HCHS thumps Denison for 4-1 H-10 start

 DENISON -- The Harlan Community softball team improved its Hawkeye Ten Conference record to 4-1 on Thursday night with an 11-3 win at Denison-Schleswig.
 Outside of Denison’s three-run fifth inning, HCHS pitcher Emily Brouse was in full command in a complete game, 10-strikeout performance. Brouse (5-2) allowed five hits and did not walk a batter.
 Offensively, the 14th-rated (4A) Cyclones (7-2 overall) took control with three runs in the third and five more in the fourth, leading 9-0 after four and a half innings.
 Tianna Kasperbauer delivered a two-run single in the third and finished with a game-high three RBI. Brouse hit an RBI double in the fourth, which included a mix of walks, hits, passed balls and two D-S errors. Jordan Heese led off the the fifth with a double and pinch-runner Teya Frohlich scored on Aurora Miller’s sacrifice fly.
 Cyclone leadoff batter Kate Heithoff singled once and led the team with three runs scored while Miller (one hit) and Miranda Goetz both scored twice.
 HCHS had just six hits as a team but made the most of six walks and four Monarch errors.
 Denison, which got RBI hits from Emma Mendenhall and Kaitlyn Bruhn in the fifth, suffered its first conference defeat of the year in falling to 4-3 overall and 3-1 in the league.
HCHS 2-1 in Atlantic
 The Cyclones won two out of three games at Saturday’s Atlantic Trojan Tournament, posting wins of 11-1 over Exira-EHK and 11-0 vs. AHSTW while losing 3-1 to Carroll.