KIMBALLTON (July 17) -- The Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton softball team earned another crack at Newell-Fonda here Friday, moving within one game of the state tournament with a 6-2, Class 1A regional semifinal win over West Harrison. The 9th-ranked Spartans took control with a five-run third inning and got a four-hitter and 13 strikeouts from ace pitcher Macy Emgarten, improving their unbeaten record to 15-0. They advanced to Monday night’s Region

 ONAWA (July 15) -- For the second straight year, AHSTW’s softball season came to an end at the hands of West Monona. The fifth-ranked Spartans (19-1) got a three-hitter from senior pitcher Lexi Lander and used a four-run fourth inning to down the Lady Vikes 6-1 Wednesday night in a Class 2A regional quarterfinal.

 COUNCIL BLUFFS (July 14) -- St. Albert followed up a five-run third inning with nine runs in the fourth and finished off Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton 16-2 in a five-inning Class 1A district baseball semifinal last Tuesday night. The third-ranked Falcons (19-1) advanced to Saturday’s District 14 final and won big again, beating up Sidney 16-1 in four to earn a spot in Tuesday’s Substate 7 final against CAM (15-2).

 KIMBALLTON (July 15) -- You can throw out the records at tournament time. It’s no doubt an old sports cliché, but the Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton softball team nearly experienced the harsh reality of that phrase Wednesday night before making a dramatic rally to save their unbeaten season. Trailing Griswold 4-2 and down to their final out with a runner on third, the ninth-ranked Spartans got an RBI single from senior Kami Waymire, a double by se

 IRWIN (July 13) -- Down 3-0 after three innings Monday night, the AHSTW softball team refused to bow to the pressures of tournament time in its Class 2A regional opener at IKM-Manning. Both teams put the ball in play consistently all night with 18 total hits and just two strikeouts, but it was the Lady Vikes who stayed steady on defense and used two big innings to rally past the Wolves 8-4. AHSTW, which defeated IKM-Manning 12-1 just 11 days

 HARLAN (July 15) -- The Harlan Community baseball team will ride a six-game winning streak into postseason play following a pair of non-conference home wins earlier this week. HCHS defeated Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln 11-3 on Tuesday night and held off Thomas Jefferson 9-7 on Wednesday, finishing the regular season with a 13-3 record.

 HARLAN (July 13) -- The Harlan Community softball team completed its regular season on a good note here Monday night, bashing 13 hits and using two big innings to win 9-2 over Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson. Listed 14th in the final Class 4A rankings of the year, the Cyclones (14-4) will now have four days off to prepare for Saturday’s regional semifinal in Harlan against either Glenwood (8-5) or Lewis Central (11-7).

 DENISON (July 10) -- Connor Bruck outdueled Evan Turin with a one-hitter Friday afternoon as Harlan Community blanked Denison-Schleswig 1-0 in non-conference baseball action. The game was originally scheduled for Thursday night but was postponed due to wet grounds. HCHS, which beat the Monarchs 2-0 in last month’s Hawkeye Ten matchup, has allowed just one hit and zero runs in two games against D-S this season.

 DENISON (July 9) -- The Harlan Community softball team endured another rough start on Thursday night, but this time recovered nicely to post an 11-3 win at Denison-Schleswig. Madison Schumacher’s three-run homer blew the game open during a five-run fourth inning and the pitching combo of Tianna Kasperbauer and Emily Brouse piled up 12 strikeouts as the 15th-ranked (4A) Cyclones bounced back from losses of 11-8 at Creston and 11-0 at Dallas Ce

 DALLAS CENTER (July 7) -- Fifth-ranked (4A) Dallas Center-Grimes erupted for 10 runs on 10 hits in the third inning last Tuesday night to hand the Harlan Community softball team an 11-0, five-inning loss. The Fillies (14-7 overall) capped their 10-run outburst with two-run homers by Elle Nelsen and eighth-grader Aubrey Johansen and also had four doubles among their 12 hits off Cyclone starter Emily Brouse (7-3).

 COUNCIL BLUFFS (July 11) -- The wins have been hard to come by this summer for an Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton baseball team with just one senior, so Saturday’s postseason victory over Fremont-Mills was plenty satisfying for the young Spartans. Junior ace Tyler Petersen struck out 12 in a complete game six-hitter and Exira-EHK used nine walks and nine stolen bases to chip away offensively for a 7-4 Class 1A district quarterfinal win over the Kni

 CLARINDA (July 11) -- AHSTW’s baseball season ended in disappointing fashion Saturday afternoon with a 15-0, four-inning loss to Treynor in the first round of Class 2A district tournament play. The Cardinals led 3-0 after two innings, then turned the game into a rout by scoring five runs in the third and seven more (six unearned) in the fourth as the Vikings committed four errors. The Vikings (5-5) managed just two singles in four innings off

 AUDUBON (July 11) -- Down to its last out, Boyer Valley plated five runs in the top of the seventh inning to stun the IKM-Manning baseball team 8-7 in Saturday’s Class 1A district quarterfinal game played at Audubon. The Wolves took a 7-3 lead by scoring six times in the fourth inning and seemed in good shape when Conner Richards struck out the first two Bulldog hitters in the seventh. Hunter Soma’s solo home run gave Boyer Valley some moment

 IRWIN (July 8) -- The ninth-ranked Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton softball team will enter the postseason as the only unbeaten team remaining in Class 1A. The Spartans improved to 13-0 last Wednesday, scoring six runs in the top of the seventh to cap an 11-3 non-conference win at IKM-Manning (3-10). Following a first round bye on Monday, Exira-EHK will host either CAM or Griswold in a Region 2 quarterfinal game Wednesday at 5:00 p.m.

 MANILLA (July 7) -- Considering that his team was playing its first game in 12 days - on just one practice - IKM-Manning head baseball coach Cory McCarville felt pretty good about the Wolves’ 7-3 home win over Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton here Tuesday. IKM-M fell behind twice - 1-0 in the third and 3-2 in the fifth - but responded with a two-spot both times and added three insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth.