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VOL. 39 NO. 49 SHELDON, IOWASATURDAY, JUNE 9, 2012

First-year revenues likelywill fall short of estimates

b y d a n b R e e nS t a ff W ri t e r

LARCHWOOD—Grand Falls Casino Resort near Larchwood likely will not reach

its goal in gaming revenue by the end of its first year. The facility opened its doors to the pub-lic one year ago today (Saturday, June 9). While the registers have been rolling all year, Grand Falls will come up short of the estimated $70 million in receipts outlined

See CASINO on page A11

Transplanted kidneystill functioning well


SIOUX CENTER—N’West Iowa’s most well-known Ivory Coast resi-dent is heading home. With his transplanted kidney functioning well and at the bless-ing of his doctors, 52-year-old Dea Lieu will return to his family in West Africa next week. He has not been home in more than a year and a half. His story has been well-docu-mented. An escapee from his war-ravished country, Lieu ended up at Dordt College in Sioux Center in search of a higher education to provide for his family and his Christian agricultural ministry in Danané. He graduated from Dordt in 2007 and returned home to find the mission he started almost completely abandoned. It took him three years to get the mission

See LIEU on page A11

Lieutenant governor stops in Orange City


ORANGE CITY—Sioux County has been hit hard by news of plant closings in recent weeks, making job growth a natural topic of conversation for Iowa Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds when she stopped in Orange City on Wednesday.

See REYNOLDS on page A14

Two incumbents losein primary election

b y l i n d S ay H o e P P n e RS t a ff W ri t e r

REGIONAL—Two N’West Iowa incumbents lost their bids for nomi-

nation and another race remains undecided after Tuesday’s county primary elections to decide party candidates for the November gen-eral election. The closest contest locally was the Republican nomination for Lyon

See PRIMARY on page A10

Joe Stanford of Del Rapids, SD, smiles as dealer Kim Melillo slides a stack of poker chips to him after he won a hand of black jack Wednesday at Grand Falls Casino Resort in rural Larchwood. (Photo by Josh Harrell)

Lieu plans to return home

Lyon County’s sheriff race decided by 10 votes

Reynolds focuses on job growth

Iowa Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds pro-vides an update on the recently completed legislative session to about 30 city and business lead-ers Wednesday at the new Prairie Winds Event Center in Orange City. (Photo by Dan Breen)

Dea Lieu received a kidney from Amy Vander Berg of Sioux Center. The Ivory Coast resident will be heading back home to his native country next week with his transplanted kidney functioning well. (File photo)

N’West Iowa voter turnout was down significantly from two years ago, although part of that may be attributed to there being a contested race for the Republican governor’s nomination in the GOP-heavy area in 2010. There were, however, more contested county races in the four-county area in 2012.

VOTER TURNOUT:

Registered Votes 2012 2010County voters cast Percent percentLyon 8,174 2,824 35% 22%O’Brien 10,333 2,047 20% 30%Osceola 4,601 1,666 36% 36%Sioux 20,259 857 4% 29%N’West Iowa 43,367 7,394 17% 29%

Source: County auditors; Iowa secretary of state

FAREWELL POTLUCK n A farewell supper for Dea Lieu will take place at 6:30 p.m. Friday, June 15, at Children’s Park in Sioux Center. You’re asked to bring a hot dish and a cold dish to share. Table service and drinks will be provided. In the event of rain, the potluck will be held at First Christian Reformed Church, 321 Second St. S.E.

Beginner’s Luck


LESTER—Farming has become a lot sweeter for Monte and Karla Gerber this spring. The crop and custom hog farmers have a new delicious business venture at their farm two and

a half miles north of Lester: Strawberries. The family had a soft opening for their public pick-ing patch last spring, but with more plants and more strawberries this year, they are taking the next step to get the word out to fresh strawberry lovers. “We were looking for a different way to diversify our farm operation,” said Karla, 34. “Strawberries really fit into the timing of our operation.” June tends to be a less busy month in their hog and crop farming, while it is the height of strawberry sea-son.

