HARLAN (June 29) -- Power numbers typically rise and fall in the sports of baseball and softball. The average slugger might go two weeks without hitting one out of the park, then bash about one home run a day. Right now, senior Emily Brouse is on one of those feel-good tears for the Harlan Community softball team. Brouse homered two more times Tuesday night at H.

 AVOCA (June 29) -- The AHSTW softball team punched its ticket to the Western Iowa Conference Tournament semifinals Tuesday night with a 7-0 win over Treynor. The third-seeded Lady Vikes struck early with two runs in the bottom of the first and took control by plating five more runs in the fifth to beat the sixth-seeded Cardinals for the third time this season. The quarterfinal win advanced AHSTW to Thursday’s (July 1) semifinal and title game

 UNDERWOOD (June 29) -- IKM-Manning’s seventh-inning rally fell one run short Tuesday night as the Wolves lost a 4-3 decision to Tri-Center in the first round of the Western Iowa Conference Softball Tournament. The ninth-seeded Wolves trailed 4-1 going into their last at-bat before scoring two runs in the top of the seventh.

 SHENANDOAH (June 28) -- Joey Moser smacked Harlan Community’s first two home runs of the season Monday night as the Cyclone baseball team moved past the .500 mark in conference play with a doubleheader sweep at Shenandoah. HCHS won the first game 8-3 behind six scoreless innings from senior pitcher Thomas Ernst and took the night cap 11-1 in five as Moser hit the first home runs of his four-year varsity career. The Cyclones improved to 9-8 in

 SHENANDOAH (June 28) -- The Harlan Community softball team clubbed three home runs, totaled 22 hits and took advantage of 11 Shenandoah errors to sweep Monday’s Hawkeye Ten doubleheader with the Fillies 12-1 and 13-0. Both games lasted just five innings. The Cyclones set the tone for the night with a five-run first in game one, capped by Emily Brouse’s three-run homer.

 MANILLA (June 24) -- An eight-run second inning springboarded the AHSTW baseball team past IKM-Manning 12-7 Thursday night as both squads finished Western Iowa Conference play. The Wolves answered AHSTW’s initial outburst with four runs in the bottom of the second but the Vikings countered with three in the third and were able to hold on after IKM-Manning put together a three-run rally in the fourth. The Vikings improved to 5-11 in the WIC (a

 IRWIN (June 24) -- AHSTW posted a pair of four-spots in the third and fifth innings Thursday and defeated IKM-Manning 11-1 in the Western Iowa Conference regular season finale for both area teams. The Lady Vikes outhit the Wolves 9-4 and won by the 10-run rule in five, improving to 14-11 overall and 11-5 in league play, earning them the number three seed for the WIC Tournament June 29 and July 1.

 DOW CITY (June 25) -- Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton capped a 3-0 week on the softball diamond Friday, staying unbeaten in Rolling Valley Conference play with a 5-2 win at Boyer Valley. The 14th-ranked (1A) Spartans trailed 1-0 after three innings and led just 3-2 after six, then scored two key insurance runs in the seventh to back winning pitcher Macy Emgarten, who fired a five-hitter with one walk and 11 strikeouts. Exira-EHK totaled eight hits

Class 1A, Region 2 Softball TournamentFirst Round Games - Tuesday, July 6Glidden-Ralston at Algona Bishop Garrigan, 7:00    Boyer Valley at Audubon, 7:00Ar-We-Va at West Bend-Mallard, 7:00                      Coon Rapids-Bayard at Woodbine, 7:00West Harrison at Logan-Magnolia, 7:00Regional Quarterfinals - Wednesday, July 7Bishop Garrigan or Glidden-Ralston at Newell-Fonda, 7:00 p.m.West Bend-Mallard or Ar-We-Va at St.

 ATLANTIC (June 24) -- The Atlantic softball team beat Harlan Community for the third time this season on Thursday, winning 4-1 to complete a Hawkeye Ten sweep and put itself in the driver’s seat for a conference championship. The seventh-ranked (3A) Trojans plated three runs in the top of the first off Cyclone junior Tianna Kasperbauer and Atlantic senior ace Olivia Engler took care of the rest, allowing only an unearned run in the third as p

 ATLANTIC (June 24) -- Harlan Community broke open a scoreless tie with six runs in the top of the fifth Thursday night and got a six-inning shutout from Franz Reisz to beat Atlantic 7-0 and sweep the baseball season series. The game was called by rain/lightning after just two pitches were thrown in the top of the seventh. Reisz (1-3) pitched his best game of the year for the Cyclones, allowing just three hits and one walk, hitting two batters

 CEDAR FALLS -- Several athletes from the Harlan Trap team participated in the State Meet located in Cedar Falls. The competition started Tuesday, June 8, and concluded on Sunday, June 13. There were a total of 4,000 athletes competing over the course of the week. Harlan had eight athletes competing on Tuesday in the Intermediate (Middle School) competition and 16 athletes competing on Saturday in the Varsity (High School) competition.

 HARLAN (June 22) -- As the adversity started to ramp up in the late innings Tuesday, the Harlan Community softball team rallied together and rose to the occasion on Senior Night. Trailing Lewis Central 1-0 following Haley Bach’s impressive line-drive home run in the top of the eighth, the Cyclones scratched together four straight hits in the bottom of the extra frame and beat the Titans 2-1 on Jordan Heese’s bases-loaded RBI single over short

 HARLAN (June 23) -- The Harlan Community softball team took a five-game winning streak into Thursday’s showdown at Atlantic following Wednesday night’s 11-1, five-inning home win over Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln. The Cyclones used a five-run third inning and a three-run fourth to lead 10-1, then finished the game by the rule an inning later on Ella Plagman’s bases-loaded, two-out RBI single. Senior Madison Schumacher had a big night at the

 HARLAN (June 22) -- Harlan Community mustered 10 hits Tuesday night but plated just one run in a 6-1 loss to the Lewis Central baseball team. The Titans built a 4-0 advantage in the first two innings and got five scoreless frames from sophomore pitcher Casey Clair, improving to 14-6 overall and 10-3 in Hawkeye Ten Conference play - tied for first place in the loss column with the Kuemper Knights. The Cyclones (7-10, 6-8 H-10) got some good sw