The Atlantic Trojans softball team advanced to the Class 3A Region 3 Semifinals with an 11-0 win in 5 innings over Clarinda on Wednesday night. The Trojans used patience at the plate early and then racked up some hits late in the game to move on.

Atlantic scored 4 runs in the bottom of the 1st to grab an early lead. Aziah Smalley struggled in the circle for Clarinda and Atlantic took advantage of four walks and one hit-batter in the opening frame. Olivia Engler and Caroline Pellett had the only two hits that inning, both driving in 2 runs with singles. First baseman Kennedy Goergen said they have been working on that patience this week.

Atlantic would later bring home 3 runs on 4 hits in the 3rd. Atlantic then added 4 more runs on 3 hits in the 4th, nearly ending the game that inning on the 12-run rule. Olivia Engler made quick work of the 5th with 3 straight strikeouts to end the game. Engler was spectacular in the circle with 8 strikeouts and just one walk on the night. Atlantic Head Coach Terry Hinzmann thought the team did a great job of putting a complete effort together.

Defense was solid all night for the Trojans as well and shortstop Caroline Pellett said they can build confidence with their defense.

The Trojans improved their record to 16-1 on the season and will host the Regional semifinal on Friday. They will have to wait to see who that opponent will be as Shenandoah and Red Oak postponed their game on Thursday due to wet field conditions from rain on Wednesday. We’ll have that semifinal on Friday on KJAN with pregame at 6:45 p.m. and first pitch at 7:00 p.m. Coach Hinzmann said they’ve refocused on their next set of goals.

Clarinda got at least one base-runner aboard in the first three innings of the game but could never get a timely hit to bring anyone home. The Cardinals end their season with a 4-11 record.

The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union released the final rankings for Class 3A, 4A, and 5A schools ahead of postseason play on Wednesday. Atlantic finishes the year ranked 10th in Class 3A. Follow the link for the full rankings.

FInal 3A 4A 5A Rankings

Photo Atlantic Softball Twitter

The Atlantic Trojans softball team looks to build on another successful regular season with a postseason run that begins tonight against Clarinda. The Trojans have racked up a 15-1 record this year and will host a Clarinda team that is 4-10 in the opening round of Class 3A Region 3.

Atlantic won the regular season meeting against the Caridnals back on June 18th by a score of 12-2 in 6 innings of play. Atlantic Head Coach Terry Hinzmann said after the regular season finale against Missouri Valley that the Trojans accomplished a lot of their goals for that portion of the season, but now a new season with new goals begins.

Trojan fans that are headed to the game tonight are asked to wear Black to match the Trojans’ uniforms and support the team. For those that can’t make it out we’ll have the game on KJAN with pregame at 6:45 p.m. and first pitch scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Tune in on AM 1220, FM 101.1, and online at kjan.com

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa State quarterback Brock Purdy says he has plenty of areas to improve upon as he gets ready for his junior season. Purdy is coming off a sophomore season in which he passed for nearly four thousand yards and 27 touchdowns as the Cyclones made it to their third straight bowl game.

Purdy also threw nine interceptions and had some key fumbles as the Cyclones finished a minus three in turnover margin.

Purdy has spent the offseason trying to learn to better handle pressure.

Purdy was named to the preseason watch list for the Davey O”Brien Award. It is given to the nation’s top quarterback.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa basketball player CJ Fredrick is expected to be ready for preseason practices after having surgery on his right foot. The school says Fredrick had a screw inserted to alleviate a stress fracture. He is expected to recover within six weeks. Fredrick says the timing for the surgery was ideal and that he’ll be able to play pain free. He started all 25 games as a freshman last season. He led the Big Ten in 3-point percentage and averaged 10 points per game.

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

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Playoff softball continues with play in Class 1A, 2A, and 3A tonight. Here is a look at the area match-ups.

Class 1A

Region 2

Griswold @ Exira-EHK (Kimballton) 5:00 p.m.
Glidden-Ralston @ Audubon 7:00 p.m.
Westwood @ Newell-Fonda 7:00 p.m.
West Harrison @ Riverside 7:00 p.m.

Region 3

Stanton @ Central Decatur 7:00 p.m.
Fremont-Mills @ Lenox 7:00 p.m.
Diagonal @ Twin Cedars 7:00 p.m.
Lamoni @ Wayne 7:00 p.m.

Region 5

Grand View Christian @ BGM 7:00 p.m.
Colo-Nesco @ Collins-Maxwell 7:00 p.m.
Melcher-Dallas @ Martensdale-St. Marys 7:00 p.m.
East Union @ Southeast Warren 7:00 p.m.

Class 2A

Region 1

MVAOCOU @ Logan-Magnolia 7:00 p.m.
Treynor @ St. Albert 7:00 p.m.
Missouri Valley @ Underwood 7:00 p.m.
AHSTW @ West Monona 7:00 p.m.

Region 2

Madrid @ Earlham 7:00 p.m.
Nodaway Valley @ Mount Ayr 7:00 p.m.
Panorama @ Van Meter 7:00 p.m.
ACGC @ Woodward-Granger 7:00 p.m.

Class 3A

Region 2

Southeast Valley @ Humboldt 7:00 p.m.
Greene County @ Kuemper Catholic 7:00 p.m.
Cherokee, Washington @ MOC-Floyd Valley 7:00 p.m.

Region 3

Clarinda @ Atlantic -ON KJAN 7:00 p.m.
Des Moines Christian @ Creston 7:00 p.m.
Red Oak @ Shenandoah 7:00 p.m.

