The Harlan Community Cyclones (21-14) travel to Lewis Central (29-4) to take on the Titans in the Class 3A Substate 8 Regional Championship matchup. Harlan Community won the last matchup between the two teams 16-6 on June 20th. This matchup between the Cyclones and the Titans has been a recently developed rivalry as it has been back-and-forth action between the two teams.
Harlan last played Storm Lake, beating the Tornadoes 8-4 in 7 innings of action. Pitching for the Cyclones was Brock Lemerick who earned the win in the ballgame pitching in 4 innings of action. Lemerick allowed just three hits on zero earned runs and had three strikeouts. Lemerick was not alone on the mound as Braydon Ernst helped contribute in 3 innings of action, allowing six hits on three earned runs, striking out five Tornadoes. Harlan’s success has relied heavily on their pitching this season as they were able to beat Atlantic with success on the mound.
Leading the Cyclones on offense was Junior Cade Sears who went 3-4 at the plate with a single, triple, and a home run. Sears is batting .422 on the season and is leading the team in hits with 49, RBIs with 34, and in walks with 24. When Sears is in the zone, so are the Cyclones.
Looking at the opposite side of the field in the last competition, Lewis Central was able to beat Glenwood 9-3. Luke Woltmann pitched in 6 innings of action allowing four hits on two earned runs and struck out 10 on the night. Coming in relief was Brady Hetzel who allowed just one hit and was able to use his fielders to a defensive advantage to help achieve the win for the Titans.
Leading in the ballgame for the Titans was Logan Manz who went 3-4 in the ballgame with two singles and a double plus added on two RBIs. Luke Woltmann was right behind Manz as he went 2-4 with a single and a home run, earning himself an RBI on the night. Woltmann is leading the Titans at the plate with a .385 batting average and 46 RBIs. Woltmann is also leading the team in home runs with three and in slugging percentage at .587.
They will face off tonight at Lewis Central High School at 7 pm. Postgame coverage can be found right here on westerniowatoday.com.
