Cyclones survive Sears-McLaren duel, win 2-0

 HARLAN (July 19) -- On a hot, humid Friday night, Harlan Community’s Brett Sears and Atlantic’s Chase McLaren battled the elements and each other in a pitchers’ duel that lived up to the hype.
 Both seniors allowed just four singles and combined for 21 strikeouts, but only HCHS was able to scratch across any runs in a 2-0, Class 3A district baseball semifinal win over the Trojans.
 Luke Schaben had both RBI for the fifth-ranked Cyclones (25-7) with a first-inning sacrifice fly and a third-inning single through the right side of the infield.
 Atlantic, which finished 7-18, had at least one base runner in six out of seven innings but stranded seven and lost another in a first-inning rundown. Three Trojans reached scoring position but they couldn’t get a clutch hit off Sears.
 “I think we’re real fortunate to win this ball game,” said HCHS coach Steve Daeges. “We didn’t seem to put much pressure on them all night.”
 Sears (8-1) struck out 13 and walked four in his four-hit shutout and 36th career victory. The Western Illinois recruit entered the seventh inning with a pitch count of 101 - just nine shy of the single-game limit - but needed only seven to finish off the free-swinging Trojans as three out of four batters in the inning put the first offering in play.
 It may not have been the sharpest version of Sears, but it was a good enough version to win. His 108th and final pitch struck out Grant Sturm to end the contest.
 “He was tough when he had to be tonight. That was good to see,” Daeges said.
 Sears, who lowered his earned run average to 1.04, said he just kept battling on the mound through a few struggles and trusted his defense, which did not commit an error. Two of Atlantic’s four hits stayed on the infield.
 “My stuff was all right but obviously I wasn’t always locating the best,” he said. “I walked two in the first inning and two more throughout the game, but games like that you’ve just got to grind them out."
 McLaren (4-6) pitched six and two-thirds innings of Atlantic’s 3-2 upset win at Harlan June 24 and the Trojans are clearly better than a seven-win team with the hard-throwing righty on the mound. He allowed four singles and two earned runs in six innings Friday, walking two (the first two batters he faced) and striking out eight.
 “I couldn’t be more proud of Chase McLaren’s effort. He did a fantastic job,” said first-year Atlantic head coach Joe Brummer, a former Harlan player. “I just told the kids we’re a pretty dang good 7-18 team."