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

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs have agreed with defensive tackle Chris Jones on a four-year, $85 million contract extension that includes $60 million in guarantees, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press on Tuesday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the team had not announced the signing. The Chiefs and representatives for Jones have been working on a contract extension ever since last year, when they remained far apart on terms and the Pro Bowl selection skipped the entirety of the offseason program. Jones was back in time for training camp and helped the Chiefs win their first Super Bowl in 50 years in February.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Left-hander Danny Duffy will start for the Kansas City Royals when they open the season against the Indians in Cleveland next week. The 31-year-old Duffy will make his third start on opening day, although this one is far different than the others. The game July 24 will begin a season shortened to 60 games because of the coronavirus pandemic that will last through August and September. Duffy went 7-6 with a 4.34 ERA in 23 starts last season.

UNDATED (AP) — The St. Louis Cardinals have enjoyed a relatively quiet ramp-up to next week’s opener of their abbreviated season. Their core players have continued to test negative for COVID-19 during their workouts at Busch Stadium ahead of next week’s opener to their abbreviated season. They haven’t had any injuries pop up that could dramatically alter their plans for the starting rotation or lineup. And the few questions they did have during the spring, such as how they would cast their deep platoon of outfielders and how they would stack their bullpen, have been largely answered.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Royals hope their youth gives them a unique ability to adapt to the rapidly changing environment in which they hope to not just complete a 60-game abbreviate season but actually contend into the final weeks of September. Already, that flexibility has been put to the test with four positive COVID-19 tests, including both of the catchers on their 40-man roster. All were asymptomatic and they hope all of them are back for the start of the season next week in Cleveland.

CHICAGO (AP) — Jake Burger is going to play in a local league this summer in his hometown of St. Louis after the Chicago White Sox approved the plan for their first-round pick in the 2017 amateur draft. It’s a chance for the third baseman to get back on the field after he tore his left Achilles tendon twice, sidelining him for each of the previous two seasons. The cancellation of this year’s minor league season left prospects like Burger without anywhere to go for game action that could help continue their development. It remains to be seen how many teams permit their prospects to play in organized leagues this summer.

The second round of the playoffs was contested for Class 1A and 2A schools on Tuesday night and a few regular season games were played in the large classes. Here’s a look at the area scores.

CLASS 1A

District 11

Martensdale-St. Marys 9, Lynville-Sully 3
Southeast Warren 11, Earlham 7

District 12

Central Decatur 11, Moravia 7
Mount Ayr 7, Lamoni 2

District 13

CAM 11, Nodaway Valley 4 –ON KJAN
Bedford 12, Stanton 0

District 14

St. Albert 16, Exira-EHK 2
Sidney 12, East Mills 8

District 15

Boyer Valley 2, Audubon 1 (Tying run for Wheelers thrown out at home trying to score on a wild pitch.)
Logan-Magnolia 6, Coon Rapids-Bayard 4

District 16

Kingsley-Pierson 3, Lawton-Bronson 2
Hinton 10, Westwood 2

*************

CLASS 2A

District 14

ACGC @ Woodward-Granger PPD to 7/15
Panorama vs. Southeast Valley (@ Granger) 4:30 p.m. PPD to 7/15

District 15

Treynor 2, Tri-Center 0
Clarinda 4, Shenandoah 0

District 16

Kuemper Catholic 9, Underwood 4
Missouri Valley 6, East Sac County 5

****************

Regular Season

Denison-Schleswig 9, Atlantic 5 (Denison Scores 3 in the 2nd and 5th)
Harlan 11, CB Abraham Lincoln 3
Fort Dodge 11, Carroll 10
Sergeant Bluff-Luton 5, Lewis Central 1

The CAM Cougars advanced the the Class 1A District 13 Final with an 11-4 win over the Nodaway Valley Wolverines on Tuesday night in Anita. CAM book-ended the ballgame with stellar offensive innnings. The Cougars scored 5 runs in the 1st and the 6th to secure the win.

Kolby Nelson got the offense cooking with a double and Lane Spieker drove him in with a double of his own to get the Cougars on the board. 3 of the next four batters would drive in runs as well, with Ben Tibken reaching on a walk in between. Cade Ticknor brought in 2 on a sac fly that brought in the 4th and 5th runs. After the game Tibken said it was good to jump on the Wolverines early.

The game was quiet in the middle with only one hit from the 2nd-4th. Nodaway Valley then got on the board with 3 runs in the 5th. Evan Forcht brought in two with a single before getting picked off trying for second base to end the inning. CAM answered with one run in the 5th before piling up 5 on 4 hits in the 6th. After an easy win in the first round CAM Head Coach Dan Daugherty said it wasn’t difficult to get his team focused because they knew they would get a test from the Wolverines.

Lane Spieker got the win on the mound going 5 innings, giving up three runs on 5 hits with 5 strikeouts. Cade Ticknor finished the game and had 2 strikeouts of his own. CAM improves to 14-2 on the season and move on to the District Final on Saturday. Coach Daugherty said they have talked about defending home field.

CAM will face Bedford on Saturday in Anita for the District title and we’ll have that game on KJAN with pregame at 6:45 p.m. and first-pitch at 7:00 p.m. Tibken is part of a Senior class that has won over 20 games the past four seasons and a state tournament appearance. He said they just need to keep it up to advance on.

Nodaway Valley played a fairly solid game outside of those two big innings for the Cougars but their season ends with an 8-9 record.