See BERRIES on page A9

‘‘Last year we wondered

if we’d get sick of eating

strawberries. We never did.

karla gerberSTRAWBERRY FARMER

Berry GoodFarm near Lester diversifi es its operation with strawberry patch

PHOTOS BY JOSH HARRELL

1202 21st Avenue,Rock Valley, IA 51247712.476.8000www.hegghc.org

Taking Care of Your Family Through Every Stage of Life.

SATURDAY, JUNE 9, 2012 n THE N'WEST IOWA REVIEW/SHELDON, IA A5

NEWS

He could face up to15 years in prison

b y a l l i S o n S U e S S eS t a ff W ri t e r

ROCK RAPIDS—A 48-year-old Sibley man has been charged with forging checks and steal-ing more than $280,000 from an acquaintance in Lyon Coun-

ty. D a l e D e l a i n e T i m m e r -m a n w a s a r r e s t e d June 1 and c h a r g e d with forg-ery, a Class D f e l o n y, and first-degree theft, a Class C

felony. If found guilty, he could face a maximum sentence of 15 years plus restitution. “From what I understand, this is probably one of the big-gest thefts of money (in Lyon County),” said Lt. Fred Landis of the Lyon County Sheriff’s Department. Ti m m e r m a n i s a c c u s e d of stealing checks from an acquaintance who had two

bank accounts, Landis said. Timmerman forged the own-er’s name on checks written for sums of about $3,000-$5,000 and cashed them at the bank. He used the money to fund personal expenses, which the sheriff’s department will deter-mine upon reviewing Timmer-man’s bills and bank records. “We’ll put a hold on that money so none of it is spent

and the victim can hopefully get it back,” Landis said. Records from the bank indi-cate he was forging checks from January 2011 until the Lyon County Sheriff’s Depart-ment was notified June 1. Landis said he was not sure when the victim discovered Timmerman had been forging checks, but added both the vic-tim and bank personnel spoke

to the sheriff’s department at the same meeting on June 1. “Somebody just wasn’t paying attention is what it boils down to,” Landis said. Timmerman was transported to the county jail in Rock Rap-ids, where bail has been set for $50,000 cash. A preliminary hearing has been set for June 12 in Lyon County District Court Rock Rapids.

Completes second partof The Phoenix Project


ORANGE CITY—Doors have opened at the new Prairie Winds Event Center in Orange City. The $4.6 million facility is the sec-ond part of The Phoenix Project to be completed, joining the downtown Hawkeye Center, which opened last summer. The 17,000-square-foot event cen-ter hosted its first event, a wedding reception, on Friday, June 1, and has wedding receptions lined up for every weekend through late August. Twenty-three couples have booked their wedding receptions at the facility and more than 60 events over the next 15 months already are scheduled. Event center manager Maria Plueger expects weddings and receptions to be the most popular use of the facility. “I think that will be our bread and butter,” she said. Prairie Winds Event Center received a portion of funding from a $4.5 mil-lion general obligation bond narrowly passed in a super majority by the com-munity in November 2009 to support The Phoenix Project. The event center also received a $922,000 grant from Vision Iowa’s Community Attraction and Tourism Fund. The facility took about 20 months to complete. Most visitors to the two-story build-ing will come through the north entrance which faces Highway 10. The entry lobby features large, original artwork from two local artists, Rein Vander Hill of Orange City and John Vander Stelt of Maurice, which tie into the prairie theme. “We wanted to exhibit the prairie scene in the lobby, but we wanted to keep it as unthemed as possible in the ballroom,” Plueger said. An adjoining bar can be accessed

from either the lobby or the grand ballroom. The Blue Mountain Culi-nary Emporium of Orange City runs the bar and holds the liquor license. The bar features a piece of art by Alton artist Kristy Kepp. All three art pieces were paid for by an anonymous donor. The ballroom is the centerpiece of the facility and has both a main floor and balcony. The main floor has a large room with two smaller wings on each side that can be opened up or sectioned off depending on the size of the event. The lower level has seating for 250 with additional round table seating for another 150 on the balcony level. Visitors will have to crane their necks to see the beautiful wooden ceiling. “Everybody loves the ceiling,” Plueger said. “That’s the first thing everyone comments on, that it’s so unique.” The ballroom also has a mobile stage that can be used for a variety of pur-poses and transformed into whatever the needs of the renter are. Loren Oschner of Maurice created backlit stained-glass windows in the stone support pillars that have real prairie grasses subtly fused into the glass. Plueger called the sound system “amazing.” Almost any device, such as an iPod or iPad, can be plugged into the system and get stunning audio. Everything is plug-in ready for devices. Everything from the shades to the sound is run through Plueger’s wireless iPad. The facility also has an outdoor pavilion on the south side that some couples will use for outdoor weddings with the event center then serving as a reception location. The pavilion is backdropped with white arches and the grassy area has seating for up to 200 guests. The entire facility costs $775 to rent, with other options available. A calen-dar of open dates can be found on the event center’s website.

