Friday June 5th Local Sports

TONIGHT:
AM-1490/96.7-FM KRIB, kribam.com — 2015 Class 2A state baseball championship game — Clear Lake vs. Columbus of Waterloo — 7:00

BELMOND — The director of the Iowa Department of Education says baseball and softball players in the Belmond-Klemme and Eagle Grove school districts can play for any other school in the state this summer as long as those programs will accept them. The Belmod-Klemme and Eagle Grove school boards recently voted to not hold summer sports seasons because of concerns about the high number of coronavirus cases in Wright County. Department of Education director Ann Lebo ruled on Thursday that participation requirements for student-athletes from those districts would be waived for the 2020 summer sports season. Her ruling also says: the players can go anywhere, but no school is required to accept them; the cost of transportation from the student-athlete’s home to their new team would fall on the student-athlete and their family; a student-athlete’s competition for a host school would not impact that school’s classification status; and that the student-athlete must return to their original school district after the season or they would be declared ineligible.

NEW YORK (AP) — Baseball players reaffirmed their stance for full prorated pay, leaving a huge gap with teams that could scuttle plans to start the coronavirus-delayed season around the Fourth of July and may leave owners focusing on a schedule as short as 50 games. More than 100 players, including the union’s executive board, held a two-hour digital meeting with officials of the Major League Baseball Players Association, a day after their offer was rejected by Major League Baseball.

ST. PAUL (AP) — The NHL cleared the way for players to return to practice rinks next week and firmed up its playoff format even as a ninth player tested positive for the coronavirus. Teams can reopen facilities and players can take part in voluntary workouts starting Monday. It’s another step toward hockey returning this summer. Earlier in the day, the league announced every playoff series will be a best-of-seven after the qualifying round and teams will be re-seeded along the way instead of bracketing. The Minnesota Wild are included in the qualifying round and would meet the No.7 Vancouver Canucks as the 10th seed in the Western Conference. That news came on the heels of the Pittsburgh Penguins revealing one of their players tested positive for the coronavirus and has recovered from COVID-19. That brings the total of NHL players testing positive to nine.

IOWA CITY — The Iowa Board of Regents has approved construction of a new women’s soccer complex at the University of Iowa. Senior Vice President of Finance Rob Lehnertz says the $3.9 million project will include a new two-story, 84 hundred square foot facility.

Lehnertz says the project is expected to take just over a year to complete.

The UI soccer team currently utilizes space for locker rooms and offices at a remote location from the soccer field, the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Complex.