Thursday June 16th Local Sports

TONIGHT:
AM-1300 KGLO — Mason City High vs. Fort Dodge — game one 5:00, game two follows

SEATTLE (AP) — Ryan Jeffers hit an RBI single off the center-field wall to break a scoreless tie in the seventh inning and the Minnesota Twins went on to beat the Seattle Mariners 5-0. Twins starter Sonny Gray, making his first appearance since going on the injured list with a strained pectoral muscle on June 2, threw five shutout innings. He allowed just three hits on 65 pitches, with three strikeouts. Five Twins relievers then completed the combined five-hitter. Minnesota clinched its its first series victory over the Mariners since 2019.

MASON CITY — A number of high school baseball and softball games that were scheduled for last night were postponed due to wet field conditions after Wednesday’s heavy rainfall. A few games did get played:

== baseball
Ankeny Centennial 9-10, Mason City High 0-0
Newman vs. North Butler — postponed, doubleheader tonight starting at 5:30
Hampton-Dumont-CAL at Clear Lake — postponed, makeup TBA
Forest City 7, Garner-Hayfield-Ventura 4
North Union 18, North Iowa 9

== softball
Ankeny Centennial 12-12, Mason City 0-0
Newman vs. North Butler — postponed, makeup TBA
Hampton-Dumont-CAL at Clear Lake — postponed, makeup on Friday night
Algona 9, Clarion-Goldfield-Dows 0
North Union 23, North Iowa 0

IOWA CITY — As summer workouts begin for the Iowa basketball team Matt Gatens begins working for the program he played for in the city he grew up in. Fran McCaffery named Gatens a new assistant coach last week. He replaces the retiring Kirk Speraw.

Gatens spent the past four seasons at Drake where he was part of the turnaround of the Bulldog program under coach Darian DeVries.

Gatens also had a stop at Auburn and says he always thought about the possibility of one day returning to Iowa.

Gatens will work with a team that has several key players back from last year’s squad that won the Big Ten Tournament

AMES — Anthony Johnson is ready to step into a new role for Iowa State. Johnson has started every game for the Cyclones the past three years at corner but the redshirt senior moved to safety during spring drills. The move should help offset the loss of Greg Eisworth and Craig McDonald.

Johnson admits he was nervous about the move at first.

Despite several key losses on defense, Johnson says the Cyclones are motivated to maintain their level of play.

ISU is coming off a 7-6 record and will open September 3rd at home against Southeast Missouri.

NEW YORK — Former Iowa standout Dane Belton is using this summer to get familiar with the New York Giants’ defense. Belton was drafted by the Giants in the fourth round after registering five interceptions for the Hawkeyes.

Belton says while the style of defense is different, the communication is much the same.

Belton played the “cash” position at Iowa, a hybrid safety and linebacker. He says that experience helped make him more versatile.

The Giants finished last in the NFC East this past season with a 4-13 record.

MASON CITY — The North Iowa Bulls targeted goaltending and scoring with their turn in the 2022 North American Hockey League Draft. The Bulls selected a pair of goaltenders with their first and last picks of the day — Mitchell Day of St. Louis was the top pick who won 29 games in the junior ranks in New Hampshire last season, while Cedar Rapids native Erik Chaffe was chosen with the team’s fifth round pick after earning 15 wins with the Mason City Toros. Also in the NAHL Draft, Mason City native Nik Howell, who had nine goals and 18 assists in his first season of junior hockey last year and played his first NAHL game with the Bulls in late January, was selected in the sixth round by Chippewa.