LC Thumps HC Baseball, 12-0

LC Thumps HC Baseball, 12-0 –

(6-18-26) – They met for the final time as conference foes. But this one wasn’t close.

A brilliant pitching performance, solid defense, and timely hitting had Lewis Central dominating Harlan Community by a final of 12-0.

Cyclone Coach Heath Stein felt his team played well, despite the lopsided score.

“12-0 wasn't indicative of how we played,” said Stein following the contest. “I don't think we played that bad. We had a lot of balls in the barrel, a lot of balls right at him. And then the mishap by myself in the first inning, trying to press the issue a little bit and getting thrown out the plate and really killed the momentum and changed the game immensely.”

The mishap Stein spoke of was sending Foxx Argotsinger from 1st with nobody out on a double by Colton Schneider. Argotsinger was thrown out on a perfect relay by Drew Heller to Brooks Bond to Brody Applegate. The play kept the game at 2-0 and gave the Titans momentum. Harrison Kjergaard would get an infield single as the first three Cyclones all reached base. But a fielder’s choice and a fly out would end the threat.

Harlan Community wouldn’t get any closer to scoring the rest of the way.

After Kjergaard’s hit, Lewis Central starter Brody Burroughs would only allow two more base runners the entire game, a hit by pitch to Jacob Spangenberg, who was erased on a line-drive double play, and a 6th inning single by Argotsinger.

Gavin Sisson struggled at the start of the game. A stark contrast from his outing in Council Bluffs against the Titans when he took a no-hitter into the 6th and gave up just 1 run on 1 hit in that contest. This time he allowed two 1st inning runs on three hits and two errors. He was able to push through the next two innings to keep it close. But got tagged by Bond for a solo homer to leadoff the 4th and it ballooned into a 5-run inning for Lewis Central to blow the game open. Stein felt Sisson did a decent job, despite his overall line.

“He wasn't his sharpest he's been, but he was still executing pitches when he needed to and getting some of these tough hitters out with it.”

The game marked the final time Harlan Community and Lewis Central will compete as conference rivals. Stein has fond memories of the competitions with Lewis Central in Hawkeye Ten Conference.

“We've had a lot of good battles over the years against Lewis Central. A lot of respect for them. Mike Metz does a good job. They're always talented. We've had a lot of good wins. A couple of times, beat them to go to the state tournament, which is always going to be, you know, in our minds.”

Even though the Titans will be moving to the Missouri River Conference next year, Stein believes the teams will still match-up during the regular season in seasons to come.

View past scores by visiting the Iowa High School Athletic Association's website, Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union website,
or Iowa Quik Stats