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

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Stephen Piscotty has been traded by the St. Louis Cardinals to the Oakland Athletics for two infield prospects, allowing the outfielder to be near his family following his mother’s diagnosis with Lou Gehrig’s disease. Gretchen Piscotty was diagnosed in May with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a disease that attacks nerve cells. Her son left the Cardinals for five days after the diagnosis and returned May 31. St. Louis receives Yairo Munoz and Max Schrock in the deal.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Miami completed its trade that sent left fielder Marcell Ozuna to the St. Louis Cardinals, the third All-Star jettisoned by the Marlins this month in an unrelenting payroll purge under new CEO Derek Jeter. St. Louis dealt four prospects to the Marlins: right-handers Sandy Alcantara and Zac Gallen, outfielder Magneuris Sierra and left-hander Daniel Castano. Miami traded second baseman Dee Gordon to Seattle and right fielder Giancarlo Stanton, the reigning NL MVP, to the New York Yankees.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Reliever Luke Gregerson and the St. Louis Cardinals have finalized an $11 million, two-year contract. A 33-year-old right-hander, Gregerson was 2-3 with a career-high 4.57 ERA and 70 strikeouts in 61 innings this year for the World Series champion Houston Astros. He gave up a career-worst 13 home runs. Gregerson did not allow a run in five postseason games.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Chargers visit the Chiefs on Saturday night knowing the winner has the inside track on the AFC West title and a playoff berth. Nothing will be decided for certain, but both teams are approaching their showdown at Arrowhead Stadium as a must-win game.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Mikaela Foecke had 19 kills, Annika Albrecht and Briana Holman had 13 apiece and Nebraska fought off match point in the fourth set to beat Penn State in a five-set thriller in the NCAA volleyball semifinals. The Huskers are seeking their fifth national title.

DALLAS (AP) — Scott Frost has won the Eddie Robinson Award as national coach of the year. Frost led Central Florida to a perfect regular season before taking the coaching job at Nebraska. The winner was announced by the Football Writers Association of American and the Sugar Bowl.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla., December 13, 2017 – The St. Louis Cardinals announced today that they have traded outfielder Stephen Piscotty to the Oakland Athletics in exchange for minor league shortstop Yairo Muñoz and second baseman Max Schrock.

Piscotty wanted to be closer to home after his mother was diagnosed with ALS last year. He missed time with the Cardinals last year after the diagnosis to be with his family. This trade allows him to be closer to his ailing mother in Pleasanton, CA.

Muñoz, 22, was signed by the Athletics as a non-drafted free agent out of Nagua, Dominican Republic in January of 2012. The 6-foot-1, 165 lb., right-handed hitting infielder played shortstop, third base and center field between Midland (AA) and Nashville (AAA) during the 2017 season. He batted .300 with 13 home runs, 68 RBI and stole 22 bases in 112 games and is currently playing in the Dominican Winter League for the Toros del Este.

Over 504 career minor league games, Muñoz batted .265 with 41 home runs and 237 RBI and 63 stolen bases in 87 attempts. Muñoz was a 2015 Midwest League All-Star at Beloit and a 2014 New York-Penn League All-Star with Vermont.

Schrock, 23, was originally a 13th round draft pick by the Washington Nationals in the 2015 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of South Carolina. Schrock was traded to the Athletics in 2016 in exchange for former Cardinals pitcher Marc Rzepczynski. He has batted .324 over his career with a .372 on-base percentage, 18 home runs and 131 RBI over 281 minor league games.

The 5-foot-8, 180 lb., left-handed hitting second baseman was a 2017 Mid-Season and Post-Season Texas League All-Star at Midland (AA) and 2016 South Atlantic League All-Star at Hagerstown (A) including earning the Top Star Honor for the SAL All-Star Game.

In 2017, Schrock ranked fourth in the Texas League with a .321 batting average while ranking third in on-base percentage (.379) and was the “Toughest to Strike Out in” the league registering 10.80 plate appearances per strikeout. Defensively, Schrock led all Texas League second basemen in games (101), total chances (436), put outs (173), assists (257) and double plays (83).

Piscotty, 26, was the Cardinals supplemental first round (33rd overall) draft pick out of Stanford University in the 2012 First-Year Player Draft. Piscotty batted .268 with 38 home runs and 163 RBI over 323 career Major League games. He signed a six-year contract extension with the Cardinals on April 3, 2017.

Muñoz has been placed on the Cardinals 40-man Major League roster and Schrock will be assigned to a minor league roster.

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If state policymakers legalize sports betting, Iowa casinos are aiming to get the business. Iowa Gaming Association executive director Wes Ehrecke says the federal “barrier” to sports betting may soon be removed. “In the past 25 years, only one state has been allowed to have sports betting and that’s been Nevada and New Jersey challenged the constitutionality of that and the Supreme Court heard arguments last Monday,” Ehrecke says. “…There’s a lot of people thinking they’re going to rule in favor of New Jersey and, if they do, that would allow all states to opt in.”

Iowa’s casino industry will propose legislation in 2018 that would legalize sports betting in Iowa at the 19 state-licensed casinos. “Like other gambling games, it would allow people to bet on sports within our casinos, regulated by our (Iowa) Racing and Gaming Commission,” Ehrecke says.

Ehrecke cites reports indicating Americans bet about 150 billion dollars a year on sporting events, but only five percent of that is done legally in the state of Nevada. “So it’s flourished in an illegal activity way,” Ehrecke says. “No age limits or anything like that.”

Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett — a Republican candidate for governor — yesterday (Wednesday) called for legalizing sports betting in Iowa, but Corbett would prefer the Iowa Lottery manage the wagering on football, baseball and basketball games. That would create thousands of sites around the state for placing bets and Corbett says the Iowa Lottery is a “trusted brand” that could manage the betting volume.

Anticipating a 2018 ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court that would legalize sports betting beyond just the State of Nevada, Mississippi and Pennsylvania already have state laws to allow sports betting. This past year, legislation was introduced, but not enacted in 16 other states that would have legalized “sports book” operations.

(Radio Iowa)

Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett — a Republican candidate for governor — says the state can raise millions in new taxes for the mental health system by legalizing sports betting. The move, though, depends on a pending U.S. Supreme Court opinion. “By most of the legal analysis…it looks like the court will rule in favor of states,” Corbett says, “and that will present an option or an opportunity for the State of Iowa to get into sports betting.”

Corbett says his preference would be for the Iowa Lottery to manage the bets on professional baseball, football, basketball games as well as college football and basketball, but Corbett says he’s open to the idea of having the state-licensed casinos do it. Corbett is buying 10-thousand dollars in internet ads to tout his campaign’s online survey on this topic.

“We’re going to ask people over the next several weeks as they’re checking the Bulls’ scores or their favorite sports team to take the survey,” Corbett says. “The first question in the survey is: Should Iowa legalize sports betting?”  The second question is: Should the Iowa Lottery or the casinos manage it? Whether the new tax revenue should be used on mental health or something else is the third question.

Corbett cites an estimate indicating the state could collect 24 million dollars in new gambling taxes for the system each year if the Lottery ran “sports book.” “I think that’s a very significant sum of money and will begin this process of providing the resources to help solve the mental health crisis,” Corbett says.

Corbett says he’s the first of any of the dozen or so candidates for governor who’ve proposed a way to pay for expanding access to mental health services in Iowa. He also rejects the idea it’s a risky political move for a Republican candidate “to talk about gambling” during the campaign. Corbett points to Republican Governor Terry Branstad, who signed into law every form of legalized gambling currently available in Iowa — from the lottery to casino slot machines.

“And I know for a fact that over the course of his time as governor he made bets on the outcome of Iowa football games with other governors,” Corbett says. “So if it’s o.k. for the governor to make a bet on a football game, I think it’s o.k. for the people of Iowa to make a bet on a football game.”

Corbett says Iowa Lottery retailers would be able to take sports bets from customers because the process is similar to buying a lottery ticket. “They stand in, sometimes it’s a line, depending on the jackpot but they pull their Lottery card off and they fill in the numbers like a Keno game, so they’re certainly equipped and set up to provide this service to the State of Iowa,” Corbett says.

Corbett is challenging Republican Governor Kim Reynolds’ bid for a full, four-year term as governor. No word yet from Reynolds’ campaign about her stand on legalized sports betting.

