Despite a last stitch effort in the top half of the seventh, Harlan was able to hold on to defeat Bishop Heelan Catholic 8-6 Tuesday afternoon in a Class 3A first-round game at Principal Park. Harlan took the lead from the start when Kyle Juhl sent a triple to deep right-center and Josh Cheek brought him in on a single to shallow center.

Brett Croghan was given the ball for Harlan and he tossed five strong innings of work for the home team. Croghan allowed two runs, both unearned, from six hits and four walks, while striking out two. He was helped all game long by brothers Dillon Sears and Brett Sears at short stop and third, respectively.

The Cyclones scored one more in the bottom of the third that began with Dillon Sears reaching on a walk and then advancing to second on a stolen base. Juhl moved Sears to third on a fly out to right and then Nick Tarney did his job by sending a deep sacrifice fly to left that allowed Sears to score.

Matthew Kerian was given the nod to start the game for Bishop Heelan where he tossed four innings for the away team. Kerian allowed four runs, all earned, from seven hits and two walks, while striking out two. He was replaced by Colin Kasperbauer for .2 innings of work.

Harlan scored another run in the fourth from two hits and an error to extend their lead to 3-0.  The Crusaders responded in the top of the fifth with two runs to shorten the lead to one. Kasperbauer reached base on Jared Moser’s misplayed grounder to start off the inning. Jackson Boever reached on a walk and Matt Nelson moved the runners due to Dillon Sears’ misplayed grounder. Bishop Heelan put two across from two hits from Hunter Hope and Kerian, but left three on base for the second time in the game.

Harlan wasted no time in getting those runs back and put two across in the bottom half from one hit and three walks. They added three more in the bottom of the sixth from two hits by Dillon Sears, who tripled and Juhl who singled to shallow center for the second time.

Down to their last outs, Bishop Heelan started a last ditch one-out rally in attempt to tie the game up to give their team one last shot. Bailey McBride started the rally with a single to left-center. Hope followed him with a double down the left field line that allowed McBride to score. Kerian hit a single of his own and Tom Schiltz reached base on Juhl’s misplayed ball. Will Karrer doubled to left center to score two more and move their seventh inning run total to four. With only one out and only down two now, Harlan’s Cheek settled down and got two fly outs to close the door on Heelan’s comeback.

Harlan (28-5) moves to the semifinals of the Class 2A semifinals. Heelan ended at 27-16.

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast w/Chris Parks.

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CLASS 2A STATE TOURNAMENT
Monday’s quarterfinals (7/25)
Clear Lake 10, Denver 5
Hinton 9, Van Buren 1
Pleasantville 3, Beckman Catholic 1
Kuemper Catholic 3, Collins-Maxwell/Baxter 2 (8-innings)

Thursday’s semifinals (7/28)
5 p.m. — Clear Lake (29-7) vs. Hinton (24-5)

7:30 p.m. — Pleasantville (29-9) vs. Kuemper-Catholic (25-11)

Tuesday’s Schedule

CLASS 3A STATE BASEBALL TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINALS
11 a.m. — Harlan (27-5) vs. Bishop Heelan Catholic (27-15)
1:30 p.m. — Wahlert (29-14) vs. Solon (21-20)
5 p.m. — Carlisle (31-6) vs. Central DeWitt (32-11)
7:30 p.m. — Pella (30-8) vs. Humboldt (25-7)

NEW YORK (AP) — The St. Louis Cardinals’ game at the New York Mets on Monday night was postponed because of rain and will be made up as part of a doubleheader Tuesday starting at 3:10 p.m. (Central Time)

Showers started just before batting practice was scheduled to start, and the rainout was announced just before the scheduled 6:10 p.m. (Central) start.

New York’s Noah Syndergaard (9-4) and the Cardinals’ Carlos Martinez (9-6) were pushed back a day and still start the opener. The Mets’ Bartolo Colon (8-5) and St. Louis’ Jaime Garcia (7-6), who had been scheduled to pitch Tuesday, will start the second game.

Because of the rainout, both teams will have to scramble to find starters on Saturday, when New York hosts Colorado and St. Louis is at Miami. The Cardinals also played a doubleheader against San Diego last Wednesday because of a rainout the previous day.

NEW YORK (AP) — The St. Louis Cardinals did not arrive at their hotel in New York until 8:30 a.m. Monday after a flight delay that followed a nationally televised night game. St. Louis’ 9-6 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Sunday night’s ESPN game lasted 3 hours, 49 minutes, and ended shortly before 11 p.m. CDT. The plane taking the Cardinals to New York did not land in St. Louis on time because of weather, causing the team to remain in its clubhouse for several hours.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A state lawyer says Iowa athletic director Gary Barta isn’t a public official. Assistant attorney general George Carroll made that claim in a filing last week. He’s asking a judge to dismiss former senior associate athletic director Jane Meyer’s request for an injunction blocking her layoff.

Meyer has been informed that her university job is being eliminated in September. She argues she’s being punished for complaining to Barta about gender discrimination. Barta reassigned Meyer outside of athletics in 2014, noting her partner, former field hockey coach Tracey Griesbaum, was planning to sue Barta over her firing.

Meyer is seeking to stop her layoff under Iowa’s Whistleblower Act, which protects employees who disclose wrongdoing to public officials. Carroll says Barta isn’t a public official since he reports to the university president.

CHICAGO (AP) – Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett and Iowa cornerback Desmond King highlight the preseason all-Big Ten selections. Barrett was selected to the East team along with Michigan defensive back Jabrill Peppers, Michigan State defensive lineman Malik McDowell, Ohio State linebacker Raekwon McMillan and Penn State running back Saquon Barkley by a media panel. Iowa quarterback C.J. Beathard and defensive back Desmond King, Northwestern running back Justin Jackson and linebacker Anthony Walker, and Wisconsin running back Corey Clement were West picks.

Barrett – 15-2 as a starter – enters his junior season in the top spot after losing out to Cardale Jones last year and then replacing him. King, the 2015 Thorpe Award winner as the country’s top defensive back, leads a team that went 12-2 and 8-0 in conference play.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – A University of Iowa football player says he was playing “Pokemon Go” in a public park when he was mistaken for a suspected bank robber, surrounded by police and searched at gunpoint. Faith Ekakitie writes on Facebook that he feared for his life Wednesday in Iowa City. He explains that a bank had been robbed nearby and that he matched the suspect’s description of a “large black male, wearing all black, with something on top of his head.” He says he was wearing goggles on his head at the time.

Ekakitie says he understands why police did what they did. He says he had headphones in and didn’t respond to police commands. He thanks Iowa City police for their professionalism.  A police spokesman chalks up the episode to “unfortunate timing.”

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast w/Jim Field.

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AMES, Iowa (AP) – An Iowa State football player has been suspended from the team after his arrest in Ames. University police say 20-year-old Nigel Tribune was pulled over a little before 3 a.m. Sunday because he had not turned on his vehicle’s headlamps.

Police say Tribune failed field sobriety tests and a preliminary breath test. He’s been charged with operating while intoxicated and with two traffic violations.  Iowa State coach Matt Campbell says Tribune has been suspended indefinitely from the team. Tribune is listed as a backup cornerback on the depth chart.