CHARTER OAK -- For the fourth time in the last five years, Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton’s softball season has ended in the Class 1-A regional finals. The Spartans lost to Charter Oak-Ute, 15-2, on Tuesday in a Region 7 final that started Monday night but was suspended by a heavy thunderstorm.

 COON RAPIDS -- As the lone senior on Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton’s baseball team, Brady Hansen wasn’t quite ready for his final season to end, especially without longtime head coach Tony Petersen in the dugout. Hansen certainly did his part to keep the season alive, pitching a complete game with nine strikeouts and adding an RBI triple as the Spartans avenged two regular-season losses to Glidden-Ralston with a 7-2 victory in Tuesday’s Class 1-A

AUDUBON -- IKM-Manning was defeated by CAM, 4-1, in a Class 1-A district quarterfinal baseball game on Tuesday. The Wolves finished the season 11-13 overall.  See Tuesday’s Harlan Tribune for more details.

 COLUMBUS, NEB. -- Another win, another milestone. Harlan driver Mike Nichols won his division-best 400th IMCA Sunoco Stock Car feature on June 23 at U.S. 30 Speedway in Columbus, Neb.

 IRWIN -- When IKM-Manning scored four runs in the top of the second inning - aided by a crafy bunting game and three Panorama errors - the Wolves appeared well on their way to victory in last Friday’s Class 2-A, Region 2 softball semifinal. Undaunted by the situation, however, a youthful Panthers team overtook the momentum an inning later and never looked back, plating eight runs in the third and fourth innings to knock off the 11th-rated Wol

 CORRECTIONVILLE -- A three-run third inning was all it took for Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton Friday night as the Spartan softball team knocked off 10th-ranked River Valley, 3-2, in a Class 1-A, Region 7 semifinal. Exira-EHK scored all three of its runs in the bottom of the third and staved off a sixth-inning rally by the Wolverines to qualify for its fourth regional final in five years. The 20-6 Spartans, still searching for their first state so

 GLENWOOD -- Following a regular season marred by injuries and inconsistency, the Harlan Community softball team refused to go down without a fight in its final game. Putting together perhaps their best all-around performance of the summer, the Cyclones scored first and battled back twice in Thursday’s Class 4-A regional quarterfinal, but ultimately came up about one hit short in a 7-5 loss at Glenwood. Senior Logan Schaben’s two-run homer cut

 IDA GROVE -- Facing one of the top pitchers in western Iowa, Anthony Cordes and the AHSTW baseball team never backed down. Cordes craftily matched OA-BCIG ace Ben Dotzler through five scoreless innings and the Vikings scratched out a run in the top of the sixth to take a 1-0 lead in Saturday night’s Class 2-A, District 16 quarterfinal. Unfortunately for AHSTW, the next three outs would be hard to come by as the host Falcons scored four times

 LE MARS -- The Harlan Community baseball team won a pair of high-scoring games at Le Mars Friday night, sweeping the Bulldogs 13-9 (in eight innings) and 11-7 in a varsity doubleheader. Ranked third in Class 3-A, the Cyclones improved to 23-4 overall with two regular-season games remaining.