Jeff Johnson

Former University of Iowa and NFL tight end Scott Chandler had no desire to become a football coach when his playing career ended. But watching the Netflix series “Last Chance U” changed his mind, and he was named head coach earlier this week at Iowa City Liberty High School.

Corner infielder Kevin Maitan accrued $6.45 million in signing bonus money from two MLB organizations as a teenager from Venezuela. He never got past Double-A, was released last season by the Los Angeles Angels and signed out of independent baseball recently by the Minnesota Twins. He’s with the Cedar Rapids Kernels, trying to enjoy the game again and rebuild his career.

Utility guy Dalton Shuffield is in his third season in the Minnesota Twins organization. He has played at every level there is, minus the big leagues. That includes three levels this season, right now in high-Class A with the Cedar Rapids Kernels.

Linn-Mar is looking for a new head varsity football coach after Tim Lovell turned in his resignation Thursday. Lovell was Lions coach for three seasons after spending the previous five seasons at Marion.

Iowa’s baseball season came to a conclusion Thursday afternoon as the Hawkeyes fell to Illinois, 4-2, in 10 innings in a Big Ten tournament loser’s bracket game at Omaha’s Charles Schwab Field.

Michigan scored a run in the bottom of the 10th inning on a none-out, bases-loaded walk to beat Iowa, 3-2, in a Big Ten baseball tournament first-round game Wednesday afternoon.

Coe College’s softball team plays at Case Western Reserve in Cleveland this weekend in a NCAA Division III super regional. If the Kohawks win the best-of-3 series, they’ll qualify for the NCAA Division III Championships in Texas for a second consecutive year.

The University of Iowa baseball team knows it needs to win this week’s Big Ten Conference tournamnt for its season to continue. Coach Rick Heller said he feels his team is ready.

The Minnesota Twins signed Ricardo Olivar out of Venezuela in 2019 for a paltry $20,000. The Cedar Rapids Kernels catcher-outfielder has developed into a legit Twins prospect.

Here’s the third edition of Eastern Iowans In The Minors and Majors. It’s a look at Gazette-area players and how they are doing in affiliated professional baseball. Four pitchers are in the majors in Mitch Keller (Pirates), A.J. Puk (Athletics), Keaton Winn (Giants) and Colin Rea (Brewers).

Keaton Anthony was among several University of Iowa and Iowa State University athletes involved in last summer’s state gambling probe. He believes it cost him an opportunity to be selected in the 2023 Major League Baseball Draft. Mostly exonerated now, he’s seeking to make the most of his shot with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Kirk Zobac grew up in Cedar Rapids, attended Cedar Rapids Cardinals games as a youth. He eventually settled in San Jose, Calif., and had a son, Steven, who ended up signing professionally with the Kansas City Royals organization. Steven Zobac pitched Thursday night at Veteans Memorial Stadium in Cedar Rapids against the Cedar Rapids Kernels. You bet dad was there to watch this.

Starting pitcher Andrew Morris gave up just one hit over seven innings, taking only 73 pitches to do so in the Cedar Rapids Kernels’ 3-0 win over Quad Cities on Wednesday afternoon.

Coe College beat Buena Vista, 6-2, Saturday afternoon to win the American Rivers Conference baseball tournament championship. The final two guys to pitch in the game for the Kohawks returned from elbow surgeries just two weeks ago.

Cedar Rapids Washington has announced the hiring of Nate Garner as its new varsity head boys’ basketball coach. Garner has been a head coach at the sub-varsity level at the school and served as interim head coach for the varsity during periods of the 2023-24 varsity season.