Schaben tosses second no-hitter; Cyclones win 10-0

 HARLAN (June 19) -- One week after playing eight varsity softball games in six days, Harlan Community finally returned to the diamond Wednesday night on the heels of a rare Monday off and a Tuesday rainout at Lewis Central.
 Facing an opponent that didn’t offer much resistance, the Cyclones shook off any lingering rust to score a 10-0, six-inning win over Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln at H. Jack Field.
 HCHS senior Morgan Schaben pitched her second no-hitter in nine days and drove in four runs at the plate while Kate Heithoff, Aurora Miller and Julia Schechinger had three hits each for the 14th-ranked (4A) Cyclones, now 17-5 overall.
 The Lynx, who did not hit a ball out of the infield until Brianna Schiller’s fly out to center in the sixth, were outhit 15-0 and dropped to 3-17 on the season.
 “This has been a really weird week... It seemed like last week we just went until we got burned out and this week we’ve just been waiting and waiting and waiting,” said HCHS coach Brooke Wilson. “I felt like it took a little bit mentally for the girls to wake up, but we still hit (the ball well)."
 Schaben (14-5) struck out 11 Lynx while working around four walks and one hit batsman. She fanned the side in order in both the first and third innings, taking advantage of a somewhat generous upper half of the zone with both her riseball and changeup. Six of her 11 Ks came on called third strikes.
 Offensively, Heithoff and Miller set the tone at the top of the lineup, combining for three infield singles and both going 3-for-4 with three runs scored. Julia Schechinger, also 3-for-4, notched the team’s only extra-base hits of the night with a pair of RBI doubles off the fence in left-center, narrowly missing home runs.
 Schaben finished with four RBI, including a first-inning sacrifice fly and run-scoring singles in her last two at-bats. Jordan Heese also had a two-hit game while Madison Schumacher and Tianna Kasperbauer both added a single.