NEWTON, Iowa (AP) — There is a wave of 20-somethings in IndyCar that are giving the elder statesmen of open-wheel racing everything they can handle this season. Rinus VeeKay, Colton Herta and Santino Ferrucci along with Pato O’Ward, Alex Palou and Oliver Askew represent a quarter of the field, and all of them have been running near the front.

That included the doubleheader at Iowa this weekend, where Askew and O’Ward battled for the podium on Friday night and Askew was in the mix again Saturday. They come from all kinds of backgrounds and walks of life, too. O’Ward is from Mexico, Palou is Spanish and VeeKay is Dutch.

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

NEWTON, Iowa (AP) — Josef Newgarden led nearly wire-to-wire Saturday night to win the IndyCar race at Iowa Speedway, giving team owner Roger Penske a sweep of the double-header and his fourth victory across three series this weekend. Will Power finished second after wrecking out of the doubleheader opener. Graham Rahal finished third for his first podium in more than a year, while Pagenaud again came from the back to finish fourth and series leader Scott Dixon was fifth.

TORONTO (AP) — The Canadian government has turned down the Blue Jays’ request for an exemption that would have allowed them to play regular-season games in Toronto amid the coronavirus pandemic. Major League Baseball needed an exemption to a requirement that anyone entering Canada for nonessential reasons must self-isolate for 14 days. The team had previously been given clearance by city and provincial governments to play regular-season games at Toronto’s Rogers Centre but needed approval from Canada’s federal government.

ATLANTA (AP) — Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman doesn’t know if he has time to be ready for their season opener following a scary journey in his battle with COVID-19. The four-time All-Star revealed Saturday that he had a high temperature of 104.5 degrees early in his battle with the disease and prayed for his life. He said Saturday was his ninth consecutive day without symptoms, which also included body aches, chills and a temporary loss of his senses of taste and smell.

NEW YORK (AP) — New York Yankees pitcher Domingo Germán says he is not retiring from baseball and apologized for suggesting as much in an Instagram post on Friday. Germán is serving an 81-game ban for violating Major League Baseball’s domestic violence policy last summer. He posted Friday night words in Spanish that translated to, “I’ve left baseball. Thanks everyone.” But he wrote Saturday in Spanish and English that he was “very sorry for the unsettling post.”

DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) — Jon Rahm is the leader through three rounds of the Memorial, four shots ahead of Ryan Palmer and Tony Finau. Rahm carded four birdies on the back nine in a 68 that leaves him 12 under for the tournament. Danny Willett is alone in fourth place, six shots back and one ahead of Jason Day and Henrik Norlander.

NEW YORK (AP) — The NFL has informed teams their training camps will open on time. League executive Troy Vincent sent a memo to general managers and head coaches on Saturday informing them rookies are to report by Tuesday, quarterbacks and injured players by Thursday and all other players should arrive by July 28. The league and the NFL Players Association are still discussing testing for the coronavirus and other health and safety protocols.

Playoff baseball continued with District Finals in Class 1A and 2A on Saturday. Here are the area scores.

CLASS 1A

District 11: Martensdale-St. Marys 4, Southeast Warren 2
District 12: Mount Ayr 11, Central Decatur 6
District 13: CAM 5, Bedford 4– ON KJAN
District 14: St. Albert 16, Sidney 1
District 15: Logan-Magnolia 5, Boyer Valley 3
District 16: Kingsley-Pierson 9, Hinton 0

CLASS 2A

District 14: Panorama 8, Woodward-Granger 3
District 15: Treynor 6, Clarinda 5
District 16: Kuemper Catholic 4, Missouri Valley 3

It came down to the final batter and Cade Ticknor came through with a huge strikeout to seal the CAM Cougars 5-4 win over the Bedford Bulldogs in the Class 1A District 13 Final on Saturday night in Anita. CAM came back from an early 2 run deficit to grab a lead and hang on the rest of the way. Bedford had the tying run at third and the go-ahead run at 2nd when Ticknor struck out Jordan Perkins to end the game.

Bedford jumped on top in the 3rd inning with 2 runs on 2 hits and an error from the Cougars. CAM would answer back in the 4th with a big inning. The Cougars sent 8 batters to the plate and were able to reach Bulldogs ace Brennan Sefrit for 6 hits in the inning. The Cougars scored 4 runs on those 6 hits and left one runner stranded. Ben Tibken highlighted the inning with a 2RBI double.