Step one is over, in case you haven’t noticed, in this political election year. I can’t help but believe that

even though you may have become weary of all the phone calls and full mailboxes with political advertising that you don’t feel just a little proud to be an American, proud to be a part of this great system of ours. Our system for choosing folks to become our representatives who speak up for us, protect us, sometimes even from ourselves, isn’t exactly perfect, and never has been, but it seems to be the best there is worldwide. Apathy rears its ugly head from time to time for many reasons, but when people see events around them not to their lik-ing, they can and do get out and vote their opinions. There was relatively good voter turn-out for Tuesday’s primaries in Iowa. Perhaps we didn’t see those win that we’d hoped would, but ideally we can accept the results and help make that winner successful within our particular political party. If they did win, then right or wrong according to you, the major-ity spoke and we go on. However, this is often just the beginning of ugly; neigh-

bor against neighbor, brother against brother; bad winners, bad losers. Sounds a little melodramatic perhaps, but things can be said that can never be taken back, and people never forget; words cut deep, especially when these same people live next door. And now we go on to the next level of government and elections that again count and count even more. As I write this, there is a horrific crisis in Syria on one extreme and the other extreme is the excessive pomp and costly extrava-gance displayed in England with the anniversary celebration of the queen of England. What examples of the extremes in our world. The particular event that I’d like to share was not necessarily recent, but when I saw it on the Internet last week, it really touched my heart. It was about a group of ladies in Dallas. These wom-en make neck pillows for soldiers com-ing through their huge international airport. The women meet the men as they anxiously come in for a little rest and relaxation. They greet the soldiers personally, giving them one of the neck pillows they’d made and thank them for their service to America. And, most

importantly, they tell the men that they are praying for them. But one particular day these young men had a real surprise. They spotted former President George Bush and his wife, Laura, standing quietly in the wait-ing area with the others who had come to meet the troop planes. One particular lady said it was amaz-ing to watch the faces of the soldiers light up as they recognized the famous couple. Many of the soldiers walked over to shake hands with the unas-suming couple. This was not a political event; President Bush was no longer in office. It didn’t matter if they were Democrat or Republican. This was merely two people showing they cared and appreciated what these young men were doing for us so that we didn’t become another Syria or an England, or, or, or. Another moment that touched my heart: I took our four grandkids for a day of amusement park fun at Arnolds Park. As Sam and I sat waiting for the other three to catch up with us at the roller coaster, I saw Sam staring at the gigantic American flag flapping in the breeze at the entrance of the park. I asked Sam

what he was thinking about. He hesitat-ed for a moment and then commented on the size of that flag. “If we put that flag on our pole at home, it would touch the ground,” Sam told me as he quietly thought on. Whatever else he was thinking about, of course, I’ll never know. I do know what I wish it would be, something about pride maybe? That short conversation made me reflective and hoping that neither of our grandsons, or granddaughters for that matter, would ever have to come in harm’s way defending that flag and the people who stood behind it; but if it would come to that end, that they’d protect it all with pride and without res-ervation. There are no guarantees in life, but voting in what we believe in hopefully will keep us free and proud. Remember to fly your flag on Flag Day, Thursday, June 14. God is so good.

Connie Wagner lives in Sibley.She is the co-publisher of The N’West Iowa REVIEW and may be reachedat [email protected].

