HC Baseball Walks Off Atlantic in Thrilling Substate QF, 2-1

HC's Colton Schneider & Jonas Reynolds (7-10-26)

HC Baseball Coach Heath Stein (7-10-26)

HC Baseball Walks Off Atlantic in Thrilling Substate QF, 2-1 –

(7-10-26) - It was another late rally thriller for Cyclones baseball.

Jonas Reynold’s sac fly scored Colton Schneider in the bottom of 7th to walk it off for Harlan Community as they hung on for a 2-1 win over Atlantic in the 3A-Substate 8 Quarterfinals.

With game tied at 1, Schneider worked a leadoff walk in the 7th then stole 2nd and went to third on a throwing error by Trojans catcher Hudson McLaren. After relief pitcher Jack Muller struck out Harrison Kjergaard, Reynolds was able to loft the ball to right and the throw by Zayden Parker was offline to score Schneider.

Reynolds talked about the Cyclones flare for the dramatic this season.

“We like to keep the crowd entertained,” said Reynolds of Harlan Community’s late game heroics. “Sometimes it gets stressful in the dugout, but as long as we can buckle down, get tough and get the win, it's all we need to do.”

The game was a pitcher’s duel going into the 6th with Atlantic starter Kale Jensen tossing 4 no-hit innings and stranding 5 runners on base. Reynolds matched him for the most part, allowing just two hits and one run in 5 innings of work.

Cyclone Coach Heath Stein understands these are type of ballgames that you play in the playoffs.

“We stayed right there. That's what I told him. That's (how you) win post-season ball games. It’s pitching and defense, a lot of it. And execution, which we need to do a little bit better at. But you hang tough and the last three outs are always really tough to get, last few outs, especially with the lead. So, we didn't press, we had some good at-bats, and finally got the big hit we needed.”

Schneider helped keep the game close by striking out 6 consecutive batters in the 6th and 7th. He says goes looking for to use his defense behind, despite the results.

“I just gotta trust myself and trust my defense, and fastball has been working a lot this season, working really well. I'm just trying to paint corners and get it in play.”

Jacob Spangenberg had an RBI double for the Cyclones, who will play Denison-Schleswig in the substate semifinals Monday.

Atlantic got an RBI double by Kale Jensen to drive in their only run of the game in the 6th as their season ends at 8-19.

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