Harlan Community BB Stops Creston in Substate Semis, 9-1

Harlan Community Coach Heath Stein
(7-15-24)

HC's Colton Schneider & Matthew Sorfonden (7-15-24)

Harlan Community BB Stops Creston in Substate Semis, 9-1 –

(7-15-24) – Third time was a charm for the Cyclones.

Colton Schneider had 2 hits, including a run-scoring double that gave Harlan Community a lead they wouldn’t relinquish as they earned a 9-1 win over Creston in the Class 3A Substate 8 Semifinals Monday.

Schneider says when he has traffic on the basepaths while at the plate, it helps him get better pitches to hit.

“It just makes myself a lot more comfortable out there when I know I got speed on the base path and just trying to put it out there and I know they're gonna do something.”

Matthew Sorfonden was 3 for 4 with 2 stolen bases and 3 runs scored. Cyclone Coach Heath Stein knows the importance of getting his speedy leadoff hitter on.

“When Sorf gets on, there's a lot of options. He can obviously run. Bunt game comes into play and then we move, guys, you know, around the bases.”

“I knew it had to come up swinging early,” said Sorfonden. “I think that was our approach from the get go just to get on him right away. And I knew if I got on base, Guys like Colton, Quinn (Koesters), all them guys behind me were gonna knock me around. So my biggest thing was try to get on base whatever I could to get there. And then I know I can steal some bases, so get to 2nd and get home.”

Sorfonden reach on an infield single in the 1st, stole 2nd and scored on Brett Heese’s 2-out single to give the Cyclones the lead.

It was a mixed bad defensively for Harlan Community as they committed 4 errors, but made several defensive plays to prevent Creston from scoring runs and get out of innings.

“We struggled a little bit early picking it up and that opened the door for some opportunity for them, but we made some great plays to get out of it,” said Stein. “That relay play to get a guy at home. (Hayden) Soma got someone threw a guy out a second to stop a little bleeding and yeah, we struggled a little bit, but the toughness showed that we were able to bounce out of it on the mound and defensively.”

It was a throwing error that allowed the Panther’s No. 9-hitter Tyler Riley to reach 2nd base after originally being ruled out for interference with the play and the call overturned. Riley would then advance on a wild pitch and then score on an RBI fielder’s choice by Dylan Hoepker to tie the game at 1-1.

After allowing the next two runners on via a passed ball on 3rd strike and walk, Stein went to Brock Lemerick, who got a strikeout and terrific running catch in foul territory by left fielder Landon Kaufman to get out of the inning without any further damage.

“(We) try not to have a whole lot of mistakes because we know both teams are gonna be competing and hit the ball all over,” said Schneider.

The momentum let the Cyclones begin the 3rd inning hot with three consecutive hits, including Schnieder’s go-ahead double. They’s push across the 4 additional runs in the inning to open a 5-1 lead.

Four straight hits to start the 4th would lead to 3 more runs and comfortable lead for Harlan Community.

Caleb Schleis, Brock Lemerick, and Quinn Koesters each went 2.1 innings, combining to allow one unearned run on 5 hits while striking out 8. Stein likes that his pitching is lined up to compete Wednesday.

“We’ve got quite a few guys left. We’ve got Weston (Reisz). We’ve got Ernie (Braydon Ernst). We got Lemmy still available for Wednesday now and Colton’s available. The only guy burnt is Quinn. So, we’re in a good spot on the mound with what we’ve got and we’ll see what happens.”

For Sorfonden, getting a little revenge on Creston, who had already ended Harlan Community’s seasons in football and boys’ basketball this year, that was just a topper to the victory.

“It feels really good. I mean, they got us in football, they got us in basketball and we got them in baseball, so finished off the high school career with a good win against them and it's just good. It's gonna keep that momentum rolling into the next few games and hopefully more games to come after Wednesday.”

The other 3A-Substate 8 semifinal between Lewis Central and Bondurant-Farrar was delayed a day due to weather. Stein doesn’t think that the extra day of finding out who they will play in the Substate 8 final will be much of a factor.

“We’ll just see who comes out of it and try and prepare as much as we can.”

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