Jeff Johnson

Marion’s new home football stadium won’t be ready for the 2022 season, but the Wolves still are excited about turning things around, playing games back at historic Thomas Park.

The Cedar Rapids Kernels and Quad Cities River Bandits play Tuesday night, the first minor league game ever at the Field of Dreams near Dyersville. Players, even those who have never seen the movie, are excited about this opportunity.

Verne Daugherty has been an usher for Cedar Rapids Kernels home games since 1990. The 85-year-old Cedar Rapids man also helps at University of Iowa athletics events.

Cedar Rapids Kernels relief pitcher Bradley Hanner had a very difficult time throwing strikes last season in low-Class A ball. But he has moved up to high-A in 2022 and put together a nice season.

Tuesday’s first-ever minor-league baseball game at the Field of Dreams movie site near Dyersville will be close to sold out, if not sold out. The Cedar Rapids Kernels take on the Quad Cities River Bandits in a Midwest League affair.

The Cedar Rapids Kernels have employed a six-man starting pitching rotation this Midwest League baseball season. Five of those six guys are different from the start of the season.

Pitchers Cade Povich and Sawyer Gipson-Long and infielder Christian Encarnacion-Strand played for the 2022 Cedar Rapids Kernels, with Povich still on the active roster. All three were a part of trades that sent them Tuesday to other MLB organizations.

Here’s a look at local, Gazette-area and former University of Iowa players and how they are doing in affiliated minor league and major league baseball.

Seven players with local, Eastern Iowa, Iowa Hawkeyes ties were taken in the 2022 Major League Baseball Draft, have signed and are beginning their professional careers. Here’s a look at those seven.

First-team Class 3A all-state boys’ basketball guard Brayson Laube has committed to play college ball at Division II Augustana in South Dakota.

Pitcher David Festa has had a breakthrough minor league season, dominating at low-A Fort Myers and with the Cedar Rapids Kernels. He had a rare poor performance Sunday in a loss to Peoria but still made it memorable by picking off three straight guys at first base.

The Western Dubuque baseball team was one pitch from losing its first game this week at the state tournament. But it won that game, then two more, including 7-1 Friday night over Davenport Assumption in the Class 3A title game.

West Des Moines Dowling scored a pair of runs in the top of the first inning and never trailed in its 6-4 win over Iowa City High in a Class 4A state baseball tournament semifinal Thursday night at Banks field.

Western Dubuque’s baseball team got a two-out, two-run double in the seventh inning to walk-off Winterset in a Class 3A state tournament quarterfinal Monday night. A 9-6 semifinal win Wednesday night over Sergeant Bluff-Luton was a breeze, at least comparatively.

The Independence baseball team popped top-seeded Davenport Assumption in the mouth with a three-run top of the first inning in their Class 3A state tournament semifinal Wednesday night. But the Knights scored the next 13 runs for a 13-3, five-inning victory.