OBSERVATIONS

Flag Day is June 14

CONNIE WAGNERCO-PUBLISHER

Sibley man accused of forging more than $280,000 in checks

Timmerman

The decor in the entryway of the Prairie Winds Event Center in Orange City pays homage to the name of the new $4.6 million structure. (Photos by Josh Harrell)

Orange City event center opens, first reception hosted

The new Prairie Winds Event Center in Orange City has officially opened as a site for conference, expos, meetings, wedding recep-tions and much more. The facility is located along Highway 10.

AT A GLANCE:

RIBBON-CUTTING: n Orange City will hold a ceremonial ribbon-cutting for the new Prairie Winds Event Center at 11 a.m. Monday, June 24, with Gov. Terry Branstad expected to attend. Tours will be given by the Orange City Ambassadors after the ribbon-cutting.

The city also will host activities at the event center on Wednesday, June 26, with a free community appreciation meal 4:30-7 p.m. with the On-State Orange City event: “Orange City’s Got Talent” beginning at 5 p.m.

Structure: Prairie Winds Event CenterAddress: 908 Eighth St. S.E., Orange CityCompletion: June 2012Architect: Cannon, Moss, Brygger & Associates of Sioux CityGeneral contractor: Schelling Construction of Sioux

CenterSize: 17,000 square feetCost $4.6 millionManager: Maria PluegerContact: (712) 707-5900 or (712) 899-3966Online: www.prairiewindseventcenter.com

son with life limiting illnesses. Those completing the training will be eligible to serve as a vol-unteer, however, are under no obligation to do so. Registration is necessary by calling Janna Erickson at (712) 336-2941 or e-mailing [email protected].

Planetarium to beat Sheldon library SHELDON—O’Brien County naturalist Charlene Elyea will present a program on planets in a giant, inflatable plan-etarium at 3 p.m. Monday, June 11, in the storytime room at Sheldon Public Library as part of the 2012 Summer Reading Program. All ages are welcome. Registration is required. For more information, contact the library at (712) 324-2442.

Judges wanted for4-H cooking camp SIOUX CENTER—Sixteen young chefs will compete in a “mystery basket” cooking experience when the “iCook” 4-H Cooking Camp is held June 12-15 at Northwestern College in Orange City. The public is invited to serve as a judge at the cooking challenge at 1:30 p.m. Friday, June 15, at First

Reformed Church in Sioux Center. The ticket to judge is a donation of a grocery item or canned goods that will go to a local food pantry.

Free meal offeredin Sioux Center SIOUX CENTER—A free Community Unity Meal will be offered 6-7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 14, at New Life Reformed Church in Sioux Center.

Fieldcrest notes10th anniversary S H E L D O N — F i e l d c r e s t Assisted Living will hold its 10th anniversary celebration at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 13. Siouxland Pork Producers will grill pork burgers for a meal that will include baked beans and coleslaw. Jessie James Band of Spirit Lake will perform will provide entertainment.

Immunizationsoffered in region REGIONAL—Community Health Partners will provide immunizations for children through age 18 1-5:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 13, at Orange City Public Health; 1-5:30 p.m. Thursday, June 21, at Hope

Christian Reformed Church in Hull; and 1-5:30 p.m. Wednes-day, June 27, at Hawarden Christian Reformed Church. For more information on immunizations, call (712) 737-2971, 1-800-435-3454 or visit www.siouxcountychp.org.

Blood drives to beheld in area towns PAULLINA—LifeServe Blood Center will hold a blood drive 12:30-6 p.m. Thursday, June 14, at Orange City Area Health Sys-tem; 9:15 a.m.-1 p.m. Monday, June 18, at Hospers Commu-nity Center; 1-6 p.m. Tuesday, June 19, at Hull Community Center; and 1-6 p.m. Wednes-day, June 20, at the American Legion Hall in Paullina. To schedule an appointment, call 1-800-287-4903 or visit www.lifeservebloodcenter.org.

The Kooi Family toperform in Sheldon SHELDON—The Kooi Fam-ily of rural Inwood will present an outdoor concert when the Christian Retirement Home in Sheldon hosts an ice cream social at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 14, near its front entrance. Bring lawn chairs. Ice cream, homemade bars, coffee and punch will be served. In case of inclement weather, the concert will be held indoors.

