Jeff Johnson

The ECHL’s Iowa Heartlanders announced Friday an extension of their working agreement with the NHL’s Minnesota Wild. The Wild can assign contracted players to the Coralville club. Almost three dozen Heartlanders have played with the Wild’s top minor league team, the AHL’s Iowa Wild.

For the second time in three years, West Des Moines Dowling beat Iowa City High in the Class 4A semifinals of the state baseball tournament. This time around, it was a 5-1 Maroons victory.

Sioux City Heelan scored three go-ahead runs in the top of the seventh inning to topple top-ranked Dubuque Wahlert, 6-3, Wednesday night in a Class 3A state baseball tournament semifinal. Heelan’s heroics followed a pattern in which it won its substate final and semifinal in walk-off fashion.

Mason Tell’s walk-off two-run double in the bottom of the seventh inning rescued two-time defending Class 4A state baseball champion Johnston, giving the Dragons a 4-3 win over Waukee Northwest in a state tournament quarterfinal Tuesday.

The Iowa Barnstormers AAU basketball program announced it has reached a partnership with NBA players Kris and Keegan Murray and their father Kenyon, and will rebrand to Murray Elite Basketball.

Center Point-Urbana led Wamac Conference rival Marion after the first inning of their Class 3A state baseball tournament quarterfinal Monday afternoon, 2-1. But heavy rains fell, delaying the game for three hours, with Marion dominating play after it resumed and winning in five innings, 12-2.

The Gazette’s class-by-class, round-by-round predictions for the 2024 Iowa high school state baseball tournament.

The Cedar Rapids Kernels went toe to toe with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers in a short three-game weekend series at Veterans Memorial Stadium. Wisconsin, the team with the best record in the Midwest League, won two of three games, including Sunday, 5-3.

Mason Bechen is North Linn’s best baseball player. The junior couldn’t pitch, couldn’t throw most of this season because of an arm injury. But he has returned to the mound in the postseason and has helped the Lynx (who start three eighth-graders, two freshmen and a sophomore) to the Class 1A state tournament.

Here’s your latest update on how professional baseball players in the affiliated minor leagues and major leagues are doing. Stats are through Friday.

Cedar Rapids Kernels left-handed pitcher Gabriel Yanez has four wins, seven saves and a very low earned run average despite throwing a fastball that hits 90 miles per hour most times.

Cedar Rapids Kennedy’s top-ranked baseball team gave up a run in the top of the first inning but countered with four in the bottom half and went on to beat North Scott, 5-1, Wednesday night in a Class 4A substate final. The Cougars have qualified for the state tournament for the first time since 2015.

Wilton held off multiple late-inning rallies to beat Cascade, 4-3, in a Class 2A substate baseball final.

Solon’s seventh-ranked baseball team swept a late regular-season doubleheader from Clear Creek Amana a couple of weeks ago. But the Clippers gained revenge Tuesday night with a 6-2 victory in a Class 3A substate semifinal.

Iowa City High grad Cade Obermueller was taken Tuesday by the Texas Rangers in the 19th round of the 2024 Major League Baseball Draft. He was a unique draft-eligible sophomore from the University of Iowa. Five Hawkeyes players went this year in the 20-round draft.