(Radio Iowa) – The 111th Drake Relays has officially been postponed to April 2021. Drake Relays officials announced Thursday that the 2020 relays were canceled due to Iowa’s ongoing COVID-19 outbreak.

Blake Boldon, the Franklin P. Johnson director of the Drake Relays, said in a news release that the event will be “postponed” to 2021 to “to preserve the safety and wellbeing of competitors, officials and fans.” The Drake Relays’ Grand Blue Mile and Drake Road Races will be contested virtually in September and October.

Drake Relays leadership first announced a delay in the events in March due to the pandemic. “Our entire staff has worked diligently to explore every possibility of hosting our events in 2020,” Boldon said. “The process has been challenging and the outcome is not what we desired. However, we have been reassured by the incredible show of support we’ve received from fans, coaches and athletes from Iowa, the nation and around the world.”

Drake Relays will return to Des Moines April 21-24, 2021. Organizers said ticket holders will receive an email from the Drake athletic ticket office detailing their ticketing options. Ticket holders may choose, by Aug. 17, to donate the value of their tickets as a tax-deductible donation, forward their tickets to the 2021 Drake Relays or request a refund.

Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Denny Hamlin raced to his series-leading fifth NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season Thursday night, passing Kevin Harvick in the closing laps and holding off Brad Keselowski to make it back-to-back victories at Kansas Speedway. Hamlin had struggled the past three weeks, failing to finish better than 12th. But after showing good speed early, his Joe Gibbs Racing team made all the right calls during a crash-filled final stage to win in front of empty grandstands. Keselowski finished second and Martin Truex Jr. came across third. Harvick wound up sliding to fourth and Erik Jones, who hadn’t been quiet all night, rounded out the top five to cap a banner night for the Gibbs boys.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Brady Singer will make his big league debut on the mound for the Kansas City Royals in their second game Saturday in Cleveland. But unlike the thousands of players who have made it to the pinnacle of the sport, and were celebrated by tearful mom and dad and family in the stands, the culmination of Singer’s lifelong dream will only be shared by his teammates. When the decision was made to play an abbreviated 60-game major league season without fans, it meant that anybody making their debut this season would do so without their support system there to enjoy it.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Royals have placed right-hander Chance Adams and left-hander Randy Rosario on the injured list and right-hander Jesse Hahn on the bereavement list as they pared their roster down to 30 players ahead of opening day. Backup catcher Meibrys Viloria was reinstated from the injured list and recalled, along with right-hander Ronald Bolanos and outfielder Franchy Cordero. Both of them were acquired in a recent trade with San Diego. Left-handers Foster Griffin and Gabe Speier and right-hander Kyle Zimmer also were recalled.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The St. Louis Cardinals have recalled outfielder Austin Dean, right-hander Junior Fernandez, catcher Andrew Knizner and infielder Edmundo Sosa as they finalized their roster for opening day against the Pirates. St. Louis also announced that right-hander Kodi Whitley made the initial 30-man roster for the start of the season. The moves came one day after the Cardinals released reliever Brett Cecil, who pitched just 100 innings across 113 games since signing a four-year contract with the club.

DETROIT (AP) — This is the final year of Jordan Zimmermann’s contract with Detroit and also his last chance to make a good impression before free agency arrives again. Now that opportunity may be gone. After going on the 45-day injured list with an arm problem, his best-case scenario is to return for a bit at the very end of the season. This truncated 2020 campaign is also important for a number of other free-agents-to-be. Rick Porcello and Didi Gregorius have a lot to prove this year before they can return to the open market, and they don’t have a lot of time to showcase themselves.

The 2020 State Baseball Tournament brackets have now been finalized for all classes. The Class 1A brackets came out Thursday morning and now the Class 2A, 3A, and 4A brackets were finalized on Thursday afternoon. Here is a look at the Quarterfinal schedule for those classes and links to the full brackets.

Class 2A Quarterfinals
Monday, July 27

10:30—Van Meter vs. Treynor

1:30—Mid-Prairie, Wellman vs. West Lyon, Inwood

4:30—North Linn, Troy Mills vs. Durant

7:30—Dike-New Hartford vs. Des Moines Christian

Class 2A Bracket

Class 3A Quarterfinals
Tuesday, July 28

10:30—Norwalk vs. Clear Creek-Amana

1:30—Sergeant Bluff-Luton vs. Marion

4:30—Dallas Center-Grimes vs. Benton Community

7:30—Gilbert vs. ADM, Adel

Class 3A Bracket

Class 4A Quarterfinals
Wednesday, July 29

10:30—Urbandale vs. Waukee

1:30—Johnston vs. Cedar Falls

4:30—Dubuque, Hempstead vs. Iowa City, City High

7:30—Ankeny vs. Pleasant Valley

Class 4A Bracket

(Radio Iowa) — The Field of Dreams movie site in Dyersville will host an unusual baseball game this weekend, pitting officers from the police departments in Chicago and New York City against one another. The field’s operations manager Roman Weinberg says Saturday’s match is part of First Responders Appreciation Day.