U.S. Sen. Grassleyoffers internships REGIONAL—Applications for fall internships with U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley are due Friday, June 15. Internships are avail-able for college-age Iowans in Grassley offices in Washington, D.C., Cedar Rapids, Council Bluffs, Davenport, Des Moines, Sioux City and Waterloo. Internships run Aug. 20-Dec. 15. Application forms are avail-able on Grassley’s Senate web-site. For more information on interning, e-mail [email protected] or call (202) 224-3744.

Fishing activitiesslated for June 16 SIOUX CENTER—Join the Sioux County Conservation Board, Sioux Center Walmart and Sioux County Sportsmen’s Club for a free, fun-filled morn-ing of fishing instruction, fish-

ing, prizes, casting contest and giveaways from 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Saturday, June 16, at Sandy Hollow Recreational Area pond east of Sioux Center. All ages are welcome. Those 16 years and older must have a valid fishing license to participate. Fishing poles will be available for use. Preregistration is necessary by calling (712) 552-3057.

Alzheimer’s caretraining offered SPIRIT LAKE—The Home Instead Senior Care office in Spirit Lake is offering free train-ing for families caring for older adults with Alzheimer’s and other dementias. The training is available through online e-learning modules, available at HelpForAlzheimersFamilies.com. For more information, call Alison Paladino at Home Instead Senior Care at 1-888-296-2411 Ext. 9731.

Bipolar supportalliance to meet SPENCER—The Depres-sion Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) will meet at 5:30 p.m. Monday, June 18, at Spencer Hospital. For more informa-tion, call (712) 262-9438.

Late death notices:n Sarah (Mulder) Ribbens,

28, Oak Park, IL, formerly of Hospers, died Tuesday, June 5, at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. Services will be 10:30 a.m. today (Sat-urday, June 9) at First Christian Reformed Church in Hospers. Burial will be at West Lawn Cemetery in Orange City, under the direction of Oolman Funeral Home in Hospers.

n Hermina Muilenburg, 92, Orange City, died Friday, June 8, at Orange City Area Health Sys-tem. A memorial service will be 2 p.m. Tuesday, June 12, at First Reformed Church in Orange City. Burial will be prior to the service at West Lawn Cemetery in Orange City. A prayer service will be 1 p.m. Tuesday at Ool-man Funeral Home in Orange City. Visitation will be after 4 p.m. Monday, June 11, with the family present 5-7 p.m. at the funeral home.

n Frederick Ten Napel, 76, Ireton, died Thursday, June 7. Arrangements are being com-pleted at Porter Funeral Home in Ireton.

SHELDON—Three roads have been closed due to O’Brien County Secondary Road Department projects:

n Monroe Avenue, between Rainbow Drive in Sheldon and Northwest Boulevard, for road repair. The work is expected to be completed by June 12.

n Nest Avenue, between 340th and 350th streets, to replace a bridge, south of Shel-don. The work is expected to be completed by June 18.

n 310th Street, between Oriole and Pierce avenues, to replace a bridge between Shel-don and Sanborn. The work is expected to be completed by Sept. 4.

Crossroads slatescommunity meal S H E L D O N — C r o s s r o a d s Community Church is plan-ning a Community Celebration Feast for 6 p.m. today (Satur-day, June 9) at its new church location at 730 Western Ave. on the east side of Sheldon. Anyone from the community is invited to attend the meal.

Worship Sundayat Methodist camp SPIRIT LAKE—Vacation-ers in the Iowa Great Lakes are invited to worship at the Okoboji Sunday Celebration Service at 10 a.m. Sundays at the Lake Okoboji United Meth-odist Camp in Spirit Lake. The Franken Family will provide the ministry through music on Sunday, June 10. The services are sponsored by the Midwest Evangelism League of the Christian Reformed Churches.

Church in Sibley tohost Bike Blessing SIBLEY—First Presbyte-rian Church in Sibley will hold a Bike Blessing by the Maranatha Riders at 2 p.m. Sunday, June

10, in the church parking lot. A short ride and refreshments will follow the ceremony.

