Cyclone boys of summer bring home 3-A championship

 HARLAN -- It was a season to remember for the 2016 Harlan Community baseball team.
 One year after falling just one win short of a state title, the Cyclones made their sixth consecutive trip to Principal Park in late July and left as Class 3-A state champions following a decisive 12-4 win over Carlisle. HCHS reached the final with two-run wins over Sioux City Heelan (8-6) and Solon (7-5) during the first two rounds of the state tournament.
 Buoyed by a high-scoring offense and solid pitching and defense, the Cyclones finished with a 30-5 overall record and also placed second in the Hawkeye Ten Conference to Lewis Central with a mark of 17-3.
 It was a state championship that the veteran team craved most, however, and the Cyclones got the job done by cranking out 13 hits and committing just one error in their title game romp. HCHS earned the school’s 27th state championship overall and the first for a Cyclone boys sport since 2009, erasing some of the sting from last year’s 11-1 title game loss to Waverly-Shell Rock.
 It was the third state baseball title for the program (1996, 2003, 2016) under Hall of Fame coach Steve Daeges, who felt like the experience of his team’s 2015 run to the state finals made this year’s championship possible.