Jeff Johnson

Cedar Rapids Kernels catcher-first baseman-designated hitter Nate Baez didn’t get a whole lot of playing time in the first week or two of the Midwest League season. But he got four hits in a game he did play in, he continued to follow up that performance with more good performances and now he finds himself with a .353 batting average and more walks than strikeouts while playing most days.

Here is your second 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.

Cedar Rapids Kernels catcher-outfielder Khadim Diaw has gotten off to a good start to the 2025 Midwest League season. A third-round draft pick of the Minnesota Twins last summer from Loyola Marymount University, his mother played softball at Yale. His father is from Senegal and is working on introducing kids from his West African country to baseball.

Cedar Falls High School graduate Connor Schultz has taken the hard road to affiliated professional baseball. After four years at Butler University and one at the University of Iowa, the right-handed pitcher played independent ball in Montana before the Chicago Cubs offered him a contract last summer. He’s in the Midwest League this season with the South Bend Cubs, who are playing this week at Cedar Rapids

The Iowa Heartlanders qualified for the ECHL playoffs for the first time in their four-year existence. They won their first playoff game. But winning their first playoff series will have to wait. Fort Wayne scored three goals in the third period and went on to beat the Heartlanders, 4-1, in the deciding Game 7 of the ECHL first-round playoff series.

Iowa City West announced Monday that Jason Kern will be the school’s new head boys’ basketball coach, pending school-board approval. Kern has been head coach at nearby West Branch since 2018.

Kaelen Culpepper had a three-run home run and career-high five RBIs, and Danny DeAndrade also homered as the Cedar Rapids Kernels beat Wisconsin, 8-1, Sunday afternoon at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

The Fort Wayne Komets scored twice in the first period and beat the Iowa Heartlanders, 6-1, Sunday in Game 6 of their ECHL first-round playoff series. The teams play a winner-take-all Game 7 Tuesday night in Indiana.

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.