Hymn sing set forchurch in Sanborn SANBORN—Ever yone in N’West Iowa who enjoys sing-ing or just listening is invited to an Old-Time Gospel Hymn Sing to be held at 7:15 p.m. on Sunday, June 10, at First Reformed Church in Sanborn.

Farmers Marketopens in Sheldon SHELDON—Sheldon Farm-ers Market again is open twice a week for the 2012 season. The hours are 4:30-6:30 p.m. Mon-day and 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Friday — or until the goods are sold — in the Sheldon Community Services Center parking lot.

Classes offered forhospice volunteers SIBLEY—Iowa Hospice will hold a free volunteer training session 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Mon-day, June 11, at The Lantern in Sibley. Lunch will be furnished. The session will provide a background of information that will help individuals better understand how to assist a per-

Projectscloseroads bySheldon


REGIONAL NEWS

Ahoy mateys!Fourteen-year-old Brody Pottebaum paddles a home-made raft while 15-year-old Bailey Goebel waits by the loading trailer Thursday afternoon during a test run of the water-faring craft at the Robert M. Dunlop Wildlife Area near Alton. The two Orange City teens have constructed two rafts since December, but their first venture was less successful, tipping over and sinking. Their second raft maneuvered the small lake using a trolling motor and an oar. (Photo by Josh Harrell)

Make sure to check out thisspecial section in this week’s issue of

The N’West Iowa REVIEW!

P.O. BOX 160, 227 NINTH ST.SHELDON, IA 51201712.324.5347 or 1.800.247.0186

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If you have an interesting story idea or would like to advertise in The N’West Iowa REVIEW,please feel free to contact any one of our employees and they will be happy to talk with you.

REGIONAL—Maria Gonzalez tilts her head to peer through the kitchen curtains in her Boyden home. Outside, her 3-year-old son, Jayden, and another neighbor boy are playfully sweeping the family’s driveway with a broom and a snow shovel. Gonzalez knows her son, though. At any moment, the good-deed sweepers could turn their brooms into swords. “He’s naughty,” light-

a problem Inimaginefamily ofLino,Beaumont, CA, Jobthe schools.dren play outsidegangs.

Most importantly,

choice but to

since the late agricultural develop-

migration of Lati-nos at the conclusion of every Mexican growing season to the southern and western United States where agriculture-related jobs were readily available. Mexican workers viewed it as

See DEMOGRAPHICS on page A7

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B Y R E N E E W I E L E N G AS T A F F W R I T E R

REGIONAL—Stepping into a foreign country, let alone a Muslim country in the Middle East, might raise a red flag for most Christians. Tyler McKenney of Inwood and Ellen Tolsma of Orange City, however, found peace as they traveled to Oman. They were two of six students from No r t h w e s t e r n College in Orange City involved in the college’s first study abroad semester to Oman. Surrounded by the Arabian Sea on two sides, Oman’s neighbors are the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia to the north and Yemen to the south.

See OMAN on page A9

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E-mail: [email protected]/nwestiareview

VOL. 38 NO. 48 SHELDON, IOWASATURDAY, MAY 28, 2011

BILL AND JANE OTT OF RURAL HAWARDEN HAVE FOUND A NICHE FOR THEIR PASTURE-FED BEEF, PRAIRIE GRASS MEATS SEE HERDS & PLOWSHARES

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B Y BE T H A N Y B A S H I O U MS T A F F W R I T E R

SHELDON—Eighteen-year-old Jake Dagel dreams of being in Congress, but right now he’s content with being a voice in one of America’s biggest social issues — the pro-life movement. The Sheldon resident and 2011 graduate of Spalding Catholic High School in Granville was honored as the Iowa Knights of Columbus Youth of the Year earlier this month at the annual convention in Coralville. “It’s kind of humbling,” Dagel said. “It’s nice to be recognized for the work

See AWARD on page A11

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B Y R E N E E W I E L E N G AS T A F F W R I T E R

SIOUX CENTER—To Karl Kempers, church is about the whole body of Christian believers, not about the building. That means church can be wherever his motorcycle takes him.

