SEVENTH HEAVEN

 HARLAN -- For the Harlan Community baseball team, the pressure of getting back to the state tournament reached a nerve-wracking crescendo at the halfway point of Wednesday’s Class 3-A, Substate 8 final against Denison-Schleswig.
 Facing a team they had soundly defeated by scores of 11-1 and 12-0 during the first half of the regular season, the top-ranked and defending state champion Cyclones suddenly found themselves in a 2-2 scuffle as they came to bat in the bottom of the fourth.
 Denison, which had just scored twice in the top half of the inning, had its 6-0 ace pitcher on the mound and a growing sense of confidence. The Monarchs entered the night having won eight of their last nine games and had nothing to lose as they perhaps closed in on sending shockwaves across Iowa in front of a large gathering at Jim Goeser Field.
 The Cyclones, though, would have none of it.
 Sparked by freshman Connor Bruck’s RBI double from the nine hole, HCHS plated three runs in knocking D-S starter Sam Weber out of the game, then Joshua Cheek greeted reliever Dawson Dorhout with a three-run homer to make it 8-2.
 The Cyclones would add single runs in the fifth and sixth, including Ryan Doran’s sixth home run of the year, and finished off the Monarchs 10-2 to clinch a seventh consecutive trip to the State Baseball Tournament at Principal Park in Des Moines.
 HCHS (34-2) will be seeded second in the 3-A state field and face unrated Oskaloosa (28-13) in a quarterfinal game Tuesday, July 25, at 7:30 p.m.
 “It’s exciting... It’s been exciting for seven years now. It never gets old,” said Cyclone senior Dillon Sears, who along with Cheek will be playing in his fifth state tournament.

Class 3-A State Baseball Tournament • Principal Park • Des Moines
Quarterfinals • Tuesday, July 25
Davenport Assumption (#1 seed, 38-5) vs. Bondurant-Farrar (#8 seed, 21-15), 11 a.m.
Dubuque Wahlert (#4 seed, 26-15) vs. Marion (#5 seed, 31-10), 1:30 p.m.
Harlan Community (#2 seed, 34-2) vs. Oskaloosa (#7 seed, 28-13), 7:30 p.m.
Bishop Heelan (#3 seed, 31-12) vs. Saydel (#6 seed, 29-7), 5:00 p.m.
Semifinals • Friday, July 28
Assumption or Bondurant-Farrar vs. Wahlert or Marion, 11 a.m. or 1:00 p.m.
Harlan Community or Oskaloosa vs. Heelan or Saydel, 11 a.m. or 1:00 p.m.
Championship Game • Saturday, July 29, 5:00 p.m.