HCHS win streak ends in split vs. Raiders

 SIOUX CITY -- Harlan Community’s unbeaten start to 2017 and its 24-game winning streak overall came to an end last Wednesday (June 21) as Sioux City East split a doubleheader with the Cyclone baseball team. The Black Raiders won 4-2 in game one before HCHS took the night cap 12-4 in a game shortened to six innings.
 The loss was Harlan’s first since a 6-3 setback vs. Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson in last year’s regular-season finale. The Cyclones won their next six games en route to the Class 3-A state championship and started this season 18-0. The split left Sioux City East at 9-13 overall.
Game 1 recap:
 The Black Raiders took a 2-0 lead in the third inning and were able to hang on for the 4-2 victory in game one.
 HCHS outhit East 6-5, including four hits for extra bases. Ryan Doran went 2-for-2 with a triple, one walk and one RBI to lead the offense. Jared Moser also tripled and drove in a run while Dillon Sears and Nick Foss both doubled and scored.
Game 2 recap:
 Sioux City East scored three runs in the fourth inning to take a 3-2 lead, but the Cyclones responded with a 10-run fifth and beat the Raiders 12-4 in game two.
 Harlan’s 17-hit attack saw all nine starters hit safely and there were six extra-base hits. Moser (triple, 3 RBI, 2 runs) and Brett Sears (2 doubles, 1 RBI, 1 run) both went 3-for-4 to lead the way. Joshua Cheek, Doran, Kyle Schmitz and Connor Bruck, meanwhile, all batted 2-for-3, with Cheek and Bruck both driving in two runs and Schmitz scoring twice. One of Cheek’s hits was a double. Dillon Sears tripled and scored two runs, Foss doubled and had three RBI and Logan Klaassen added a single.
 Cheek improved to 4-0 on the mound, allowing eight hits and just two earned runs over six innings.