State baseball champs offer helping hand at Miracle Field

 DES MOINES -- Harlan Community’s winning tradition on the baseball diamond has been well-documented, highlighted by 16 state tournament appearances, three state titles - most recently this past August - and three state runner-up finishes since 2008.
 But across the street from Principal Park, where the Cyclones have been playing state tourney games since 2005, another tradition is emerging at the Kiwanis Miracle League. For the second straight year, many members of the HCHS baseball team traveled to Miracle Field on Saturday, Sept. 24, to serve as volunteer “buddies” for children with special needs. They spent about an hour talking and playing baseball with players from The Miracle League, whose Des Moines website affirms that “everyone bats, everyone scores and every game ends in a tie.”
 HCHS team members who made the trip to Des Moines included: Brett Croghan, Nolan Heese, Dillon Sears, Josh Cheek, Nick Foss, Jared Moser, Brett Sears, Jacob Wingert, Jacob Croghan, Will Hoffmann, Dave Hoffmann and Luke Schaben, along with future Cyclone Jonah Cheek.