FONDA (July 7) -- Talk about peaking at the right time. The St. Edmond softball team entered postseason play last week with a record of 9-17 and defeats in six of its last seven games. Five nights and three wins later, the Gaels are one step away from the state tournament. Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton became St.

 HARLAN (July 6) -- In a season marked by inexperience and growing pains, the 2017 Harlan Community softball team mixed flashes of potential with youthful mistakes in a constant battle to get over the hump. The same could be said about Thursday’s Class 4-A regional quarterfinal game vs.

 TREYNOR (July 5) -- AHSTW fought gamely but ultimately came up short in last Wednesday’s Class 2-A regional quarterfinal softball game at Treynor, losing 6-4 in nine innings when Sydni Huisman delivered a two-out, two-run single for the Cardinals. The Lady Vikes trailed by two in the seventh and were down to their final out when Katie Anzalone (error) and Paige Osweiler (single) both reached safely and scored on another Treynor error to tie t

 IRWIN (July 5) -- Two different times the IKM-Manning softball team rallied back to tie Missouri Valley here Wednesday night, but the Wolves were unable to get the big hit they needed to take a lead. In the end, 12 stranded IKM-M base runners proved to be the biggest difference as the Lady Reds scored three late runs to knock off the 15th-rated Wolves, 6-3, in a Class 2-A regional quarterfinal between Western Iowa Conference foes. The final o

 GLIDDEN (July 5) -- The Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton softball team is back in familiar territory, posting tournament wins and poised to reach its fifth regional final in six years with just one more victory. The Spartans (16-10 overall) handled their business again Wednesday with an 8-4 win over Audubon in the Class 1-A, Region 3 quarterfinal held at Glidden. They will now face an upstart Fort Dodge St.

 KIMBALLTON (July 3) -- When last week’s Senior Night game was rained out, the Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton softball team rescheduled the recognition ceremony to follow Monday’s Class 1-A regional opener vs.

 AVOCA -- For the second straight season, the AHSTW softball team opened Class 2-A regional play in Avoca with a mid-game rally and ultimately a comfortable win over Southwest Valley. Last year, the Lady Vikes trailed 5-3 after three innings before rallying to beat the Timberwolves 9-5. On Monday night (July 3), AHSTW was down 4-3 in the fourth when Katie Anzalone’s two-run home run - the team’s first of the year - changed the momentum of the

 HARLAN -- Playing its first full game in nearly a week, Harlan Community scored four first-inning runs and held off Dallas Center-Grimes 5-3 here Wednesday night (July 5) in non-conference baseball action. The No. 2-ranked (3-A) Cyclones improved to 25-2 overall going into Thursday’s makeup game vs.

 HARLAN -- Eleven Harlan Community boys and girls soccer players were recognized on the 2017 Hawkeye Ten All-Conference Soccer teams released in June. The list includes eight players from the Cyclone boys team which set a school record for wins this past season, going 15-3 overall, and tied Lewis Central and Denison-Schleswig for the conference title with a 6-1 record, its first share of a Hawkeye Ten crown since 2010. The Cyclone girls, meanw

 NEOLA -- The most important meeting is still to come between the IKM-Manning and Missouri Valley softball teams, but Friday’s regular-season rubber match should certainly give the Wolves a confidence boost going into Class 2-A regional play. Showcasing an impressive mix of small ball and timely extra-base hits, IKM-M took an early 4-0 lead and added on four insurance runs in the fifth inning to beat the Lady Reds 8-2 in Friday’s Western Iowa

 NEOLA -- The Western Iowa Conference Softball Tournament semifinal between IKM-Manning and Treynor ended via forfeit Thursday night (June 29) when strong thunderstorms suspended play after three innings. IKM-M led 2-1 when the game was stopped and Treynor opted to forfeit rather than returning to Tri-Center Friday night.

 AUDUBON -- The Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton softball team finished the regular season on Saturday (July 1) with a 14-1, four-inning win at Audubon and took an overall record of 14-10 into Monday’s Class 1-A regional opener vs. CAM. With a win on Monday, the Spartans will face either Glidden-Ralston or Audubon in Wednesday’s regional quarterfinal round (at Glidden, 5:30 p.m.).

 RED OAK -- The Harlan Community baseball team put the finishing touches on a Hawkeye Ten Conference championship late last week, sweeping Red Oak in a doubleheader that started Thursday and concluded on Saturday morning (July 1). HCHS defeated the Tigers 9-2 in game one and led 7-0 in game two when play was suspended by lightning after four innings.

 RED OAK -- The regular season ended on a down note for the Harlan Community softball team Thursday (June 29) when Red Oak’s Kamryn Buntrock hit a three-run walkoff homer in the bottom of the seventh to lift the Tigers past the Cyclones 8-5 in game two of a doubleheader. HCHS settled for a split of the twin bill after winning the first game 5-3 and will now have a week off before hosting Nevada in a first-round regional game Thursday, July 6,

 SIOUX CITY -- Trailing 8-2 after two innings, Harlan Community finished the game with 13 unanswered runs to win at Sioux City West, 15-8, last Wednesday (June 28). HCHS took the lead for good with a seven-run fifth inning, outhit West 14-7 and overcame five errors in the field to hand the Wolverines (10-18) their 12th straight loss. The relief pitching efforts of senior Jacob Croghan and freshman Connor Bruck shut down West’s bats and allowed