Cyclone softball team wins two of three in Fort Dodge

 FORT DODGE (June 20) -- Harlan Community won two out of three games at Saturday’s Fort Dodge Softball Tournament, defeating Sioux City East 3-0 and Bishop Heelan 7-6 before falling 12-0 in six innings to top-ranked (5A) Fort Dodge.
 HCHS, listed 13th in the latest Class 4A softball rankings, finished the week with a 5-1 overall record.
HCHS 3, Sioux City East 0
 Emily Brouse pitched a two-hit shutout with four walks and 11 strikeouts on Saturday morning. The Black Raiders drew back-to-back walks to open the top of the seventh before Brouse retired the next three hitters on a fly ball and two K’s to end the game.
 The Cyclones took a 1-0 lead in the first when Julia Schechinger (moved up to the leadoff spot Saturday) was hit by a pitch, advanced on Kennedy Kjergaard’s bunt single and scored on a Madison Schumacher sacrifice.
 Two more runs scored in the fifth, ignited by singles from Schechinger and Schumacher. Brouse’s ground ball scored one run and Tianna Kasperbauer followed with a two-out RBI single.
 Aurora Miller went 2-for-3 with a triple and Kate Heithoff added a single.
HCHS 7, Bishop Heelan 6
 The Cyclones overcame eight errors to win a sloppy but exciting second game of the day, outscoring the Crusaders 2-1 in the seventh inning with the international tiebreaker in use.
 Down 3-0, HCHS scored five runs in the fifth with the help of singles by Ellie Ineson, Julia Schechinger, Kennedy Kjergaard, Madison Schumacher, Kate Heithoff and Aurora Miller. Heelan tied the score with two runs in the sixth.
 Due to a time limit, the tiebreaker rule was used in the seventh with each time starting its inning with a runner on second base. A fielder’s choice and a bunt single by Tianna Kasperbauer helped the Cyclones plate two runs and they were able to hold on for the 7-6 victory.
 Kasperbauer (3-0) pitched all seven innings, allowing five hits but just one earned run. She walked three and struck out two.
 Schechinger went 3-for-4 at the plate and Kasperbauer was 2-for-3 with a sacrifice fly.
Fort Dodge 12, HCHS 0
 The top-ranked Dodgers lived up to the hype on Saturday afternoon, totaling 11 hits and using a five-run sixth to end the game an inning early, 12-0.
 Brouse (2-1) took the loss, allowing seven hits and seven runs (five earned) in three and two-thirds innings. Kasperbauer allowed four hits and five runs (four earned) in the final two and a third. The Cyclone pitchers combined to issue six walks while striking out three.
 Ella Plagman, Brouse, Heithoff (double) and Ineson each had a hit for HCHS.