MILWAUKEE (AP) — Adam Wainwright shook off an early home run and pitched a four-hitter, leading the St. Louis Cardinals past the Milwaukee Brewers 4-2 in the first game of a doubleheader. Cardinals manager Mike Shildt ran the team in the opener. He was to miss the nightcap while serving a one-game suspension, imposed by Major League Baseball after tempers flared during the Brewers’ 18-3 romp Tuesday night.

St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina throws Adam Wainwright a rosin bag after the first game of a baseball doubleheader against the Milwaukee Brewers Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2020, in Milwaukee. Wainwright pitched a complete game as the Cardinals won 4-2. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Wainwright struck out nine in the seven-inning complete game as the Cardinals reached .500 in their bid for a spot in the expanded playoff field. Keston Huira homered for the Brewers in the first inning, but they got little after that.

ST. LOUIS, Mo., September 16, 2020 – The St. Louis Cardinals announced their 2021 Spring Training schedule today in conjunction with Major League Baseball’s league-wide release.  The team’s 30-game Grapefruit League slate is set to begin on Saturday, February 27 at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium when the Cardinals face the Miami Marlins and will conclude on Sunday, March 28 at the Washington Nationals.

The Cardinals 2021 Spring Training schedule features 15 home dates and 15 road games, including four games as the visiting team against stadium co-tenants Miami Marlins (Feb. 27, March 13, 17, & 22), giving them 19 total games at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium.  The Cardinals and Marlins will play a total of seven games next spring.

The Cardinals will host six different Grapefruit League opponents in 2021, including home games against the Minnesota Twins (Tuesday, March 2) and Atlanta Braves (Tuesday, March 9).  The club will also host the Marlins (three games), Nationals (four games), Houston Astros (three games), and New York Mets (three games).

The Redbirds will travel to the state’s Gulf Coast to face the Atlanta Braves at CoolToday Park in Venice (Wednesday, March 3) and the Minnesota Twins at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers (Thursday, March 4).

The Cardinals will play at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium on all five Saturday spring dates, three as the home team (March 6, 20, & 27) and two as the visiting team (Feb. 27 & March 13).  Additionally, the team’s 2021 spring slate will feature two split-squad dates featuring home-and-away games on Sunday, February 28, (at Mets & vs. Nationals) and Sunday, March 21 (at Astros & vs. Nationals).

The Cardinals will break camp on Sunday, March 28, following their game against the Nationals and will open their regular season schedule on Thursday, April 1, at Cincinnati.  The 2021 spring schedule will mark the 24th year that the Cardinals will train at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium in Jupiter, Florida.

The Cardinals will make future announcements regarding 2021 Spring Training game times, ticket availability and player report dates and a later time.  The complete 2021 Cardinals Spring Training schedule can be viewed at cardinals.com and follows.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz says the return of Big Ten football is welcomed news for the players and coaches. Ferentz made an appearance on the Big Ten Network.

Ferentz is happy to get some clarity.

(Radio Iowa) — The Big Ten reversed course and will reinstate the football season. The move comes more than a month after the league cancelled its fall season. Protocols will include daily antigen testing for players and coaches and a positive test will sideline a player for three weeks. Positivity rates for a team or local community could force a team to shutdown for a week. Commissioner Kevin Warren

Warren and the conference has been heavily criticized after cancelling the fall season just days after it released a revised schedule in August and several coaches have been vocal the lack of communication from the top.

Warren says the ability to test daily was a big step in bringing back the football season.

An eight game regular season will begin the weekend of October 24 and will end with a ninth game against the other division the week of December 19th. It will include the Big Ten Championship game. Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez led the scheduling effort.

Alvarez says the schedule should be completed by the end of the week and teams will have plenty of time to get ready for the season.

Penn State athletic director Sandy Barbour says fans will not be permitted at games.

Ohio State physician Dr. James Borchers talks about the new testing protocols.

(Radio Iowa) – The Big Ten football season will open October 24th — without fans in the stands — and host cities will first need to meet certain COVID-19 positivity rates. Governor Kim Reynolds says she’s confident Iowa City and the University of Iowa will pass whatever standards are set.

Johnson County, where Iowa City is located, has seen spikes in case numbers in recent weeks, especially in young adults. 20 days ago, that county was among a half-dozen where the governor ordered all bars closed — and they remain so.

Still, Reynolds says she’s optimistic about football in Iowa City.

After the conference cancelled the season weeks ago, U-I officials said the institution would lose 100-million dollars without football.

Reynolds, when asked whether Iowa City and Johnson County can meet the Big Ten’s Covid count standards, responded:

IA Gov. Kim Reynolds speaks during a Press Conference Sept. 16, 2020.

ROSEMONT, Ill. – The Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors (COP/C) adopted significant medical protocols including daily antigen testing, enhanced cardiac screening and an enhanced data-driven approach when making decisions about practice/competition. The COP/C voted unanimously to resume the football season starting the weekend of October 23-24, 2020. The decision was based on information presented by the Big Ten Return to Competition Task Force, a working group that was established by the COP/C and Commissioner Kevin Warren to ensure a collaborative and transparent process.

