HARLAN (June 13) -- Harlan Community’s first night as a state-ranked softball team was a good one. Led by Morgan Schaben’s 27 strikeouts in a pair of complete game pitching efforts, the No.

 HARLAN (June 13) -- For the Harlan Community baseball team, Thursday night at Jim Goeser Field was a five-and-a-half hour process of one step forward and two steps back. Hosting Glenwood for a varsity doubleheader, the fourth-ranked (3A) Cyclones held the lead for all of about 10 minutes, losing to the Rams 7-4 and 12-11 in eight innings on a night in which all phases of their game - hitting, pitching, defense and base running - were suspect

 ELK HORN (June 14) -- Ninety-nine times out of 100, Josh Pettepier’s 110th and final pitch Friday night would have resulted in the 21st out and an Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton win over Coon Rapids-Bayard. Instead, the Spartans’ sixth error of the ball game allowed the tying and go-ahead runs to score and led to a frustrating 5-4 loss to the rival Crusaders. Exira-EHK, which scored all four of its runs and had three of its four hits in the third

 IRWIN (June 14) -- The IKM-Manning softball team scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth but fell one short Friday night in an 8-7 home loss to Logan-Magnolia. The Wolves also lost by one run at Riverside, 7-6, on Thursday and are now 5-10 overall.

 HARLAN (June 11) -- During eight straight trips to the state baseball tournament and four consecutive 3A title game appearances, Harlan Community’s mantra has often centered around pitching and defense. Don’t look now, but those same two elements have played a big role in a 12-1 start for the fourth-ranked (3A) Cyclones. One day after winning a 2-1 pitchers’ duel against St. Albert, HCHS swept a home doubleheader vs.

 HARLAN (June 11) -- Fresh off a 10-run seventh inning rally and remarkable 12-7 win at sixth-ranked Denison Monday night, the Kuemper Catholic softball team arrived at H. Jack Field with a whole lot of momentum for Tuesday’s doubleheader vs.

 HARLAN (June 10) -- Back-to-back home runs by Morgan Schaben and Madison Schumacher provided the offensive highlight Monday as the Harlan Community softball team made quick work of St. Albert with a 12-0, three-inning win at H. Jack Field. HCHS scored seven first-inning runs (all unearned with two outs) and added three in the second and two in the third to win by the rule.

 HARLAN (June 10) -- St.

 KIMBALLTON (June 10) -- With three home games on the schedule this week, Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton softball coach Ashton Koehlmoos is hopeful that her team is poised for a consistent stretch of play. So far, so good. Getting a two-hit shutout from freshman pitcher Macy Emgarten, error-free defense behind her and a fast start with the bats, the Spartans blanked Glidden-Ralston 3-0 on Monday for their third victory in four games. They made it f

 IRWIN (June 12) -- The IKM-Manning softball team scored 37 runs over three nights and went 2-1 in Western Iowa Conference games against Tri-Center and Missouri Valley. The Wolves won at T-C 15-4 on Monday, lost to Missouri Valley 12-9 in Irwin Tuesday night and crushed the Trojans 13-1 in three innings here Wednesday. Bianca Cadwell pitched all three games for the Wolves.

 ELK HORN (June 10) -- Sophomore Hunter Andersen pitched a complete game five-hitter for his first varsity win and seniors Cole Burmeister and Dawson Carey both went 3-for-4 as the Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton baseball team beat Glidden-Ralston 5-2 here Monday. Andersen (1-1) took a shutout into the sixth and allowed just two unearned runs, finishing his work in 95 pitches.

 CLARINDA (June 6) -- In 2018, the Harlan Community softball team didn’t crack double digits in the win column until June 21 on its way to a 15-17 campaign. This year’s Cyclones - even with three early-season rainouts - are two weeks ahead of last year’s pace following Thursday’s doubleheader sweep at Clarinda. Led by Morgan Schaben’s big night at the plate as well as the pitching circle, HCHS beat the Cardinals 14-0 in five innings and 9-6, i

 CLARINDA (June 6) -- Isaiah Ahrenholtz drove in four runs in game one and Tyler Schaben pitched the team’s first seven-inning complete game of the year in the night cap Thursday as Harlan Community swept a baseball doubleheader at Clarinda by scores of 12-2 (five innings) and 5-1. The fifth-ranked (3A) Cyclones improved to 9-1 overall and 7-1 in Hawkeye Ten Conference play, good for second place behind Lewis Central.

 AVOCA (June 6) -- The AHSTW baseball team was only able to win one out of four games last week, but sandwiched among three close losses was a 12-2, five-inning win over IKM-Manning that temporarily put the Vikings back to the .500 mark. AHSTW scored six first-inning runs off Wolves’ starter Alex Lingle and continued to add on against reliever Amos Rasmussen in the final four frames, outhitting the visitors 11-4 and improving to 3-3 (all Weste

 AVOCA (June 7) -- Tri-Center scored all seven of its runs in the last three innings Friday night to rally past AHSTW 7-5 in Western Iowa Conference baseball action. The Trojans tied the game with two runs in the top of the fifth before the Vikings answered with three in the bottom half to go up 5-2.