HCHS answers late Monarch rally, wins district final 10-5

 HARLAN (July 16) -- On a night when Harlan Community committed three throwing errors and four all told, the biggest defensive play of the game involved two perfect relays that stifled Denison-Schleswig’s rapidly-gaining momentum.
 Three-run home runs by seniors Jared Moser and Nick Foss also proved pivotal as the top-ranked Cyclones held off a late-game Monarch charge to win 10-5 in Monday’s Class 3A, District 15 baseball final at Jim Goeser Field.
 HCHS, which saw a 7-0 lead after three innings cut to 7-5 in the sixth, improved to 30-3 and advanced to play Winterset in Wednesday’s Substate 8 final. Denison-Schleswig’s third loss of the year to Harlan dropped its final record to 17-19 and ended the career of retiring coach Don Lyons, who spent 30 of his 37 seasons guiding the Monarchs.
 “Believe it or not, it was just a little bit emotional for me because I really think (Lyons) does a great job,” said 25th-year HCHS coach Steve Daeges. “We talked a little bit after the game and I said, ‘It’s been great competing against you.’ We battle hard when we play. We’re kind of like kids between the lines - we get after it - and off the field we respect each other a lot.”
 An emotional Lyons was proud of his team for fighting back from a rough start.
 “They had every opportunity to throw in the towel, down 7-0, and they didn’t,” he said. “They battled back, showed a lot of pride. We gave ourselves an opportunity and that’s all you can ask for. If that’s the number one team in the state, we’re not too far behind.”
 After stranding five runers in scoring position during the first four innings, Denison started its comeback in the fifth on Jade Magnuson’s two-out, three-run bomb to left-center field. Drew Polzin added a solo shot leading off the sixth against Cyclone sophomore pitcher Connor Bruck and suddenly it was 7-4.
 The Monarch eight and nine hitters, Nathan Gallup and Dawson Dorhout, then hit a one-out single and a double, respectively, bringing Jaden Langenfeld to the plate as the potential tying run. Langenfeld hit a sacrfice fly to right that was plenty deep to score Gallup, but Dorhout also tagged and tried to advance from second to third. The decision proved costly as senior right fielder Logan Klaassen made an accurate throw to cutoff man Ryan Doran, who fired a strike to Joey Moser at third for the inning-ending tag out.
 The Cyclones got some breathing room back in the bottom of the sixth when Foss jacked a three-run homer to left-center off Jack Mendlik, who started the inning by plunking both Jared Moser and Doran.

3A District Baseball Final
HCHS 10, Denison 5
Denison -- 0    0    0    0    3    2    0 --- 5R    9H    0E
HCHS -- 2    2    3    0    0    3    x --- 10R    8H    4E
Harlan Community Batting
                         AB    R    H    BI    SB    BB
Jared Moser, c    3    2    1    3    0    0
R. Doran, 1b       0    3    0    0    0    2
B. Sears, ss        4    2    2    1    0    0
N. Foss, cf          3    1    2    4    0    0
L. Schaben, 2b   3    0    0    1    0    1
C. Bruck, p         3    0    0    0    0    0
 K. Lasher, cr     0    0    0    0    0    0
L. Klaassen, rf    3    0    0    1    0    0
J. Bartley, dh     3    1    1    0    0    0
 J. Owens, lf      0    0    0    0    0    0
Joey Moser, 3b  3    1    2    0    0    0
TOTALS           25    10    8    10    0    3
 2B: Sears, Foss. 3B: None. HR: Ja. Moser (2), Foss (5). HBP: Doran 2, Ja. Moser, Foss, Bruck, Klaassen.
Harlan Community Pitching
                          IP    H    R    ER    BB    K
Bruck (W, 8-0)    7    9    5    5    1    5
Bruck hit 1 batter.