Jeff Johnson

Kyle DeBarge of the Cedar Rapids Kernels was primarily a catcher for his high-school baseball team in Louisiana. But he got a chance to play shortstop once he went to the University of Louisiana and never left the position. The 33rd-overall pick of last year’s 2024 MLB Draft has played shortstop, second base, left and center field so far this season for the Kernels.

The Iowa Heartlanders scored three goals in a five-minute span in the latter half of the first period and went on to a 5-2 victory Thursday night over Fort Wayne in Game 5 of their ECHL first-round playoff series at Xtream Arena. Iowa has a 3-2 series edge, with Game 6 coming Sunday afternoon at Fort Wayne and a possible deciding game 7 on Tuesday night in Indiana.

University of Iowa shortstop Gable Mitchell is hitting .354 this college baseball season, with an exceptional walk-to-strikeout ratio of 25 to 12. He has reached base via hit, walk or hit batter in all 40 of the Hawkeyes’ games this season.

The Iowa Heartlanders lost an overtime game Monday night, 7-6, to the Fort Wayne Komets. But they got a double-OT goal from defenseman Zeteny Hadobas Tuesday night to pick up a 3-2 win that ties their first-round ECHL playoff series at two games apiece.

The Iowa Heartlanders rallied twice from two goals down in Monday night’s Game 3 of an ECHL first-round playoff hockey series at Xtream Arena. That included scoring a tying goal late in regulation. But the Fort Wayne Komets got a goal from Jack Gorniak 2:17 into overtime for a wild 7-6 win. Fort Wayne holds 2-1 edge in best-of-7 series.

The Fort Wayne Komets knocked off the Iowa Heartlanders, 5-2, Saturday night in Game 2 of their ECHL first-round playoff series at Fort Wayne. The teams are tied at a game apiece, as the best-of-seven series shifts to Coralville for Game 3, 4, 5, beginning Monday night.

Here is your first look at how Eastern Iowans and former University of Iowa baseball players are doing in the early going of the 2025 Major League Baseball and minor league seasons.

Make it 1 for 1 for the Iowa Heartlanders, who won their first-ever ECHL playoff game Friday night, 5-3, at Fort Wayne. Gavin Hain had a goal and two assists for Iowa.

The Iowa Heartlanders qualified for the ECHL playoffs this season for the first time in the four-year history of the franchise. Their first-round opponent is the Fort Wayne Komets, a franchise that has won 10 championships in various leagues in its history. Game 1 is Friday night Indiana.

Muskegon scored four goals in the first period, and that’s all it needed to win the deciding Game 3 of a United States Hockey League playoff series against the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders.

The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders lost Game 1 of this United States Hockey League first-round series at Muskegon on a goal with just over a minute remaining Monday night. But they returned the favor Tuesday night in Game 2, as Heath Nelson scored with 59 seconds remaining for a come-from-behind 4-3 victory.

Vaclav Nestrasil scored a goal with 1:08 left as the Muskegon Lumberjacks beat the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders, 2-1, Monday night in Game 1 of their United States Hockey League first-round playoff series.

The Cedar Rapids Kernels beat Beloit, 10-7, Sunday afternoon at Veterans Memorial Stadium to win the first full series of the Midwest League season four games to two. Cedar Rapids has a 6-3 overall record, even after having to place four players on the injured list this week.

It took until the regular-season finale for everyone Saturday night to determine who the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders would play in the first round of the United States Hockey League playoffs. It turned out to be the Muskegon Lumberjacks, with the teams meeting Monday, Tuesday and perhaps Wednesday nights in Michigan in a best-of-3 series.

He’s on pace for 66 victories this season. Pitcher Spencer Bengard of the Cedar Rapids Kernels has thrown in three games in the very early going and won all three. That included Saturday afternoon when the Kernels beat Beloit, 7-4, at Veterans Memorial Stadium.