The day will be filled with events, including a silent auction with Field of Dreams and sports memorabilia, kids’ activities, and the baseball game at 4 P-M, followed by live music. During the afternoon, there will be three baseball-related skills events.

The grand prize offers a rare treat for some lucky fan of the 1989 film.

The event is a fundraiser for the Dubuque County Emergency Responder Training Facility, the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation and the New York Police Widows and Children Fund. The New York and Chicago police departments are facing off this weekend as this summer’s Major League game was originally to be between the New York Yankees and the Chicago White Sox.

The lineup for the August 13th game has since been changed to the Sox versus the St. Louis Cardinals.
www.FieldofDreamsMovieSite.com

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Royals have placed right-hander Chance Adams and left-hander Randy Rosario on the injured list and right-hander Jesse Hahn on the bereavement list as they pared their roster down to 30 players ahead of opening day. Backup catcher Meibrys Viloria was reinstated from the injured list and recalled, along with right-hander Ronald Bolanos and outfielder Franchy Cordero.

Both of them were acquired in a recent trade with San Diego. Left-handers Foster Griffin and Gabe Speier and right-hander Kyle Zimmer also were recalled.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The St. Louis Cardinals have recalled outfielder Austin Dean, right-hander Junior Fernandez, catcher Andrew Knizner and infielder Edmundo Sosa as they finalized their roster for opening day against the Pirates. St. Louis also announced that right-hander Kodi Whitley made the initial 30-man roster for the start of the season.

The moves came one day after the Cardinals released reliever Brett Cecil, who pitched just 100 innings across 113 games since signing a four-year contract with the club.

The IHSAA has released the 2020 Class 1A State Tournament bracket. Here is a look at the schedule for games that start on Friday.

Class 1A Quarterfinals

Friday, July 24

10:30—#1 Martensdale-St. Marys vs. #8 Kingsley-Pierson

1:30— #4 South Winneshiek, Calmar vs. #5 Don Bosco, Gilbertville

Saturday, July 25

10:30—#3 St. Albert, Council Bluffs vs. #6 Newman Catholic, Mason City

1:30—#2 St. Mary’s, Remsen vs. #7 Notre Dame, Burlington

Baseball-State-1A-7.23.20

CLASS 1A

Substate 4 Final @ Solon: Burlington Norte Dame 7, North Cedar 5

CLASS 2A

Substate 5 Final @ Mediapolis: Mid-Prairie 9, Central Lee 7

CLASS 3A

Substate 1 Final: Sergeant Bluff-Luton 6, MOC-Floyd Valley 1
Substate 2 Final: Gilbert 10, Boone 0
Substate 3 Final: Benton Community 6, South Tama County 5 (9 innings)
Substate 4 Final: Marion 5, Central DeWitt 4
Substate 5 Final: Clear Creek-Amana 12, Assumption, Davenport 3
Substate 6 Final: Norwalk 4, Centerville 1
Substate 7 Final: ADM 3, Bondurant-Farrar 1
Substate 8 Final: Dallas Center-Grimes 12, Harlan 2

CLASS 4A

Substate 1 Final: Johnston 6, Sioux City East 5
Substate 2 Final: Waukee 6, Mason City 5
Substate 3 Final: Cedar Falls 7, Cedar Rapids Kennedy 4
Substate 4 Final: Dubuque Hempstead 5, Prairie 2
Substate 5 Final: Pleasant Valley 12, Iowa City Liberty 3
Substate 6 Final: Iowa City High 4, Linn-Mar 3
Substate 7 Final: Urbandale 1, Des Moines Roosevelt 0
Substate 8 Final: Ankeny 5, CB Abraham Lincoln 0

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast with Jim Field.

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(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union Executive Director Jean Berger says the softball season has exceeded her expectations. The Union decided in May to offer an abbreviated season in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and the state softball tournament begins Monday in Fort Dodge.

Berger says around a dozen teams had their seasons cut short due to a positive test.

Berger says fans at the state tournament will experience many of the same protocols as the regular season.

Face coverings are encouraged but not mandatory.

Berger says fans and players have done a good job of handling the changes this season.