In the top of the fourth inning of Wednesday’s home softball game with the IKM-Manning Wolves trailing 1-0 to the MVAOCOU Rams, the Rams offense put up four runs off of Wolves starting pitcher Ella Richards starting with an RBI groundout from Braleigh Weber, followed by an RBI single off the bat of Alex Wonder, and a 2-run home run over the right field fence from Reagan Seuntjens, making it a 5-0 game en route to a 6-4 victory.

The phrase “next man up” is commonly uttered in sports, and during Monday’s home doubleheader for the HCHS Cyclones baseball team, Freshman Colton Schneider came out of the bullpen in both games, helping lead his team to victories of 8-5 and 5-4.
“I was just trying to put it over the middle and make my defense make plays,” Schneider said. “Just throwing the fastball and a few curveballs.”

In the bottom of the ninth inning during game two of Monday’s home softball doubleheader, Senior Cyclone Lilyana Albertsen was up to bat when she connected at the plate, dumping a base hit into shallow left field scoring Freshman Aubree Wegner from second base to earn a 6-5 victory, their third win of the season.

In the top of the first inning, less than 10 pitches into Friday’s softball game, Viking eighth grader Clara Pace connected off a pitch for a 2-run single from IKM-Manning’s Ella Richards putting the Vikings up 2-0, which would be all they would need en route to a 11-1 victory, their eighth in their previous nine games.

The HCHS Cyclones softball team’s struggles continue dropping their fourth consecutive match at home Thursday to the Atlantic Trojans 11-1 via the mercy rule in five innings.
Despite a string of losses, the coaching staff is pleased with the improvements at the plate. In their previous six games, the girls have scored 19 runs, when in their previous five before that, they had been shutout.

In the bottom of the first inning, Senior Cyclone Matthew Sorfonden launched a solo home run over the left field fence giving his team a 1-0 lead, which would be all their offense would need cruising to a 15-0 win in four innings over the Atlantic Trojans.

As many of you may know – spoiler alert – I am not from Harlan. I grew up in sunny California and was and still am a diehard San Francisco Giants fan. Hearing the news of the passing of longtime New York and San Francisco Giant Willie Mays Tuesday in the Bay Area made me feel saddened, but grateful that he had an amazing career and a long and wonderful life.

With a sense of fear moments before surgery, but knowing she had a great doctor and her mother by her side, 2022 HCHS graduate and current Harding University student Kaia Bieker anxiously awaited entering the operating room for a knee surgery.

Former HCHS Cyclone and ISU Cyclone Jess Schaben-Lansman recently wrapped up her first professional season of volleyball with the Omaha Supernovas, which resulted in the first ever championship in the Professional Volleyball Federation.

With two outs in the top of the second inning of Monday’s home game, it looked like IKM-Manning Senior Ella Richards was going to get out of the inning without allowing a run, until a popup was dropped by shortstop Anna Stangl, which started a 5-run rally that lead to a 9-3 Panthers win.

After trailing 3-0 a majority of the Thursday’s road game against the Kuemper Catholic Knights, the HCHS Cyclones baseball team found the scoreboard late in the game coming away with a 6-spot, which would be enough to win the game 6-3.
“We put together a bunch of good at bats and took what they gave us,” said Cyclone Head Coach Heath Stein. “They ended up giving us quite a few runs and ultimately the ballgame.”

2007 HCHS graduate, 2011 Buena Vista University graduate, and current Underwood Eagles Boys Head Basketball Coach Brad Blum credits his HCHS coaches for all his success that led to him being inducted into the Buena Vista Athletics Hall of Fame.

It didn’t take long for the Missouri Valley Lady Reds to put away Thursday’s softball game against the IKM-Manning Wolves starting with scoring nine runs in the top of the first inning, seven runs in the second, and six more in the third, earning a 22-1 win in three innings via the mercy rule, handing the Wolves their 16th loss.

In the top of the third inning during Tuesday’s home softball match with the game tied at one run apiece, Junior Trojan Kaitlin Kozeal connected at the plate for an RBI single which started a 9-run inning, leading the Trojans to a 16-5 win over the IKM-Manning Wolves, handing them their 10th consecutive loss.

The HCHS Cyclones softball team struggled to get their bats going Monday night at home against the Glenwood Rams, losing both of their games via the mercy rule 12-0 and 11-0.
“The girls put in a good effort competing,” said Cyclone Head Coach Tarah Devlin-Lawler. “We saw some scenarios tonight that we’ve only seen at practice. Being able to adjust and make plays on those scenarios is going to be a key thing for us moving forward.”