KIMBALLTON (June 10) -- With three home games on the schedule this week, Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton softball coach Ashton Koehlmoos is hopeful that her team is poised for a consistent stretch of play. So far, so good. Getting a two-hit shutout from freshman pitcher Macy Emgarten, error-free defense behind her and a fast start with the bats, the Spartans blanked Glidden-Ralston 3-0 on Monday for their third victory in four games. They made it f

 IRWIN (June 12) -- The IKM-Manning softball team scored 37 runs over three nights and went 2-1 in Western Iowa Conference games against Tri-Center and Missouri Valley. The Wolves won at T-C 15-4 on Monday, lost to Missouri Valley 12-9 in Irwin Tuesday night and crushed the Trojans 13-1 in three innings here Wednesday. Bianca Cadwell pitched all three games for the Wolves.

 ELK HORN (June 10) -- Sophomore Hunter Andersen pitched a complete game five-hitter for his first varsity win and seniors Cole Burmeister and Dawson Carey both went 3-for-4 as the Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton baseball team beat Glidden-Ralston 5-2 here Monday. Andersen (1-1) took a shutout into the sixth and allowed just two unearned runs, finishing his work in 95 pitches.

 CLARINDA (June 6) -- In 2018, the Harlan Community softball team didn’t crack double digits in the win column until June 21 on its way to a 15-17 campaign. This year’s Cyclones - even with three early-season rainouts - are two weeks ahead of last year’s pace following Thursday’s doubleheader sweep at Clarinda. Led by Morgan Schaben’s big night at the plate as well as the pitching circle, HCHS beat the Cardinals 14-0 in five innings and 9-6, i

 CLARINDA (June 6) -- Isaiah Ahrenholtz drove in four runs in game one and Tyler Schaben pitched the team’s first seven-inning complete game of the year in the night cap Thursday as Harlan Community swept a baseball doubleheader at Clarinda by scores of 12-2 (five innings) and 5-1. The fifth-ranked (3A) Cyclones improved to 9-1 overall and 7-1 in Hawkeye Ten Conference play, good for second place behind Lewis Central.

 AVOCA (June 6) -- The AHSTW baseball team was only able to win one out of four games last week, but sandwiched among three close losses was a 12-2, five-inning win over IKM-Manning that temporarily put the Vikings back to the .500 mark. AHSTW scored six first-inning runs off Wolves’ starter Alex Lingle and continued to add on against reliever Amos Rasmussen in the final four frames, outhitting the visitors 11-4 and improving to 3-3 (all Weste

 AVOCA (June 7) -- Tri-Center scored all seven of its runs in the last three innings Friday night to rally past AHSTW 7-5 in Western Iowa Conference baseball action. The Trojans tied the game with two runs in the top of the fifth before the Vikings answered with three in the bottom half to go up 5-2.

 ELK HORN (June 6) -- Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton responded to a 3-0 deficit in the top of the first by scoring six runs in the bottom of the inning and went on to beat Boyer Valley 12-4 in Rolling Valley Conference baseball action Thursday night. Spartan senior Trey Nelson (1-0) adjusted well after a rocky start on the mound, putting up zeros during his final five innings.

 KIMBALLTON (June 6) -- Mollie Rasmussen’s game-winning walk-off single to right field in the bottom of the seventh capped a late rally by the Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton softball team for a 9-8 win over Boyer Valley Thursday night. The visiting Bulldogs scored four runs in the top of the sixth on four hits and four errors to take an 8-5 lead, but the Spartans plated two runs each in the sixth and the seventh to win it. Alisa Partridge drew a ba

 AVOCA (June 6) -- The AHSTW softball team finished off IKM-Manning in five innings Thursday night, winning 10-0.
   Madison Heiny connected for a three-run double in the fifth inning and Tristin Heiny followed with an RBI single to end the game. Ally Meyers pitched all five innings for the win, allowing four hits and striking out three.

 ATLANTIC (June 4) -- Harlan Community suffered its first conference loss of the season at eighth-ranked (Class 3A) Atlantic last Tuesday, falling just short in a back-and-forth 6-5 grinder featuring four lead changes in a three-inning span. Trailing 2-0 after one, the Cyclones rallied to take a 3-2 lead in the top of the fourth and went ahead 5-4 in the fifth but were unable to hold on against the defending Hawkeye Ten champions, who took the

 ATLANTIC (June 4) -- A 6-0 lead nearly slipped away in the late innings Tuesday night, but the Harlan Community baseball team was able to hold on and escape Atlantic with a 7-5 Hawkeye Ten win. Trailing 6-0, the Trojans mounted a five-run rally in the bottom of the sixth off Cyclone reliever Joey Moser, then loaded the bases in the seventh against Riley Kohles before the game ended on a nice running catch by center fielder Jon Owens. The fift

 HARLAN (June 3) -- The high-scoring Harlan Community bats were finally silenced Monday at Jim Goeser Field as Lewis Central’s Drake Nettles and Easton Dermody combined on a four-hitter and the Titan baseball team held off the fifth-ranked (3A) Cyclones 3-1. After scoring at least eight runs in each of its first six games, HCHS (6-1, 4-1 H-10) managed just four singles and an unearned run off the Titans’ top two pitchers and wasted a golden op

 HARLAN (June 4) -- Madison Schumacher and Emily Brouse both belted a home run and Morgan Schaben pitched a one-hitter with 13 strikeouts Monday as the Harlan Community softball team blew out Lewis Central 10-0 in six innings. HCHS scored three runs in the first inning, tacked on single tallies in the next four frames and finished off LC with a three-run sixth to snap a six-game slide against the struggling Titans, who dropped to 2-8 overall a

 ATLANTIC (June 1) -- Harlan Community finished 3-0 and Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton went 1-2 with a win over Lewis Central at last Saturday’s Atlantic Softball Tournament.HCHS 8, Panorama 2 - The Cyclones trailed 2-1 early but put up crooked numbers in the third inning (2 runs), fourth (3) and sixth (2) to take control. HCHS tallied 13 hits in the contest, including a pair of doubles by Madison Schumacher (3 RBI) and one double each for Kate Hei