(Radio Iowa)

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

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Chiefs are converting trips inside the opposing 20-yard line into touchdowns at one of the worst rates in the league. Those struggles in the red zone have hurt them, too, leading to a series of losses that have put their playoff hopes in jeopardy.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — A person familiar with the negotiations says Miami has agreed to trade left fielder Marcell Ozuna to the St. Louis Cardinals, the third All-Star jettisoned by the Marlins in a payroll purge under new CEO Derek Jeter. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the agreement had not been announced and was subject to a physical. Miami traded second baseman Dee Gordon to Seattle and dealt right fielder Giancarlo Stanton, the reigning NL MVP, to the New York Yankees.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Zach Jackson scored 22 points, JT Gibson added a career-high 17, and Omaha held off Arkansas State to win its second game of the season, 77-74 and snap a three-game skid. ASU rallied from a 17-point deficit and Deven Simms’ layup tied it at 58 after a 12-0 run.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Seven-time champions Penn State and Stanford join four-time champion Nebraska and perennial powerhouse Florida in the Division I volleyball Final Four. The Nittany Lions face the Huskers in the first semifinal and the Cardinal meet the Gators in the second Thursday night.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — A person familiar with the negotiations says Miami has agreed to trade left fielder Marcell Ozuna to the St. Louis Cardinals, the third All-Star jettisoned by the Marlins this month in an unrelenting payroll purge under new CEO Derek Jeter.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Wednesday because the agreement had not been announced and was subject to a physical.

Miami traded second baseman Dee Gordon to Seattle last Thursday for three prospects and dealt right fielder Giancarlo Stanton, the reigning NL MVP, to the New York Yankees on Monday for second baseman Starlin Castro and two prospects. The Cardinals had a deal in place for Stanton last week, but he invoked his no-trade clause and blocked the move.

Center fielder Christian Yelich could be the next to exit the downsizing Marlins, bought by Bruce Sherman’s group on Oct. 2.

Miami had a $116 million payroll on Aug. 31, up from $81 million at the end of last year, and is intent on reducing obligations. Stanton was owed $295 million over the next decade, and Gordon $38 million through 2020.

The 27-year-old Ozuna is eligible for arbitration and likely will earn more than $10 million. He is eligible for free agency after the 2019 season.

A two-time All-Star, Ozuna set career highs last season by hitting .312 with 37 home runs and 124 RBIs.

Double Dual @ Audubon

South Central Calhoun 42, Audubon 30
East Sac County 54, Audubon 18
West Central Valley 66, Audubon 16

Double Dual @ Creston

Glenwood 42, Creston O-M 28
Glenwood 65, Underwood 17
Creston O-M 54, Underwood 23

Double Dual @ Nodaway Valley

Missouri Valley 82, Griswold 0
Missouri Valley 84, Nodaway Valley 0
Griswold 42, Nodaway Valley 12

Double Dual @ Red Oak

Logan-Magnolia 45, Red Oak 27
Logan-Magnolia 72, Clarinda Academy 12
Red Oak 66, Clarinda Academy 6

Double Dual @ St. Albert

AHSTW 48, St. Albert 9
AHSTW 45, Southwest Iowa 6
Southwest Iowa 39, St. Albert 24

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast w/Jim Field.

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

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa State coach Matt Campbell says he will support quarterback Jacob Park if he intends to transfer to another school. Campbell released a statement after the Des Moines Register quoted Park as saying he asked for a release from his scholarship. Park, a junior, was Iowa State’s starting quarterback until early October, when he went on an indefinite leave of absence.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Chiefs cornerback Marcus Peters returned from his one-game suspension for a series of embarrassing incidents. But he was not available in the locker room and coach Andy Reid refused to discuss the situation. Still, his return should help a Chiefs defense that was improved last week but faces a big test in the Chargers on Saturday night.

NEW YORK (AP) — ESPN says former NFL players Donovan McNabb and Eric Davis will not appear on any of its networks while it investigates a sexual misconduct lawsuit filed against NFL Network. A woman who worked as a wardrobe stylist at NFL Network accuses McNabb and Davis of various sexually inappropriate encounters. She also made accusations against former players Marshall Faulk, Ike Taylor and Heath Evans, and former NFL Network executive Eric Weinberger. None of the men responded to messages from the AP.