(Radio Iowa) – The highly-anticipated Major League Baseball game at the Field of Dreams Movie Site is coming up on August 12th and Dyersville is hosting a “Beyond the Game” festival that starts the day before. Dyersville Chamber director Karla Thompson says there’s been a surge of interested in the area after the game was announced.) “We talk to tourists all the time that (say) they’ve never been there, it’s on the bucket list and this is the year they’re going to come to the Field of Dreams,” Thompson says.

The Dyersville Chamber has been fielding lots of calls about how to register for game tickets, which are being awarded through a lottery to Iowa residents. “Even if they don’t get tickets, they can come to our festival,” she says. “…We’re going to be the official viewing party for that game. We’re going to have that in the city square, which is right downtown in Dyersville.”

The game will be played on a newly-constructed, eight-thousand seat ballpark that’s next to the baseball diamond that was seen in the 1989 movie. The site is a few miles outside of Dyersville. In town, there’s an “If You Build It” exhibit about the making of the movie. Thompson says an “Iowa Zone” will be set up during the two-day festival so tourists — and locals — can learn more about the state as a whole.

“Businesses and organizations are going to be there, giving out samples or promoting their product or just kind of showcasing or providing an education opportunity, so like John Deere, Blue Bunny, Musco Lighting — those all kind of represent Iowa,” Thompson says.

Musco Lighting, based in Oskaloosa, has installed lighting systems at several sports arenas major league ballparks, including Kaufmann Stadium in Kansas City. Thompson is looking for volunteers to help out during the festival, including at the “Kid’s Zone” in Dyersville where there will be all sorts of activities — and even a pitching contest. “It takes a village to put this on,” Thompson says, “so we’re kind of excited.”

The Field of Dreams game was originally scheduled for last summer, but was postponed due to the pandemic. The Chicago White Sox will be the home team and their game against the New York Yankees will count as a regular season game. From now through this Friday, fans with an Iowa zip code can register in a lottery for tickets. Winners will be notified on August 2nd if they won the chance to buy two tickets to the game.

CLASS 3A

Substate 1: MOC-Floyd Valley 1, Storm Lake 0
Substate 2: Waverly-Shell Rock 9, Webster City 3
Substate 3: Wahlert Catholic 5, Independence 1
Substate 4: Central DeWitt 6, Assumption 1
Substate 5: Cedar Rapids Xavier 6, Solon 3
Substate 6: Marion 14, Benton 1
Substate 7: ADM 8, Boone 4
Substate 8: Winterset 4, Gilbert 2 (8 innings)

CLASS 4A

Substate 1: Ankeny 3, WDM Valley 1
Substate 2: Dowling Catholic 6, Mason City 2
Substate 3: Prairie 4, Cedar Falls 2
Substate 4: Pleasant Valley 4, Linn-Mar 0
Substate 5: Dubuque Hempstead 2, North Scott 1
Substate 6: Ottumwa 2, Iowa City High 1
Substate 7: Johnston 4, Indianola 1
Substate 8: Waukee 13, Norwalk 0

CLASS 1A

Third Place
3:30 p.m. – Iowa Central Field –  Southeast Warren (29-3) vs. Wayne (24-5)

Championship
5:00 p.m. – Kruger Seeds Field – Newell-Fonda (37-4) vs. Lisbon (37-8)

CLASS 2A

Third Place
6:00 p.m. – Iowa Central Field – #1 Wilton (29-4) vs. #3 Central Springs (30-7)

Championship
7:30 p.m. – Kruger Seeds Field- #4 Earlham (34-9) vs. #2 North Linn (41-6)

CLASS 1A

Semifinals
#1 Newell-Fonda 7, #4 Southeast Warren 3
#4 Lisbon 4, #2 Wayne 3

CLASS 2A

Semifinals
#4 Earlham 9, #1 Wilton 6
#2 North Linn 8, #3 Central Springs 5

CLASS 3A

Semifinals
#1 Davenport Assumption 12, #4 Atlantic 0 (4 innings) –ON KJAN
#2 Mount Vernon 6, #3 Williamsburg 3

