Cyclones fall one win shy of state tournament, finshes 25-9 overall

CARLISLE - For six innings Monday night and another six on Wednesday, HCHS showed the resilience that defined its postseason.
The Cyclones opened the play-offs with back-to-back walk-off victories before their season came to an end Wednesday night, falling 14-5 to Carlisle in the Class 3A Substate Final.
Despite the loss, HCHS finished one victory shy of the state tournament for the second consecutive season while reaching the substate championship game for the fourth straight year. 
The Cyclones have qualified for the state tournament twice during that four-year stretch.
Just two nights earlier, HCHS punched its ticket to the substate final with a thrilling 6-5, eight-inning victory over Denison-Schleswig.
Cyclones Walk Off Monarchs HCHS advanced after Harrison Kjergaard delivered a two-out infield single in the bottom of the eighth inning, scoring Joseph Gross with the winning run and sending the Cyclones into the substate championship.
“It was a back-and-forth type of game that went in our favor,” head coach Heath Stein said. 
“They’re a very gritty bunch over there. They’re loaded with seniors and tough kids, and they just didn’t quit. We felt pretty good on the mound with Colton needing just three outs to finish it, but they just kept battling. They’re very, very tough, so kudos to them. But we have tough kids too, and they just continued to play and grind it out.”
The Cyclones grabbed a 2-0 lead in the third inning when Jonas Reynolds and Cade Nelson delivered consecutive RBI singles.
After Denison-Schleswig tied the game in the fifth, HCHS answered immediately. 
Foxx Argotsinger singled, Colton Schneider was hit by a pitch and Kjergaard laid down a bunt single to load the bases before Nelson and Jacob Spangenberg each drove in a run to give the Cyclones a 4-2 ad-vantage.
Kjergaard extended the lead to 5-2 in the sixth with an RBI double that scored Schneider.
The Monarchs rallied in the seventh, using a bases-clearing double to erase the three-run deficit and tie the game at 5-5 before Schneider escaped further damage.
Stein’s message after the inning was simple. “The message was just to keep playing,” Stein said. 
“We needed to get some traffic on the bases, move those runners around and give ourselves a chance. Our guys never got too high or too low. They stayed with it, and eventually we found a way to get the big hit when we needed it.”
In the eighth, Gross was hit by a pitch before Barrett Kaufman advanced him with a sacrifice bunt. 
Argotsinger walked, a balk moved both runners into scoring position and Denison-Schleswig intentionally walked Schneider to load the bases. Kjergaard said he expected the decision.
“I had a thought that it was definitely going to happen. I heard it in the dugout a couple of times,” Kjergaard said. 
“I just thought, ‘You know what? I can’t get any more ready than I am right now.’ All of the work in the off-season really paid off.”
The senior then chopped an in-field single to score Gross and send the Cyclones into celebration.
“I feel like a lot of people would get crushed under pressure, but I have a lot of confidence in our team,” Kjergaard said. 
“I’ve really performed better under pressure this year in big moments like the Lewis Central game, and tonight definitely brought the best out of me.”
Kjergaard finished 4-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs scored to lead HCHS’s 10-hit attack. 
Reynolds went 2-for-4 with an RBI, Nelson drove in two runs, and Schneider scored three times.
On the mound, Gavin Sisson allowed two runs over 4 1/3 innings before Schneider earned the win  with 3 2/3 innings of relief.
“It definitely wasn’t his best,” Stein said of Sisson. 
“His breaking ball came and went, and he walked a few and hit a few batters, but he got tough when he needed to. He made the big pitches and got himself out of some jams, and that gave us a chance to win the ballgame.”
Kjergaard said the Cyclones’ belief in one another carried them through another dramatic finish.
“All year we haven’t given up, even in the deepest parts of the game and through some of the struggles we’ve had,” Kjergaard said.
“We have some of the scrappiest guys in the state. We have nine scrappy guys on the field that don’t give up. I don’t let anyone in the dugout throw a helmet or hang their heads. We have really scrappy kids from a small town who have something to prove against bigger schools.”
Stein believed the Cyclones’ confidence continued to grow after back-to-back walk-off victories.
“We’ve found a couple of different ways to win—with pitching and defense, and then putting up some crooked numbers tonight,” Stein said. 
“I still don’t think we’ve played our best baseball over the last two or three games. Hopefully we just stay composed, go play our game and see what happens.”
Carlisle Ends the Cyclones Season
The Wildcats wasted little time taking control Wednesday night.
Carlisle scored two runs in the first inning before adding two more in the third and fourth innings to build a 6-0 lead.
HCHS finally broke through in the fourth when Kjergaard connected on a solo home run before Reynolds added a two-run homer to trim the deficit to 6-3.
The Cyclones pulled even closer in the sixth. Cade Nelson blasted a solo home run, and Kjergaard added an RBI homer, cutting Carlisle’s lead to 8-5.
Carlisle immediately answered with its biggest inning of the night, erupting for six runs in the bottom of the sixth to put the game away and earn a 14-5 victory.
The Wildcats finished with 11 hits, including three home runs. 
Carter Berg led the offense by going 3-for-3 with two home runs, three runs scored and two RBIs. Ben Lancaster collected two hits and drove in two runs, while Trevor Shepard added two hits and two RBIs.
HCHS managed five hits, with all of its scoring coming via the long ball. 
Kjergaard finished 1-for-4 with a pair of RBIs, Reynolds went 1-for-3 with a two-run homer, and Nelson was 2-for-3 with a home run and an RBI. Gross added the Cyclones’ other hit.
Jonas Reynolds started on the mound, allowing seven runs over four innings while striking out one.
Joseph Gross pitched one inning in relief before Michael Hoffmann worked the sixth inning.
Although the season ended one game short of Cedar Rapids, the Cyclones once again proved to be among Class 3A’s top programs, reaching the substate final for the fourth consecutive season and finishing another memorable season at 25-9 for the Cyclones.