COUNCIL BLUFFS -- The Harlan Community baseball team wrapped up a highly-successful regular season Wednesday night with a 15-3, five-inning win at Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson. Now the real season begins as the top-ranked Cyclones get set to defend their Class 3-A state championship. Winners of 10 straight and 31 of 33 overall, HCHS will open 3-A district play Friday night (July 14) when it hosts Carroll (1-25) at Jim Goeser Field.

 HARLAN -- Ryan Doran went 3-for-3 at the plate and Kyle Schmitz pitched five scoreless innings of relief for his eighth win Tuesday night as Harlan Community downed Des Moines Roosevelt 6-1 in non-conference baseball action. Putting together quality at-bats during the late innings, HCHS scored one run in the fifth and three in the sixth to pull away from the Class 4-A Roughriders (18-20). Connor Bruck opened the three-run sixth with a double

 AUDUBON -- With a potential gauntlet of tough games looming, Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton’s district baseball opener vs.

 NEOLA -- Tri-Center broke open a close game with four runs in the fifth inning and added two in the sixth here Tuesday night, ending IKM-Manning’s season, 8-0, in a Class 2-A, District 15 semifinal baseball game. The Trojans’ fourth win of the year over the Wolves improved their record to 20-4 and set up a district final vs. West Central Valley (15-9) at the T-C diamond Saturday night.

 HARLAN -- Harlan Community swept Le Mars in a baseball doubleheader last Friday (July 7), winning game one 9-0 and holding off the Bulldogs 4-3 in the night cap. HCHS committed just one error in the two games, outhit Le Mars 19-9 overall and got solid starting pitching from Brett Sears (6-0) and Nick Foss (3-1). Game one was all Cyclones as they scored two runs each in the first four innings and totaled 12 hits.

 HARLAN (July 6) -- The Harlan Community baseball team put the finishing touches on its first Hawkeye Ten title since 2014 last Thursday, beating Glenwood 13-0 in five innings to finish with a sparkling 19-1 conference record. The Cyclones and Rams were finishing game two of a June 15 doubleheader that was suspended by rain in the bottom of the first inning.

 AVOCA (July 8) -- It was a frustrating end to a frustrating game for the AHSTW baseball team. Held scoreless for 11 innings in Saturday night’s Class 2-A district quarterfinal vs.

 MANILLA (July 8) -- IKM-Manning senior Sam Gross escaped bases-loaded jams in both the sixth and seventh innings Saturday night, helping the Wolves preserve an 8-6 win over Panorama in the opening round of the Class 2-A, District 15 baseball tournament. IKM-Manning led 7-0 after two innings but struggled to put the finishing touches on a Panther team that closed out the season 4-18 overall. Gross, the Wolves’ third pitcher of the night, enter

 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