Consolation
#6 West Liberty 7, #7 Estherville-Lincoln Central 4

CLASS 4A

Semifinals
#5 Boone 4, #1 Winterset 2
#2 Western Dubuque 8, #3 ADM 1

Consolations
#4 Carlisle 4, #8 Oskaloosa 0
#6 Clear Creek-Amana 7, #7 North Polk 6

CLASS 5A

Semifinals
#6 Ankeny Centennial 8, #2 Pleasant Valley 1
#1 Fort Dodge 8, #4 Waukee 3

Consolations
#3 Iowa City High 2, #7 Southeast Polk 0
#8 Bettendorf 11, #5 Cedar Rapids Kennedy 2

The Davenport Assumption Knights showed why they are every bit the top seed in the 3A State Tournament bracket with a 12-0 win in 4 innings over Atlantic in the semis Wednesday.

Assumption led off the first and second innings by loading the bases with no outs. The Trojans were able to limit the damage in the first inning with the Knights just plating one on a walk. The second however was a different story. Anna Wohlers delivered a 2 RBI single and two batters later Maddie Looked brought home two more on a double. Libby Madden and Lauren Loken followed with RBI singles and the Knights led 7-0 at the end of the 2nd. Syd Roe blasted a 3-run homer in the 3rd, her 12th of the season. Assumption then took advantage of a couple Trojans errors to plate two more in the 4th and end the game on the mercy rule.

Atlantic only mustered two hits in the shortened game, singles by Olivia Engler and Ava Rush.

Assumption improved to 39-3 on the season and will play for the 3A Championship on Friday afternoon at 2:30 p.m.

Atlantic falls to 34-6 with the loss. The Trojans will try to regroup and battle for 3rd place on Friday at 1:00 p.m. They will play either Mount Vernon or Williamsburg. We’ll have coverage of that third place game on KJAN with pregame at Noon on Friday.

The Atlantic Trojans softball team (34-5) will square off against top-seeded Assumption Knights (38-3) in the Class 3A State Semifinals this afternoon. The Trojans are coming off a thrilling 10-9 comeback win over Anamosa in 11 innings on Monday night in the quarters. Assumption zipped past Clarke 11-1 in 6 innings in their quarterfinal game.

Assumption has a couple of strong pitchers to turn to led by junior Bella Nigey who has compiled a 23-2 record in 28 appearances this season. She has a 0.64 ERA with 206 strikeouts.

The Knights offense is led by seniors Olivia Wardlow and Anna Wohlers. Wardlow has racked up 60 hits and is hitting .484, while Wohlers leads the team in RBIs with 63 on 56 hits this year.

Atlantic will look for a strong effort from their senior pitcher Olivia Engler. She has 23 wins with a 1.30 ERA and 269 strikeouts. It’s a strong top of the order for the Knights so keeping that part of the lineup in check will likely be key.

Some early offense would also benefit the Trojans and they will look for a better effort from the top of the order than the last round. Top hitters Olivia Engler and Alyssa Derby combined for just one hit against Anamosa.

We’ll have coverage of the game on KJAN with pregame at 2:00 p.m. this afternoon. Tune in on AM 1220, FM 101.1, and online at kjan.com.

With Jim Field.

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The CAM Cougars did not go down without a fight but ultimately came up short against St. Albert 8-5 in 8 innings of play in the Class 1A Substate 7 Final on Tuesday in Glenwood.

The Cougars entered the 7th trailing 5-2. The first two batters were put out and senior Connor McKee came to the plate. He hit a hard shot to shortstop Cy Patterson and was able to reach on a high throw attempt to first. Lane Spieker then blasted one over the center field fence to get the Cougars within one and spark some hope. Colby Rich then followed suit by sending one yard over the left field fence to tie the game up at 5. The game was pushed on to an extra inning.

