HARLAN -- The first 12 games of the season have certainly been a “Jekyll and Hyde” roller coaster ride for the Harlan Community softball team, perhaps summed up best by Thursday’s doubleheader split with Clarinda. After easily defeating the Cardinals in three innings, 12-0, in game one, HCHS took an early 6-2 lead in the night cap but struggled the rest of the way in a frustrating 15-14 eight-inning loss. The Cyclones, who have basically alte

 EARLHAM -- Junior Alex Amaral pitched a three-hit gem on the mound and got plenty of run support Friday night as the Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton baseball team improved to 5-1 overall with a 9-1 non-conference win at Earlham. Amaral (3-0) allowed one run in seven innings, walked none and racked up 12 strikeouts, putting his season earned run average at 0.88.

 AVOCA -- Jared Johnson pitched a complete game two-hitter and the IKM-Manning baseball team rallied for three runs in the final two innings Friday night to post a 5-3 road win over AHSTW. The Wolves capped a 2-2 week on the diamond and improved their record to 5-5 overall and 5-3 in the Western Iowa Conference.

 AVOCA -- IKM-Manning sophomore Peyton Gross and AHSTW junior Haley Constable both pitched a three-hitter Friday night, but it was Gross and the Wolves who came out on top, 3-1, in Western Iowa Conference softball action. IKM-M, which blew out the Lady Vikes 11-0 in both teams’ league opener May 24, faced a much tougher challenge this time around but got the job done as Gross took a shutout into the seventh and finished with 10 strikeouts and

 HARLAN -- Harlan Community 2016 graduate Jordyn Moser signed a letter of intent earlier this spring to join the women’s basketball program at Morningside College in Sioux City. Moser will be joining one of the top NAIA Division II programs in the nation as the Mustang women have made 14 straight national tournament appearances and recorded 13 consecutive 20-win seasons under Sale, whose 15-year record at Morningside stands at 420-107 (.797).

 HARLAN -- Head coach Brooke Schaben didn’t even hesitate when asked if the Harlan Community softball team had just played its best game of the season. “Easily ... by far,” Schaben said after the up-and-down Cyclones handled unbeaten and 15th-rated (3-A) Atlantic, 8-2, at H.

 HARLAN -- Through the first two weeks of the baseball season, Harlan Community trailed exactly one time - by one run, for one half-inning - in rolling to a 6-0 start. So after losing to Lewis Central Monday night and trailing Atlantic 7-4 in the sixth inning on Tuesday, it was finally time to see how the Cyclones responded to a little adversity in the potential threat of two straight defeats. The resolve was everything that HCHS head coach St

 ELK HORN -- Senior Brady Hansen pitched a three-hit shutout with four walks and 13 strikeouts Wednesday night and also drove in two runs, leading the Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton baseball team to a 5-0 home win over West Harrison. The victory improved the Spartans to 4-1 in the Rolling Valley Conference (and overall) going into Friday’s non-conference game at Earlham. They will return to conference play Monday night, hosting Adair-Casey.

 HARLAN -- Lewis Central pounded out 19 hits and drew nine walks at H. Jack Field Monday night, using a seven-run fourth inning and a six-run seventh to rout the Harlan Community softball team, 18-6. The Titans, ranked 15th in Class 4-A, improved to 13-1 overall and a perfect 7-0 in the Hawkeye Ten Conference.

 LOGAN -- The IKM-Manning baseball team improved to 4-4 overall on Tuesday night with an 11-5 win at Logan-Magnolia. A six-run top of the third keyed the victory for the Wolves, who totaled 13 hits and walked seven times.

 HARLAN -- It might not happen again this season - a team holding the high-scoring Harlan Community Cyclones to zero extra-base hits, walks or stolen bases in a game - but it was an effective formula for Lewis Central pitcher Caleb Shudak Monday night. Shudak overcame a shaky start and a rocky fifth inning with some help from catcher Joel Thompson as the Titans handed HCHS its first loss of the season, 6-4, at Jim Goeser Field. The second-rank

 CRESTON -- Harlan Community finally played a pair of full seven-inning baseball games Thursday night and still won both by 10 runs, sweeping a Hawkeye Ten doubleheader at Creston, 13-3 and 12-2. Facing the best pitching they’ve seen during the first two weeks of the season, the 2nd-ranked (3-A) Cyclones continued to string together great at-bats in gradually chipping away against Panther junior Kadon Hulett in game one, then driving up Chase

 CRESTON -- The Harlan Community softball team continues to showcase a mix of promising potential and youthful inconsistency while playing .500 ball through the first two weeks of the season. On Thursday, the Cyclones committed 12 total errors in a doubleheader split at Creston, but used a four-run seventh-inning rally in game one to outlast the 14th-ranked (4-A) Panthers, 7-6, before losing the night cap 10-4. The twin bill split capped a wil

 NEOLA -- If the AHSTW girls soccer program is able to get to a higher level over the next few years, they may look back at the 2016 season as a key turning point. Featuring a lineup heavily reliant on freshmen and sophomores, the Lady Vikes took some small historic steps this spring as they posted the most wins (five) in the program’s four-year existence and also earned their first postseason victory last Tuesday against Riverside. The season

 KIMBALLTON -- Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton chipped away offensively with at least one run in five of its six at-bats Friday night to beat Woodbine 8-1 in Rolling Valley Conference softball action. Junior Maggie Rasmussen pitched a two-hitter with three walks and five strikeouts for the Spartans, who improved to 3-1 on the season. The only Tiger run scored off Rasmussen was unearned.