The Big Ten will require student-athletes, coaches, trainers and other individuals that are on the field for all practices and games to undergo daily antigen testing. Test results must be completed and recorded prior to each practice or game. Student-athletes who test positive for the coronavirus through point of contact (POC) daily testing would require a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test to confirm the result of the POC test.

“Everyone associated with the Big Ten should be very proud of the groundbreaking steps that are now being taken to better protect the health and safety of the student-athletes and surrounding communities,” said Dr. Jim Borchers, Head Team Physician, The Ohio State University and co-chair of the Return to Competition Task Force medical subcommittee.

“The data we are going to collect from testing and the cardiac registry will provide major contributions for all 14 Big Ten institutions as they study COVID-19 and attempt to mitigate the spread of the disease among wider communities.”

Each institution will designate a Chief Infection Officer (CInO) who will oversee the collection and reporting of data for the Big Ten Conference. Team test positivity rate and population positivity rate thresholds will be used to determine recommendations for continuing practice and competition.

All COVID-19 positive student-athletes will have to undergo comprehensive cardiac testing to include labs and biomarkers, ECG, Echocardiogram and a Cardiac MRI. Following cardiac evaluation, student-athletes must receive clearance from a cardiologist designated by the university for the primary purpose of cardiac clearance for COVID-19 positive student-athletes. The earliest a student-athlete can return to game competition is 21 days following a COVID-19 positive diagnosis.

In addition to the medical protocols approved, the 14 Big Ten institutions will establish a cardiac registry in an effort to examine the effects on COVID-19 positive student-athletes. The registry and associated data will attempt to answer many of the unknowns regarding the cardiac manifestations in COVID-19 positive elite athletes.

“From the onset of the pandemic, our highest priority has been the health and the safety of our students.  The new medical protocols and standards put into place by the Big Ten Return To Competition Task Force were pivotal in the decision to move forward with sports in the conference,” said Morton Schapiro, Chair of the Big Ten Council of Presidents/Chancellors and Northwestern University President, and Chair of the Return to Competition Task Force Steering Committee. “We appreciate the conference’s dedication to developing the necessary safety procedures for our students and the communities that embrace them.”

“Our focus with the Task Force over the last six weeks was to ensure the health and safety of our student-athletes. Our goal has always been to return to competition so all student-athletes can realize their dream of competing in the sports they love,” said Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren. “We are incredibly grateful for the collaborative work that our Return to Competition Task Force have accomplished to ensure the health, safety and wellness of student-athletes, coaches and administrators.”

The Big Ten Conference will use data provided by each Chief Infection Officer (CInO) to make decisions about the continuation of practice and competition, as determined by team positivity rate and population positivity rate, based on a seven-day rolling average:

• Team positivity rate (number of positive tests divided by total number of tests administered):
  • Green 0-2%
  • Orange 2-5%
  • Red >5%
• Population positivity rate (number of positive individuals divided by total population at risk):
  • Green 0-3.5%
  • Orange 3.5-7.5%
  • Red >7.5%

Decisions to alter or halt practice and competition will be based on the following scenarios:

• Green/Green and Green/Orange: Team continues with normal practice and competition.
• Orange/Orange and Orange/Red: Team must proceed with caution and enhance COVID-19 prevention (alter practice and meeting schedule, consider viability of continuing with scheduled competition).
• Red/Red: Team must stop regular practice and competition for a minimum of seven days and reassess metrics until improved.

The daily testing will begin by September 30, 2020.

Eventually all Big Ten sports will require testing protocols before they can resume competition. Updates regarding fall sports other than football, as well as winter sports that begin in the fall including men’s and women’s basketball, men’s ice hockey, men’s and women’s swimming and diving, and wrestling, will be announced shortly.

Lewis Central’s Ethan Eichhorn came across the finish line second in a time of 17:20 at the West Des Moines Valley Cross Country Meet on Tuesday. Aidan Booton and Juan Martinez of Thomas Jefferson also medaled in 4th and 10th respectively. Lewis Central placed fourth as a team while TJ was fifth. View full results HERE

On the girls side Lewis Central’s Haley Bach was the highest-finishing area runner in 24th. View full results HERE

The Harlan girls cross country team and Trey Gross took titles at the Storm Lake Cross Country Meet on Tuesday. The girls notched 38 points to distance themselves from the field. Kaia Bieker and Brecken VanBaale went third and fourth to lead the way. In the boys race Trey Gross won with a time of 17:00.42, about 20 seconds faster than the runner-up Sam May from MOC-Floyd Valley. LeMars won the boys individual title and Harlan finished 7th.

Full results from that meet can be found here: StormLakeXC2020

Big Ten is going to give fall football a shot after all. Less than five weeks after the conference announced it would push football and other fall sports to spring because of the pandemic, the conference changed course. The Big Ten plans to begin its season the weekend of Oct. 24 with an eight-game schedule for each team. The Big Ten says its Council of Presidents and Chancellors voted unanimously to restart sports. Back in August, the conference voted to postpone fall sports.