IRWIN (July 9) -- With an inning to go in Monday’s Class 2A, Region 3 softball final, it appeared that IKM-Manning’s veteran squad might have the young Earlham Cardinals right where it wanted them. Still trailing by a run, 4-3, the 2nd-rated Wolves had the heart of their order due up in the bottom of the seventh, needing just three outs to set up their chance for a state-clinching walkoff win. The 15th-rated Cardinals, though, had other ideas

HCHS 4, Des Moines Roosevelt 1 DES MOINES (July 10) -- Senior Jacob Bartley pitched his third straight complete game and had arguably his best outing of the season Tuesday as the Cyclones won 4-1 at Des Moines Roosevelt (15-22). Bartley (6-0) tossed a seven-hitter, walked two and struck out five, following up his 71-pitch performance against Shenandoah last week with an 87-pitch gem against the Class 4A Roughriders. Offensively, Jared Moser ba

 IRWIN (July 6) -- Same round, same town, same teams. And just like two years ago, Panorama came to play for Friday night’s Class 2A regional semifinal at 2nd-ranked IKM-Manning. This time the Wolves were ready too, producing big two-out runs in the early innings, making timely defensive plays behind senior pitcher Peyton Gross and pulling away late to beat the upset-minded Panthers 8-1 at the Irwin softball diamond. Panorama, which finished 1

 GLENWOOD (July 5) -- Harlan Community softball coach Brooke Schaben liked her team’s chances going into Thursday’s Class 4A first round regional game at Glenwood, and history was on her side. On June 14, the Cyclones split a Hawkeye Ten doubleheader against the Rams, totaling double-digit hits against Glenwood pitcher Sydney Biermann in a 10-1 game-one victory. Biermann was also the Rams’ starting pitcher on Thursday, but the difference in re

 LE MARS (July 6) -- Winning 4-0 and 14-9, Harlan Community swept a non-conference baseball doubleheader at Le Mars on Friday, improving to 25-3 with three games left in the regular season. The top-ranked (Class 3A) Cyclones got a combined four-hit shutout from Brett Sears and Riley Kohles in game one, then stormed out to a 13-3 lead and hit seven doubles in the night cap. Le Mars, which has now lost six straight games and 11 out of 15, droppe

 HARLAN (July 5) -- Senior Jacob Bartley used just 71 pitches to hurl a two-hit shutout here Thursday as the Harlan Community baseball team put the finishing touches on its second straight Hawkeye Ten Conference title with an 8-0 win over Shenandoah. HCHS, which won the H-10 crown by two games each over St.

   HARLAN -- The Class 3A, District 15 baseball games for tonight (Friday, July 13) at Jim Goeser Field in Harlan have been postponed due to rain and rescheduled for Saturday, July 14.
   Denison-Schleswig vs. Atlantic will now start at 4:00 p.m. Saturday, followed by Harlan Community vs. Carroll at approximately 6:00 p.m.

 DES MOINES -- Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton fell one run short against Grand View Christian last Tuesday night (July 3), losing 3-2 in a Class 1A regional softball quarterfinal. The Spartans finished the season at 13-9 overall while the Thunder (17-10) advanced to the Region 7 semifinals and lost to Glidden-Ralston in 10 innings Friday, 9-8. Trailing 3-1 after three, the Spartans scored a run in the fifth but were unable to get the game tied vs.

 UNDERWOOD (July 3) -- AHSTW got the start it wanted last Tuesday, but was unable to finish in a Class 2A regional softball quarterfinal game at Underwood. Trailing 3-0 at the halfway point, the host Eagles tied the score with three runs in the bottom of the fourth and added three unearned runs in the fifth to end the Lady Vikes’ season 6-3. Underwood improved to 16-8 and advanced to Friday night’s Region 2 semifinal at No.