Local News

Sweeney placed on DL with rib injury

SEATTLE - The Chicago Cubs placed Ryan Sweeney on the 15-day disabled list Sunday and he is expected to miss at least the next six weeks after fracturing a rib while making a catch in Saturday night's game between the Cubs and Seattle Mariners.

Sweeney was injured making a third-inning catch of a Kendry Morales fly ball to center field. Sweeney caught the drive on the warning track and then appeared to glance off the outfield fence. Initial x-rays Saturday night were negative for a fracture. A CT scan on Sunday, however, showed the break.

"It felt like a brick wall," Sweeney told Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune before Sunday's game between the Cubs and Mariners. "I probably grabbed my side because I felt it jolt a little bit. I feel like I've hit that wall before and it wasn't that hard. It must have just hit me in the (wrong) spot."

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Play It Again Sports joins MSR Classic

Play It Again Sports of Cedar Rapids has agreed to serve as the title sponsor for the Metro Sports Report boys basketball event that will be held Nov. 30 at Kirkwood Community College.

Play It Again Sports, located in the Town & Country Shopping Center along 1st Avenue NE, is the only locally owned and operated sporting goods store in Cedar Rapids.

Gabe Loesch and his father, Steve Loesch, purchased the company on April 1. They celebrated their Grand Re-Opening last week with more equipment for sale and a new look.

Play It Again Sports features merchandise, equipment and clothes in a wide variety of sports. They are looking to expand even further.

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Tough brackets for Metro softball teams

If the Metro area is to have a representative in the Class 5A state softball tournament, that team is going to have to fight its way through one of the top three ranked teams in the state.

The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union released the pairings for next month's regional tournaments on Monday and did no favors for the five Class 5A teams in the Metro.

Xavier, on the other hand, will get two games at home in the Class 4A tournament, giving the Saints a hand up in their bid for a state tourney berth.

Dates for the Class 5A and 4A regional tournaments are July 11 (quarterfinals), July 13 (semifinals) and July 16 (finals).

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Prairie eyes No.1 seed for baseball playoffs

Cedar Rapids Prairie appears to be in good shape to grab a No.1 seed for the Class 4A substate baseball tournament that begins July 19.

The Hawks (17-6) have been grouped in Substate No.3 with Xavier (14-9), Cedar Falls (13-8), Marshalltown (9-10), Waterloo West (5-16) and Waterloo East (2-18).

The seedings deadline is June 29, so Prairie has a fairly comfortable lead with one week left for a team to build its resume. The seedings will be based on a team's record as of June 29, or they will be based on a team's first 30 games.

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