STATE BOUND: Cyclones Defeat Rival LC to Earn Trip to Iowa City, 9-6

HC Coach Heath Stein (7-12-23)

HC's Matthew Sorfonden (7-12-23)

HC's Landon Kaufman (7-12-23)

HC's Quinn Koesters (7-12-23)

STATE BOUND: Cyclones Defeat Rival LC to Earn Trip to Iowa City, 9-6 -

(7-12-23) – The winds of victory spun toward Harlan Community Wednesday.

The Cyclones would use a 5-run 6th to topple the 4th-ranked Titans by a final of 9-6 in the Class 3A Substate 8 Championship Game. It marks Harlan Community's 19th State Tournament appearance and their first since 2018. Coach Heath Stein liked his team's approach at the plate.

"They were pretty gritty again tonight. Landon Kaufman had a huge double to get us going, you know, swing the bats a little bit," Stein told KNOD Sports following the win. "We just created pressure like we talk about a lot and ran the bases really well and got pressure on them and made them make plays and tonight they did."

Kaufman talked about what it feels like to reach the 3A State Tournament.

"It feels great. We're all excited. I think we'll do just fine. It's gonna be amazing."

After striking first on fielder's choice by Hayden Soma in the 3rd, Lewis Central would tie the game in the bottom of 4th. Brett Heese and Cade Sears would score in the 5th as Soma reached on a error to give Harlan Community the lead for good.

The Cyclones took an 8-1 lead into the bottom of the 6th, when the Titans would finally get to starter Stephen Leinen for 4 runs, capped by a 2-RBI single by Ty Thomson to cut the deficit to 3.
Quinn Koesters, who knocked in a run in that crucial 6th inning, came on to get the final four outs of the contest.

"The team is awesome. Play good 'D' behind me. I just gotta get a ball in the zone and let them work. That happened and now we're here."

The Cyclone started the season slow, but their confidence never waivered. 1st basemen Matthew Sorfonden knew this team had the potential for State Tournament bid.

"We started out 0-5 and I think a lot of people had doubts about us. I just knew from the start once we started to click this was gonna be a big year for us."

Harlan Community is the 8th seed in the Class 3A State Tournament and will face Western Dubuque on Monday at 5pm from Duane Banks Field in Iowa City. KNOD will have the game on 105.3 FM and audio streaming at www.knodfm.com.

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