Top ranked Remsen St. Mary’s makes a tenth straight appearance in the state baseball tournament when the Hawks take on Hillcrest Academy in the 1A opener in Carroll. Coach Dean Harpenau’s team is hoping to take the next step after falling in last year’s title game.

Harpenau on the pressure that comes with being the top seed.

Senior Collin Homan is expected to get the start on the mound and hopes tournament experience is an advantage.

The Atlantic baseball season came to an in a first-round playoff loss to the Harlan Cyclones. The Trojans got off to a 1-11 start but won four of their next five to spark some momentum. Head Coach Nathan Block says despite the tough start, his team was learning each and every game.

Atlantic will get all but one player back and that builds team chemistry, confidence and many other traits as well.

The Trojans junior class was a strong one with six everyday starters including Kale Jensen who hit .467 with an on-base percentage of .588 and pitched 29 innings. Throughout the year, Atlantic improved day in and day out and Block believed his team hit their stride in the middle of June.

Block is excited for what’s ahead for the program knowing they will only get stronger both on and off the field.

The Tri-Center softball season has ended with a 7-21 record and graduating three seniors. The Trojans graduated three seniors but return a ton of talent. Head Coach Chad Thomas says despite the 7-21 record, his team fought each and every game.

Senior Hayden Thomas led the team slashing a .479 batting average and an on-base percentage of .575. Meanwhile, in the circle Thomas maintained a 2.75 earned run average in over 70 innings. Sophomore Caitlin Greiner will be the ace next year for the Trojans as she threw 75 innings in the circle and still has two years of high school left.

Tri-Center was an extremely young team outside of the seniors. 16 of the 22 players on the Trojan roster were a freshman or younger meaning the near future is bright for the program.

Chad Thomas and the Trojans believe another offseason together will immensely strengthen this team for 2026.

It was a year of new challenges and growth for the ACGC softball team this season. Just a two-win season but there were several new looks to the team and many players learning new positions said Head Coach Tyler Merical.

ACGC had three seniors graduate including Belle Fagan who slashed over .318 this season and an on-base percentage of over .400. Fellow senior Jayla Hoover threw 44 innings for the Chargers this season. With the returners coming back, Merical believes next season will be much more successful with a strong junior class.

ACGC’s pair of wins this season came against Madrid and Panorama and Merical says the team improved in the mental aspects of the game the most throughout the season.

The Chargers look to build on the 2025 season and produce more success in 2026.

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Cedar Rapids native, Braylen Conlon, has signed with the University of Iowa softball program. It was announced Friday by head coach Stacy May-Johnson.

With the Iowa girls high school softball season still underway, Conlon is 26-0 in the circle, leads the state in strikeouts with 290 across 150.0 innings pitched and has held opponents to a .084 batting average. Conlon graduated from Cedar Rapids Xavier in May and will be a true freshman this fall.

Braylen Conlon
Pitcher/Outfield | L/L
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Cedar Rapids Xavier

• Current senior statistics: .479 batting average, 68 hits, 10 doubles, five home runs, 0.37 ERA
• 2x Metro player of the year (junior and senior)
• 3x First team All-Metro (sophomore, junior, and senior)
• 3x First team All-Conference (sophomore, junior, and senior – unanimous selection as junior and senior)
• Holds the Cedar Rapids Xavier single season strikeout and career strikeout records
• Currently holds over 900 career strikeouts and 200 career hits

The 2024-25 Big 12 Athlete of the Year nominees will be featured in alphabetical order by school starting Monday, July 14, through Wednesday, July 23, at 11 a.m. CT and 2 p.m. CT.

Each institution nominated one male and one female athlete of any classification who competed for their institution during the 2024-25 school year. Student-athletes were required to be in good academic standing and must have participated in a league-sponsored sport.

The 16 full-membership schools that competed during the 2024-25 academic year are eligible.

