HARLAN -- The Harlan Golf and Country Club held its annual Couples Weekend Tournaments on July 10-11. This year’s championship flight winners were Steve and Stacy Davis on Saturday, July 10, and Dan and Jan Kramer on Sunday, July 11. Both tournaments employed an alternate shot format and all ties were broken by handicap holes. The top five place-winners from each flight were as follows.

 COUNTY -- Broghan Kelly, Sharon Gubbels and Ken Leinen were this year’s winners at the Rosman Glendale Shelby County Golf Course championship tournament, held Sunday, July 18. On a perfect day for golf, all three divisions saw excellent participation numbers. Kelly won the Men’s Championship Division for the first time and will represent the golf course at the 63rd annual Tournament of Champions in Atlantic August 13-15.

 HARLAN -- The Harlan Swim Team, under the direction of first-year coach Levi Culp, finished an undefeated 2021 summer campaign, capped by impressive first-place finishes in both the girls and boys divisions of the Western Iowa Swim League conference meet July 10 in Avoca. Harlan also won nine regular season meets during June and July and its teams combined to win 31 events at the conference meet.

 PORTSMOUTH (July 25) -- The Portsmouth town team built a 5-0 lead after three and won 8-7 on Eric Croghan’s walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the ninth, beating Council Bluffs in the Iowa Western Baseball League Tournament championship game here Sunday. Brett Sears earned the win in relief for Portsmouth while Alex Johnson took the loss. Down 5-0 after five, Council Bluffs rallied back and used a four-run top of the eighth to surge ahead 7

 GILBERT (July 19) -- They didn’t decide the final outcome, but the result of each team’s leadoff at-bat set a subtle tone for Monday night’s Class 3A, Substate 8 baseball semifinal between Harlan Community and third-ranked Gilbert. In the top of the first inning, HCHS junior Joey Moser put a charge in the ball, sending Tiger center fielder Owen Blumhagen on a dead sprint to his right.

 GILBERT (July 19) -- The Harlan Community baseball program said goodbye to seven seniors following Monday’s 7-1 substate semifinal loss at third-ranked Gilbert. The large senior group includes three full-time starters in outfielders Isaiah Ahrenholtz and Ben Muenchrath and first baseman Kelby Lasher; a first-year starting pitcher in Thomas Ernst; and reserves Chase Wilwerding and Tyler Mumm.

 PORTSMOUTH -- Top-seeded Portsmouth will take on Council Bluffs in the championship game of the 2021 Iowa Western League Baseball Tournament on Sunday, July 25, at the Portsmouth ball diamond. Game time is 2:00 p.m. Both teams advanced to the title game with semifinal wins last week.July 13: Council Bluffs 11, Walnut 0 (7) Winning pitcher Logan Dirgo struck out 15 Walnut batters in his team’s seven-inning semifinal victory.

 GLENWOOD (July 16) -- Alex Monson pitched six solid innings and the entire Harlan Community lineup contributed to a 13-run outburst Friday night as the Cyclones opened Class 3A postseason play with a 13-2 Substate 8 baseball quarterfinal romp at Glenwood. The fifth-seeded Cyclones, who lost both ends of a doubleheader vs. the Rams last month - 3-1 and 7-6 - never trailed in the rematch.

 COUNCIL BLUFFS (July 17) -- For nearly six innings Saturday night, Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton junior Tyler Kingery was doing what just one team has managed to accomplish all season: hold a potent St. Albert baseball lineup without any runs. The unheralded, but gutsy, Spartans were outplaying the fourth-ranked Falcons and had them on the ropes, up 2-0 in a Class 1A district final at Wolever Field. St.

 NEOLA -- The Tri-Center baseball team defeated IKM-Manning 9-0 in a Class 1A, District 15 quarterfinal game played Monday, July 12. The Trojans scored three runs in the third inning to build a 4-0 lead and took control with a four-run sixth to make it 9-0. T-C (27-2) went on to shut out West Harrison 6-0 on July 13 and Logan-Magnolia 10-0 on July 17, setting up a Substate 8 final vs.

 TREYNOR (July 12) -- Following a 48-hour suspension due to rain, AHSTW was outscored 7-0 when play resumed last Monday and lost to Shenandoah 9-2 in an opening round Class 2A district baseball game at Treynor. The contest was tied 2-2 on Saturday, July 10, when play was halted with two outs in the top of the third. The Mustangs scored four runs in the bottom of the third and added three more in the sixth to pull away, improving to 8-20 overal

 WINTERSET (July 13) -- For the Harlan Community softball team, another successful season has ended with another one-sided regional defeat. On Tuesday night, it was an eight-run bottom of the first that dashed the Cyclones’ latest hopes for their first state tournament berth since 2010. Winterset star shortstop Jena Young led off the first with a triple, capped the inning with a grand slam and added a two-run homer in the third as the top-rank

 ELK HORN (July 13) -- The Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton baseball team advanced to the district finals Tuesday night with an 11-1 win over Sidney in a Class 1A, District 14 semifinal. The Spartans (11-13) will now play fourth-ranked St. Albert (30-8) in a the District 14 final Saturday, July 17, in Council Bluffs. The Falcons have advanced with wins of 15-0 over Essex and 13-2 over Riverside.

 FONDA (July 12) -- The third time was nearly a charm for the Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton softball team. Loading the bases with one out in the top of the seventh inning, the Spartans were just a base hit away from tying the game or taking the lead against top-ranked Newell-Fonda. Instead, N-F freshman ace Kierra Jungers buckled down and struck out the next two batters on pitches up in the zone, allowing the Mustangs to escape Monday night’s Clas

 COUNCIL BLUFFS (July 16) -- Harlan Community will take a record of 15-15 into the Class 3A substate baseball tournament after splitting its final two regular season games against a pair of Council Bluffs teams. HCHS lost at Abraham Lincoln 6-2 on Tuesday night before routing Thomas Jefferson 18-6 on Wednesday, committing five errors in both games. Seeded fifth in Class 3A, Substate 8, the Cyclones will open the postseason at fourth-seeded Gle