HCHS softball team tops Crusaders in eight innings

 SIOUX CITY (July 1) -  Harlan Community scored two go-ahead runs in the top of the sixth and plated two more in the eighth Monday night to outlast Sioux City Heelan 4-2 in an extra-inning non-conference softball game.
 HCHS improved to 25-6 with its ninth win in the last 10 games while the Crusaders dropped to 15-13.
 With the score tied at 2-2, the international tiebreaker was used in the eighth as both teams started with a runner at second base. Kate Heithoff was placed on second for the Cyclones and scored two batters later on a passed ball. Aurora Miller, who reached on an error, scored the second run on Morgan Schaben’s ground out to third base.
 Down two runs, Heelan bunted its free runner over to third before freshman Tianna Kasperbauer struck out the next two batters to end the game and earn her sixth win. Kasperbauer (6-0) retired all eight batters she faced (four on strikeouts) after relieving Schaben with the bases loaded and one out in the sixth inning.
 Schaben finished with 10 strikeouts and seven walks in five and a third innings, allowing just two hits. She did her best damage control in the fourth, escaping a bases-loaded jam unscathed after the inning began with runners at second and third and nobody out.
 The Cyclones outhit the Crusaders 4-2 on the night, led by Miller’s two hits and two run scored. Julia Schechinger and Miranda Goetz both added a single.
Lo-Ma game cancelled
 A heavy downpour shortly before first pitch forced the cancellation of Harlan’s JV-Varsity games at Logan-Magnolia on Tuesday.