Cyclone BB Cruise to Win Over Carroll in Substate QF, 11-3

Cyclone BB Cruise to Win Over Carroll in Substate QF, 11-3 -

(7-12-24) – Most postseason’s runs feature offense from unexpected places.

Harlan Community got that against Carroll getting a 3-run homer from Landon Kaufman and a bases-clearing double from Weston Reisz to earn an 11-3 win in the Class 3A Substate 8 quarterfinals.

Kaufman’s home run in the 3rd extended the lead for the Cyclones after the Tigers had battled back in the top of the inning to tie the game 2-2.

“It felt really good off the bat,” said Kaufman. “During BP, I was hitting them really well, so I was hoping it was going and it went and I saw it was gone. I was excited. It was my first one I've ever hit in my whole life, so it was great.”

The close game early on was expected.

“We knew it was going to be a dogfight. There's always a different feel for these post season games,” said Cyclone Coach Heath Stein. “We talked about, the adrenaline is going to be a little bit higher just naturally and trying to be able to slow it down a little bit and just stay in our routine and stay in your thought process in the box.”

With Kaufman and Reisz’s effort, the Harlan Community got 6 RBI combined from their 7 & 8 hitters in the lineup. Stein knows that’s important for his team to be successful this postseason.

“Those guys did a great job, you know, they know they're going to get fast balls to hit most of the time, every bat they're going to get at least one. And they were both on them that time. So good to see out of them. Hopefully that continues.”

Braydon Ernst went the distance for Harlan Community, giving up 1 earned run while striking out 4. After a rough first 3 innings with a lot of traffic, he settled down in the 4th allowing just three base runners the rest of the way, at one point retiring 10 in a row.

Ernst also was benefit of some terrific defense, including Kaufman throwing a great relay from left to Colton Schneider who nailed a runner at the plate in 2nd. Hayden Soma also threw out a base runner trying to steal 2nd to put a dent into Carroll’s rally in the 3rd. Stein knows the importance of team limiting mistakes in the field.

“Our defense has been sound all year along with good pitching. So, we continue to do that, we're going to be in ball games.”

Kaufman understands the offense will be key to helping this team get back to the Class 3A State Baseball Tournament.

“We gotta get hot. You know, we gotta get the bats rolling early and just have a good momentum throughout the whole game.”

Harlan Community will host Creston in the Class 3A Substate Semifinals on Monday.

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