The winners will be announced Thursday, July 24. Stay tuned to Big12Sports.com and the league’s social media platforms to see the rest of the candidates.

This morning’s featured candidates are Iowa State’s Jaylin Noel and Rachel Joseph.

Iowa State Male Athlete of the Year Candidate
Jaylin Noel, Football
Sr., Kansas City, Mo.
Accomplishments

• Named Big 12 Co-Special Teams Player of the Year and earned First Team All-Big 12 honors as a kick/punt returner.
• Selected by the Houston Texans in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft (No. 79 overall).
• Delivered one of the best receiving seasons in program history, finishing with 80 receptions for 1,194 yards and eight touchdowns, helping lead ISU to its best season in the program’s 133-year history.
• Member of the Academic All-Big 12 Team and the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll.

Iowa State Female Athlete of the Year Candidate
Rachel Joseph, Track and Field
Jr., Richmond, Texas

• Earned three All-America honors, including two First Team selections after placing fifth at the NCAA Indoor Championships and sixth at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
• Swept the 2025 USTFCCCA Regional Indoor and Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year awards.
• Won both the 2025 Indoor and Outdoor Big 12 titles in the 400 meters, becoming the 10th woman in league history to accomplish the sweep.
• Named a CSC Academic All-American and a First Team Academic All-Big 12 honoree. Represented Iowa State in the Big 12 Beyond Borders program for her leadership and character.

2024-25 Big 12 Athletes of the Year Nominees
Arizona – Colton Smith and Devyn Netz
Arizona State – Cam Skattebo and Kenzie Brown
Baylor – Nathaniel Ezekiel and Alexis Brown
BYU – James Corrigan and Lexy Halladay-Lowry
UCF – RJ Harvey and Hannah Lovejoy
Cincinnati – Kerrington Cross and Joleigh Crye
Colorado – Travis Hunter and Jordan Nytes
Houston – J’Wan Roberts and KeAyla Dove
Iowa State – Jaylin Noel and Rachel Joseph

Former Iowa Hawkeye star Caitlin Clark says on social media she will not participate in the W-N-B-A three-point contest this weekend as she tries to recover from and injury she suffered in Tuesday’s game. Clark is an All-Star captain and also won’t play in the game but says she will still be at the event in Indianapolis where she plays for the Indiana Fever.

After a two-win season in 2024, the ACGC Baseball team finished this season at 10-14. A Charger team led by six seniors showed worlds of improvement as the season went on. Head Coach Nick McCool was very satisfied with how the season went.

McCool believed they had a misleading record to begin based on the strength of schedule.

Outside of the six seniors on the roster, the Chargers had only two juniors and one sophomore. The first-year head coach believes there is tons of younger talent especially in his seven eighth graders he had on the team this year.

One of the eighth-graders, William Skram slashed a .361 average with a .466 on-base percentage which ranked second on the team. Only behind his older brother Tommy, who just finished his junior season. With the guys coming back, McCool complimented the way his team wanted to learn each and every day.

A lot of positives to take away from ACGC’s 2025 season and will search for a winning season in 2026.

A healthy Jeremiah Pittman will be a boost to Iowa’s defensive line heading into next season. Pittman has return to summer workouts after missing spring drills with a knee injury. He had 17 tackles for the Hawkeyes last season while appearing in 13 games.

As a senior Pittman is expected to be one of the leaders on the defensive line.

Pittman says he likes to lead by example.

The Hawkeyes open the season at home against the University of Albany on August 30th.

Iowa basketball coach Ben McCollum says his new roster is learning how to handle the attention that comes from playing at a Big Ten school. Sophomore forward Cooper Koch is the only returning scholarship player from a team that finished 17-16 under former coach Fran McCaffery.

The Hawkeyes were considered winners in the transfer portal, in part because six players off a Drake team that made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament followed McCollum to Iowa. That includes point guard Bennett Stirtz, who was the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year.

McCollum says the focus during summer workouts has been defense and the weight room.