BACK TO STATE: HC BB Trounces LC to Qualify for 3A State Tournament, 10-0

Harlan Community Coach Heath Stein (7-17-24)

Harlan Community's Hayden Soma (7-17-24)

Harlan Community's Quinn Koesters (7-17-24)

Harlan Community's Braydon Ernst (7-17-24)

Harlan Community's Foxx Argotsinger (7-17-24)

BACK TO STATE: HC BB Trounces LC to Qualify for 3A State Tournament, 10-0 –

(7-17-24) – The hits just kept on coming. And now they’re coming to Cedar Rapids.

A home run by Hayden Soma sparked a 7-run 3rd that led Harlan Community to an easy 10-0 win over Lewis Central in 5 innings to qualify for the Class 3A State Baseball Tournament.

The Cyclones pounded out 8 hits in the first 3 innings as they attacked starting pitcher Aaron Kreps.

“We knew we had to be aggressive in the zone,” said Harlan Community Coach Heath Stein. “When we got good pitches to hit, you need to be ready for him, put good swings on him. These guys executed top to bottom in our lineup tonight very, very well.”

The Cyclones got four consecutive hits, starting with the Soma homer. That knocked out Kreps, but the Titans were short arms after their 11-inning win on Wednesday over Bondurant-Farrar and they brought in Brody Applegate, who hadn’t pitched in a week. He wouldn’t get a batter out and faced just 4 giving up two walks and a hit-by-pitch that would eventually score making it a 10-0 through 3 innings.

Soma, who was 2 for 3, knows his solo shot really pumped his teammates.

“It was just an energy boost for and as you said, it was a 7-run inning and it just got the fellas going.”

Stein likes seeing his emotional team leader break out.

“It's pretty apparent that he's an energetic fellow and there's no harder worker than him, so happy for the success he had tonight. He just nails behind the plate. He's a good hitter in the box. His numbers weren't what they wanted to be this year but just so capable and just deserves every piece of what he got tonight.”

After the first run scored on an error, Foxx Argotsinger came up with runners at 1st & 2nd with one out and rolled a seeing-eye single to right to give the Cyclones a 2-0 lead. Argotsinger, who’s only played in 16 varsity games, starting 12 of them, talked about those who’ve helped him make the adjustment from JV to varsity as a freshman.

“Well, obviously the coaches have, but then some of the players are like Sorf (Matthew Sorfonden) and Quinn (Koesters), they've been hyping me up and just helping me get along.”

Koesters would add a sac fly to give Harlan Community a 3-0 lead after 2 innings of play. The senior 2nd baseman was nostalgic about winning the Substate Championship at home and looks forward to another trip to the 3A State Tournament.

“Today we came in here, we knew it was our last game here at home, and we had to make it a good one. So, it'll be a blast. We had fun last year, but we're ready to win some games there this year.”

Braydon Ernst went all 5 innings for Harlan Community, scattering 3 hits while striking out 5. His game plan against Lewis Central was simple.

“I never faced them before, but I knew if I just threw strikes and let my defense work and the hitters did what they could, I'd we win.

Reaching the state tournament for a second-year in a row is all about the hardwork this team has put in throughout the season.

“They execute day after day and just work on their approaches, work on everything they got to do to get better and help the team.”

Harlan Community is the No. 6-seed in the Class 3A State Tournament and will play 3rd-seeded North Polk at 11:30am on Monday, July 22nd in Cedar Rapids.

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