Cyclone softball team wins two of three at Winterset

 WINTERSET (May 29) -- Harlan Community finished with a 2-1 record at last Saturday’s Winterset Softball Tournament, winning by scores of 8-2 over Interstate 35 and 11-0 over Nodaway Valley before losing a nine-inning pitchers duel, 2-1, vs. 10th-ranked (4A) ADM.
HCHS 8, I-35 2 (6 innings)
 Aurora Miller, Jordan Heese and Julia Schechinger combined to drive in eight runs as the 13th-ranked (4A) Cyclones started the day with an 8-2, six-inning win over Interstate 35.
 Heese hit an RBI single in the first and belted her first varsity home run - a two-run shot - in the third to make it 5-1. She finished 2-for-2 with a walk.
 Miller hit an RBI double in the first and had three RBI and two runs scored while Schechinger added a two-run double in the fifth.
 Emily Brouse went 2-for-3 at the plate and her courtesy runner, Madison Kjergaard, stole two bases and scored three times. Brouse also struck out 12 batters in six innings of five-hit ball on the mound.
HCHS 11, Nodaway Valley 0 (5)
 The Cyclones broke open a 3-0 game with eight runs in the bottom of the fourth and finished off Nodaway Valley by the rule, 11-0, in game two of the afternoon.
 Tianna Kasperbauer pitched a five-inning, two-hit shutout with no walks and nine strikeouts and also went 3-for-3 at the plate.
 Kate Heithoff, Kasperbauer, Brouse and Madison Schumacher all singled during Harlan’s two-run third inning and the eight-run fourth included RBI singles from Heithoff and Kasperbauer along with a three-run triple by Schechinger.
 “The girls hit the ball real well in the first two games (with) a total of 21 hits,” said HCHS head coach Toshia Kasperbauer. “Emily and Tianna also did really well at keeping (the opposing) batters off balance in the first couple of games.”
ADM 2, HCHS 1 (9)
 Saturday’s final game turned into a classic pitching duel between Brouse of HCHS and ADM’s Aliya Yanga.
 Yanga retired the first 12 batters of the game before Schumacher walked to open the fifth inning. An error on the next play allowed courtesy runner Madison Kjergaard to score the Cyclones’ only run.
 Brouse blanked the Tigers until the bottom of the seventh when Kaylee Smith’s hit to the outfield was misplayed into a triple. She scored on a fielder’s choice to tie the score and the game went to extra innings.
 With the international rule in play in the ninth, ADM’s runner on second base (Olivia Tollari) advanced to third on a passed ball. Brouse struck out the next batter, then induced a pop-out on a bunt, but an errant throw trying to double Tollario off third allowed her to score the game-winning run.
 Yanga pitched a nine-inning no-hitter with one walk and 12 strikeouts while Brouse threw three-hit ball over eight and two-thirds with one walk and 10 K’s.
 “We could not get our bats going against ADM. I have to give credit to Yanga because she is tough and she was able to keep us off balance the whole nine innings,” Coach Kasperbauer stated.
 “Emily also did a nice job at placing her pitches and keeping them off balance. Unfortunately, it came down to a misplayed ball that tied the game... and then we had an error defensively that gave them the winning run.”