CLARINDA (July 7) -- The AHSTW baseball season ended in heartbreaking fashion last Saturday night when a two-out error in the bottom of the seventh allowed Shenandoah to score the winning run and beat the Vikings 3-2 in a Class 2A district quarterfinal held at Clarinda. AHSTW took a 2-0 lead in the first inning when a bases-loaded walk/wild pitch allowed both Joel Sampson and Sam Porter to score.

 IRWIN (July 9) -- With an inning to go in Monday’s Class 2A, Region 3 softball final, it appeared that IKM-Manning’s veteran squad might have the young Earlham Cardinals right where it wanted them. Still trailing by a run, 4-3, the 2nd-rated Wolves had the heart of their order due up in the bottom of the seventh, needing just three outs to set up their chance for a state-clinching walkoff win. The 15th-rated Cardinals, though, had other ideas

HCHS 4, Des Moines Roosevelt 1 DES MOINES (July 10) -- Senior Jacob Bartley pitched his third straight complete game and had arguably his best outing of the season Tuesday as the Cyclones won 4-1 at Des Moines Roosevelt (15-22). Bartley (6-0) tossed a seven-hitter, walked two and struck out five, following up his 71-pitch performance against Shenandoah last week with an 87-pitch gem against the Class 4A Roughriders. Offensively, Jared Moser ba

 IRWIN (July 6) -- Same round, same town, same teams. And just like two years ago, Panorama came to play for Friday night’s Class 2A regional semifinal at 2nd-ranked IKM-Manning. This time the Wolves were ready too, producing big two-out runs in the early innings, making timely defensive plays behind senior pitcher Peyton Gross and pulling away late to beat the upset-minded Panthers 8-1 at the Irwin softball diamond. Panorama, which finished 1

 GLENWOOD (July 5) -- Harlan Community softball coach Brooke Schaben liked her team’s chances going into Thursday’s Class 4A first round regional game at Glenwood, and history was on her side. On June 14, the Cyclones split a Hawkeye Ten doubleheader against the Rams, totaling double-digit hits against Glenwood pitcher Sydney Biermann in a 10-1 game-one victory. Biermann was also the Rams’ starting pitcher on Thursday, but the difference in re

 LE MARS (July 6) -- Winning 4-0 and 14-9, Harlan Community swept a non-conference baseball doubleheader at Le Mars on Friday, improving to 25-3 with three games left in the regular season. The top-ranked (Class 3A) Cyclones got a combined four-hit shutout from Brett Sears and Riley Kohles in game one, then stormed out to a 13-3 lead and hit seven doubles in the night cap. Le Mars, which has now lost six straight games and 11 out of 15, droppe

 HARLAN (July 5) -- Senior Jacob Bartley used just 71 pitches to hurl a two-hit shutout here Thursday as the Harlan Community baseball team put the finishing touches on its second straight Hawkeye Ten Conference title with an 8-0 win over Shenandoah. HCHS, which won the H-10 crown by two games each over St.

 DES MOINES -- Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton fell one run short against Grand View Christian last Tuesday night (July 3), losing 3-2 in a Class 1A regional softball quarterfinal. The Spartans finished the season at 13-9 overall while the Thunder (17-10) advanced to the Region 7 semifinals and lost to Glidden-Ralston in 10 innings Friday, 9-8. Trailing 3-1 after three, the Spartans scored a run in the fifth but were unable to get the game tied vs.

 UNDERWOOD (July 3) -- AHSTW got the start it wanted last Tuesday, but was unable to finish in a Class 2A regional softball quarterfinal game at Underwood. Trailing 3-0 at the halfway point, the host Eagles tied the score with three runs in the bottom of the fourth and added three unearned runs in the fifth to end the Lady Vikes’ season 6-3. Underwood improved to 16-8 and advanced to Friday night’s Region 2 semifinal at No.

 KIMBALLTON (July 2) -- Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton didn’t waste any time taking care of business vs.

 IRWIN (July 3) -- Peyton Gross pitched a four-hit shutout and IKM-Manning blew the game open with seven runs in the third inning Tuesday night to oust Manson-Northwest Webster 10-0 in a five-inning Class 2A regional softball quarterfinal. The 2nd-ranked Wolves (23-2) will now host Panorama (11-11) in a Region 3 semifinal game Friday night (7 p.m.) in Irwin. The winner will face either Ogden (22-7) or No.

 DALLAS CENTER (July 3) -- Less than 24 hours after its 19-game winning streak came to a close at Lewis Central, the Harlan Community baseball team bounced back in a big way Tuesday afternoon with a 13-1 victory at Dallas Center-Grimes. The top-ranked (Class 3A) Cyclones didn’t pull away until late, using a four-run fifth inning and a six-run seventh to turn a close game into a blowout.

 HARLAN (July 2) -- It wasn’t the ideal way to finish regular-season play, but Harlan Community softball coach Brooke Schaben feels okay about her team’s momentum going into Thursday’s 7:00 p.m. postseason opener at Glenwood. On Monday night, 10th-ranked (4A) Lewis Central blanked HCHS 6-0 at H. Jack Field to cap a regular-season sweep.

 RED OAK -- The Harlan Community softball team split a Hawkeye Ten doubleheader at Red Oak on June 28, winning game one 6-2 and losing the night cap 10-7. The games were moved from Harlan to Red Oak due to rain. HCHS junior Morgan Schaben (10-10) pitched all seven innings of the first game, allowing seven hits and one earned run while striking out 11.

 KIMBALLTON (June 29) -- With its 7-1 first-inning lead cut down to one run, the Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton softball team responded with five runs during the fourth and fifth frames and finished off Glidden-Ralston 12-6 on Friday to avenge a 10-run loss earlier this season. The Spartans picked up two more home wins Saturday, beating Audubon 11-5 and Boyer Valley 3-2 to finish the regular season on a seven-game winning streak. Mollie Rasmussen,