One bad inning ends Cyclone softball season

 BOONE (July 13) -- At the halfway point of Saturday’s Class 4A regional softball semifinal, Harlan Community and Boone appeared destined for a down-to-the-wire finish.
 Thirty minutes later, the Cyclones could only reflect on how quickly it all came unraveled.
 The host Toreadors led 1-0 as they came to bat in the bottom of the fourth - a nightmare of a half inning for HCHS that finally ended when Boone walked off the field with a 12-0, mercy-rule win.
 The 11-run outburst included seven Boone hits, three walks, two outs recorded and a flurry of Cyclone errors: physical and mental; of commission and omission; some from rushing, others from hesitation. Emily Ades, the 15th batter of the inning, ended the game with an RBI single to center field.
 “I was (telling) the girls, ‘This is going to be a fight. These are the most fun games. Win or lose, let’s just fight it out until the end,’ and then... that happened,” said HCHS head coach Brooke Wilson. “They just kept putting the ball in play and we just couldn’t spiral out of it."
 Boone (17-11) advanced to Tuesday’s Region 2 final at top-ranked Carlisle (34-3). For HCHS (28-8), Saturday marked a sudden end to a great season in which the Cyclones won their most games since the 2012 team went 31-10 and earned their first outright Hawkeye Ten title since 2013. Ace pitcher Morgan Schaben, the team’s only senior, finished 22-7 with a 1.30 earned run average and 260 strikeouts in 161 innings.
 “I’m so proud of our season and what these girls have done,” Wilson said. “Everybody has noticed a change in our program and these girls are the ones to start it and Morgan was a huge part of that - being a good leader."
 Boone sophomore Emma Dighton, pitching for the first time since June 18, worked four scoreless innings of two-hit ball to improve her record to 8-5. She struck out three, walked none and hit one batter.
 The Cyclones got leadoff singles from Kate Heithoff in the first inning and Schaben in the fourth but couldn’t get the big hit after sacrifice bunting runners to second base. The fourth inning ended on Jordan Heese’s sharp line drive directly at the right fielder.

Class 4A, Region 2 Softball Tournament
First Round Scores: Thursday, July 11
Gilbert 5, Knoxville 1        Harlan Community 3, Perry 2
Regional Semifinal Scores: Saturday, July 13
#1 Carlisle 8, Gilbert 0        Boone 12, Harlan Community 0 (4)