CAM added another run in the 5th on an RBI single from Lane Spieker. That run proved to be very important as the Bulldogs scored twice in the 6th to close the gap to 5-4. Brennan Sefrit then led of the 7th with a single. Tristen Cummings bunted Sefrit over for the first out. Dylan Smalley then drew the only walk given up by Ticknor all night to put runners at first and second. Silas Walston popped out to short. Then a passed ball allowed Sefrit and Smalley to slide over a base, putting that go-ahead run at 2nd. Ticknor came through then with his 6th strikeout of the game. After the game Ticknor talked about that big moment.

CAM Head Coach Dan Daugherty said the guys seemed to get on track at the plate the second time around against Sefrit.

Coach Daugherty is proud of what this strong group of seniors has accomplished.

The Cougars will now face St. Albert in the Substate 7 Final on Tuesday night. The Falcons racked up an easy 16-1 victory over Sidney on Saturday to advance. CAM was able to knock off the Falcons three years ago to earn a trip to State. Cougars Senior Jacob Holste said they are excited for the opportunity to meet the Falcons again.

We’ll have that game for you on Tuesday night on KJAN with pregame at 6:45 p.m. and first pitch at 7:00 p.m. The game has been scheduled to be played in Clarinda.

In a statement released Friday the Iowa High School Athletic Association says they plan to start the fall sports seasons as scheduled at this time. Check out the full statement below.

The IHSAA is preparing to begin the 2020 fall sports seasons as currently scheduled. First practices are set to begin for cross country, football, and Class 4A golf on August 10. The health and safety of student-athletes and their communities has been our priority as we work to provide opportunities during this pandemic, and will remain so as we move forward into the 2020-21 school year. We will continue to work with our partners at NFHS, IATS, and within the Iowa state government to develop protocols and sport-specific guidance, and will adjust as necessary.

In Iowa’s Unified Activities programs – IHSAA, IGHSAU, IHSMA, and IHSSA – each member school and participant may determine which activities they sponsor or join every school year. We plan to issue IHSAA sport guidance to member schools the week of July 27.

Cross Country

Football

Golf (Class 4A)

w/ Chris Parks

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NEWTON, Iowa (AP) — Simon Pagenaud’S worst-to-first run capped a wild opening night to IndyCar’s doubleheader at Iowa Speedway. The former series champion, who was unable to qualify because of a fuel pressure issue, managed to stretch his tires and take advantage of a unique pit strategy — and a little bit of luck — to get to the lead. Pagenaud then held off series leader Scott Dixon through the final laps Friday night to end Chip Ganassi Racing’s four-race winning streak.

Pagenaud went from 23rd to first, but Dixon was just as impressive. He started 17th before finishing second. Pagenaud won for the 15th time in the series, and first since Toronto last season. The 36-year-old Frenchman gave Team Penske its third Iowa win in four races.

Two mid-race wrecks set the stage for the conclusion — and drove home the value of IndyCar’s new aeroscreen. The first occurred when Will Power’s left front wheel came off his car, sending him into the wall and the tire bounding within feet of his head. The second occurred on the aborted restart, when Colton Herta’s car catapulted over Rinus VeeKay, missing the rookie’s head by inches but destroying the new safety device added by IndyCar this season.

Playoff baseball continues with District Finals in Class 1A and 2A on Saturday. Here are the area match-ups.

CLASS 1A

District 11: Southeast Warren @ Martensdale-St. Marys
District 12: Mount Ayr @ Central Decatur
District 13: Bedford @ CAM – ON KJAN
District 14: Sidney @ St. Albert
District 15: Logan-Magnolia @ Boyer Valley
District 16: Hinton @ Kingsley-Pierson

CLASS 2A

District 14: Panorama @ Woodward-Granger
District 15: Clarinda vs. Treynor (@ Tri-Center)
District 16: Missouri Valley vs. Kuemper Catholic (@ Underwood)

Playoff softball is on tap for Class 4A and 5A schools on Saturday with Regional Semifinals. Here is a look at the area contests. All games will start at 7:00 p.m.

CLASS 4A

Region 1

LeMars @ Spencer
Sergeant Bluff-Luton @ Carroll

Region 3

Norwalk @ ADM
Newton @ Winterset

Region 4

Knoxville @ Carlisle
Lewis Central @ Harlan

CLASS 5A

Region 2

CB Abraham Lincoln @ Johnston
Cedar Rapids Jefferson @ Bettendorf