1A Semifinals – Thursday, July 26

11:00—#1 Newman Catholic, Mason City (38-1) vs. #4 Martensdale-St. Marys (37-6)

1:30—#2 Lisbon (35-0) vs. #3 North Linn, Troy Mills (41-3)

2A Semifinals – Thursday, July 26

5:00—#6 Centerville (25-7) vs. #2 Wilton (26-5)

7:30—#1 Regina, Iowa City (28-7) vs. #4 Van Meter (30-8)

4A Quarterfinals – Wednesday, July 25

Valley, West Des Moines 5, Waukee 1

Cedar Rapids, Washington 7, Johnston 5

Epworth, Western Dubuque 7, North Scott, Eldridge 4

Urbandale 8, Marshalltown 3

Semifinals – Friday, July 27

5:00 – #2 Urbandale (34-6) vs. #6 Epworth, Western Dubuque (34-9)

7:30—#4 Valley, West Des Moines (28-15) vs. #8 Cedar Rapids, Washington (26-17)

CINCINNATI (AP) — Eugenio Suarez didn’t wait around to get his team going on Wednesday.

Cincinnati’s All-Star third baseman homered for the third straight game, this time in the first inning, Tucker Barnhart added a two-run shot and the Reds powered to a 7-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Adam Duvall also homered for the Reds. Sal Romano (6-8) allowed two runs and seven hits in six innings to give the Reds consecutive series wins over St. Louis for the first time since 2011.

Romano, who hadn’t pitched in 10 days and hadn’t started in 15, was surprisingly sharp with just one walk.

Paul DeJong and Yadier Molina hit solo homers for the Cardinals, who went 3-5 on their eight-game road trip. DeJong homered in the third inning and Molina hit his 14th of the season in the seventh inning.

Molina flied out with the bases loaded and St. Louis trailing 5-3 in the eighth. The Cardinals were 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and had 11 runners left on base.

Suarez tied Monday’s game with a two-out solo homer in the ninth inning and Tuesday’s game with a two-out, two-run, seventh-inning shot.

The Cardinals had rookie starters each go deep without allowing a hit in the first two games of the series. The Reds went 7 1/3 innings without a hit on Monday and 6 1/3 without a hit on Tuesday.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP Luke Weaver (5-9) has lasted exactly four innings in each of his previous three starts against the Cubs.

(Radio Iowa) — The Better Business Bureau is advising Iowans to be cautious when signing up for themed races or “fun runs” this summer. Bureau spokesman Dan Hendrickson says most of the runs go off without a hitch, but in recent years, some have been rescheduled, postponed or even canceled.

“The problem with this is, many of these races — it’s right on the website when you sign up — there are no refunds or there’s a no-refund policy,” Hendrickson says. “So people really need to be aware that this is a thing and they need to do some research before signing up.” Hendrickson says don’t be fooled by a fancy website. Confirm with the local venue the event is on and pay by credit card.

He says, “You want to research them at bbb.org and then you also want to look at customer reviews and see if cancellations or postponed races have been an issue in the past.” Hendrickson also suggests you contact the city where the event is scheduled to make sure it has the required permits.

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast with Chris Parks.

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Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz says he is ready for the talking to be over the preseason practice to begin. Ferentz addressed Big Ten Media Day in Chicago and big things are expected from quarterback Nate Stanley, only the second junior Ferentz has taken to Media Day.

Ferentz says Stanley is also the second junior he has had be elected a captain.

The biggest hole on offense is at center where James Daniels left early for the NFL. Senior Keegan Render moved over to center during spring drills.

Iowa has found success with a number of players who moved to a different position in college. Senior defensive end Parker Hesse (hess-ee) was a quarterback and linebacker as a standout at Waukon.

Junior tight end Noah Fant has received plenty of preseason recognition and Ferentz says he continues to make progress.

The Hawkeyes open September first at home against Northern Illinois.

CINCINNATI (AP) — Austin Gomber was ready to start the bottom of the seventh, still working on a no-hitter, when a siren sounded and lights started flashing. Great American Ball Park’s fire alarm had malfunctioned.

That was a new one for the Cardinals’ rookie left-hander, who got an unexpected 7-minute, 30-second break.

Gomber lost his no-hitter and his shutout after the alarm was silenced in the seventh inning, but Dexter Fowler hit a two-run shot in the 11th on Tuesday night, leading the St. Louis Cardinals to a 4-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.

For the second straight night, a Cardinals rookie went deep into the game without allowing a hit. Daniel Poncedeleon threw no-hit ball for seven innings in his major league debut Monday before the Reds rallied against Norris for a 2-1 win featuring Eugenio Suarez’s homer.

Joey Votto singled with one out for the Reds’ first hit, and Suarez followed with his 21st homer, ending the rookie’s debut as a starter. Gomber made 15 relief appearances this season before the Cardinals sent him to Triple-A to get in shape to help their depleted rotation. He threw 90 pitches in his first major league start.

Mired in a season-long slump, Fowler connected off left-hander Amir Garrett (0-2) for only his second homer while batting right-handed. Fowler is batting .179 overall.

Sam Tuivailala (3-3) escaped a two-on threat in the 10th. Bud Norris got his 19th save in 22 chances, one night after he took a loss.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: Jack Flaherty (4-4) makes his fourth career start against the Reds. He made the shortest start of his career last Sept. 19 at Great American Ball Park, lasting only two innings.

Reds: Sal Romano (5-8) has faced the Cardinals twice, with the Reds losing both games.

Class 4A Quarterfinals – Wednesday, July 25

11:00—#4 Valley, West Des Moines (27-15) vs. #5 Waukee (29-11)

1:30—#1 Johnston (34-5) vs. #8 Cedar Rapids, Washington (25-17)

5:00—#3 North Scott, Eldridge (28-10) vs. #6 Epworth, Western Dubuque (33-9)

7:30—#2 Urbandale (33-6) vs. #7 Marshalltown (20-18)

Former Atlantic golf star Brooke Newell took 4th place at the Iowa Women’s Amatuer Golf Tournament on Saturday. Brooke shot a three day total +22 238 at Spirit Hollow Golf Club in Burlington. The University of Nebraska redshirt freshman shot rounds of 79, 83, and 76.

The tournament was won by Indiana State University junior Sierra Hargens who finished with a +12 228 for the tournament.

The Southwest Iowa Swarm softball teams turned in some good performances at the Iowa Games this past weekend.

Their are four age divisions that compete for the invite only teams. The team is organized by Trevor Gipple and he said the teams have three coaches for each age group and they all pitch in to coach the entire program.

At the Iowa Games the 8-U team played up into the 10-U bracket and gained some good experience. The 10-U team placed 4th out of 12 teams. The 12-U team finished 3rd. The 14U team placed 2nd.

The older teams will scrimmage some other select teams from here.