The Falcons then got a clutch hit of their own. Senior Isaac Sherrill delivered a two-out 2 RBI double to put St. Albert back on top. They pushed across one more on an RBI single from Brendan Monahan. The Cougars couldn’t answer in the bottom half. Seth Hensley earned a walk but Cy Patterson was brought in to pitch and delivered two strikeouts to end the game and send St. Albert to state.

CAM Head Coach Dan Daugherty was proud of the fight his team showed to the very end.

Coach Daugherty thought a couple of opportunities didn’t bounce the Cougars way.

Connor McKee is the lone graduating senior for the Cougars. Coach Daugherty said Connor had a great senior year and will be missed. The Junior class that returns should have their expectations high for next season.

The Falcons return to the State Tournament next week in Carroll after beating the Cougars in the Substate Final for the 2nd year in a row. Their record improved to 32-8. The Cougars end another great season with a record of 25-7.

CLASS 1A

Semifinals
1:00 p.m. – Kruger Seeds Field – #1 Newell-Fonda (36-4) vs. #4 Southeast Warren (29-2)
1:30 p.m. – Iowa Central Field – #2 Wayne (24-4) vs. #4 Lisbon (36-8)

CLASS 2A

Semifinals
11:30 am – Iowa Central Field – Wilton (29-3) vs. Earlham (33-9)
1:30 p.m. – Iowa Central Field – North Linn (40-6) vs. Central Springs (30-6)

CLASS 3A

Semifinals
3:00 p.m. – Kruger Seeds Field – Davenport Assumption (38-3) vs. Atlantic (34-5) -ON KJAN Pregame at 2:00 p.m.
5:00 p.m. – Kruger Seeds Field – Mount Vernon (35-4) vs. Williamsburg (24-7)

Consolation
11:00 a.m – Dodger Field – Estherville-Lincoln Central (23-9) vs. West Liberty (23-8)

CLASS 4A

Semifinals
3:30 p.m. – Iowa Central Field – Winterset (35-7) vs. Boone (27-8)
5:30 p.m. – Iowa Central Field – Western Dubuque (33-7) vs. ADM  (26-10)

Consolations
11:30 a.m. – Veterans’ Field – Oskaloosa (22-15) vs. Carlisle (28-11)
1:00 p.m. – Dodger Field – North Polk (18-15) vs. Clear Creek-Amana (29-10)

CLASS 5A

Semifinals
7:00 p.m. – Kruger Seeds Field – Pleasant Valley (34-7) vs. Ankeny Centennial (32-9)
7:30 p.m. – Iowa Central Field – Fort Dodge (36-4) vs. Waukee (32-10)

Consolations
1:30 p.m. – Veterans’ Field – Southeast Polk (21-19) vs. Iowa City High (33-8)
3:00 p.m. – Dodger Field – Bettendorf (24-16) vs. Cedar Rapids Kennedy (27-10)

CLASS 1A

Substate 1: Remsen St. Mary’s 11, Newell-Fonda 0
Substate 2: Kee 11, Northwood-Kensett 0
Substate 3: Lisbon 9, Maquoketa Valley 0
Substate 4: Alburnett 12, North Mahaska 2
Substate 5: New London 4, Mount Ayr 2
Substate 6: Grundy Center 5, Coon Rapids-Bayard 4
Substate 7: St. Albert 8, CAM 5 (8 innings)
Substate 8: Tri-Center 5, Kingsley-Pierson 0

CLASS 2A

Substate 1: Unity Christian 8, Estherville-Lincoln Central 2
Substate 2: Van Meter 11, Alta-Aurelia 0
Substate 3: New Hampton 9, Roland-Story 8
Substate 4: Denver 3, Jesup 2
Substate 5: Camanche 12, Beckman Catholic 11
Substate 6: Davis County 7, Mid-Prairie 4
Substate 7: Centerville 12, Pleasantville 1
Substate 8: Clarinda 8, Panorama 3