Number six Harlan ends Rams baseball season

Greene County's baseball team had valiant effort, but lost their first round tournament game to sixth ranked Harlan 3-0 in Harlan on Friday night. Both teams were scoreless for the first three innings. In the bottom of the fourth, the Cyclones scored the only three runs of the game on two hits, two walks, and a Ram error. The Rams had seven base runners and  threatened to score when two of them reached second and third in the fifth inning, but the Cylcones turned a great double play to end the inning. Harlan's pitcher Brett Croghan who came into the game with an ERA of 1.30 held Greene County to five hits and only walked one batter. Getting hits for the Rams were Wes Tipton and Alex Rasmussen, with two singles apiece and Riah Nelsen with one single.

Nelson took the pitching loss, giving up two earned runs and five hits. Riah also struck out three and walked four batters in 3 2/3 innings. Colton Fitzpatrick came in for the last 2 1/3 innings and gave up no runs, one hit, and one walk, while striking out two and hitting one batter with a pitch. "The kids gave great effort tonight and never gave up," said coach Mark Sawhill. "We didn't take advantage of our scoring opportunities, and you can't win if you don't score. I have enjoyed this team's effort and attitude this season, and with only two seniors, I am optimistic about our future."

The Rams finished their season with a 11-15 record, while the Harlan improved to 23-8. The Cyclones will meet Carroll in a second round game on July 21. Carroll defeated Denision- Schleswig 7-6 to advance to the second round.