for his players to see that if they want to play at that level someday, then this would be the level of competition they would have to see.
“Our guys have goals and dreams and aspirations to play at that level,” he said. “That’s who you have to face. That’s who you have to play against. That’s what it looks like.”