See BIKES on A10

Tyler McKenney of Inwood joins one of the Northwestern College group’s desert guides, in walking their camels on a desert camping trip in Oman. (Photo submitted)

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Jake Dagel of Sheldon, a 2011 graduate of Spalding Catholic High School in Granville, has been named the Iowa Knights of Co lum bus Youth of the Year. (Photo by Josh Harrell)

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Hispanicpopulation is on the rise, making

an impact on N’West Iowa

Myriam Castelan of Hull explains through writing on a marker board why she was late to an adult literacy pro-gram being held on a recent evening at Hull Public Library. The educational program is offered through Northwest Iowa Community College in Sheldon and is aimed at helping participants improve their English.

� 26% of students in West Sioux School District are Hispanic.

� Sioux County ranks 11th in Iowa for Hispanic population.

� Latinos contributed $2.4 billion to the state’s economy in 2008 alone.

MotorMinistry

bottle of Coca-Cola Hermanitas Mexican

entrepreneurs set up business

larger cities.

STORY BY DAN BREENPHOTOS BY JOSH HARRELL

REGIONAL—Maria Gonzalez tilts her head to peer through the kitchen curtains in her REGIONAL—Maria Gonzalez tilts her head to peer through the kitchen curtains in her Boyden home.Boyden home. Outside, her 3-year-old son, Jayden, and another neighbor boy are playfully sweeping the Outside, her 3-year-old son, Jayden, and another neighbor boy are playfully sweeping the family’s driveway with a broom and a snow shovel.family’s driveway with a broom and a snow shovel. Gonzalez knows her son, though. At any moment, the good-deed sweepers could turn Gonzalez knows her son, though. At any moment, the good-deed sweepers could turn their brooms into swords.their brooms into swords. “He’s naughty,” said light- “He’s naughty,” Gonzalez said light-

to have a is going to have a problem older.”problem get older.” In cannot In cannot imagine to raise her imagine to raise her family of her husband, family of her husband, Lino, Iowa from Lino, Iowa from Beaumont, CA, ago.Beaumont, CA, ago.

MONDAY (MEMORIAL DAY)HIGH: 83 LOW: 58 CHANCE OF PREC: 30%/50%

THE REV. TANNER SMITH AND KARL KEMPERS STAND WITH THEIR BIKES / PHOTO BY JOSH HARRELL

AFRICA

Oman, Middle East

choice but to but to but

since the late agricultural develop- agricultural develop- agricultural

migration of migration of migration Lati- of Lati- of

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“It’s

See AWARD

Tyler McKenney of Inwoodjoins one of the of the of NorthwesternCollege group’s desert guides,in walking their camels on adesert campingdesert campingdesert trip camping trip camping in Oman.

(Photo submitted)

bottle of Coca-Cola of Coca-Cola of Hermanitas Mexican

entrepreneurs set up business

larger cities.

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N’West Iowa REVIEW, please go to

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NEWS

CHECKPOINT CONDUCTED SIOUX CENTER—More than 20 officers from the Iowa State Patrol, Sioux County Sheriff’s Department, Sioux Center Police Department and Iowa Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Enforcement took part in a multi-agency checkpoint 3-6 p.m. Wednesday, May 30, on the north side of Sioux Center. All northbound vehicles on Highway 75 were stopped and checked for various safety equip-ment violations and drivers were asked to show proof of insurance and a valid driver’s license. The effort was a continuation of the saturation efforts from 2010 and 2011. The fol-lowing citations were issued: Insur-ance, 24; equipment, 11; seat belt, 8; and no driver’s license, 7. Warnings were issued for the following: Insur-ance, 28; equipment, 96; seat belt, 4; other, 29.

TWO CITED AFTER STOP HUDSON, SD—The Sioux County Sheriff’s Department reported the arrest of two Ireton men at about 6:10 p.m. Thursday, May 31, after a traffic stop that occurred on Coolidge

Avenue, three miles east of Hudson, SD. A deputy found that Reymundo Munoz-Maldonado, 29, was driving without a valid driver’s license. He was arrested for driving without a valid license, permitting an unauthor-ized person to drive, providing false information and no insurance for the vehicle, all simple misdemeanors; and preventing apprehension, an aggravated misdemeanor. Upon further investigation, Daniel Valentin-Juarez, 24, was arrested for prevent-ing apprehension and tampering with records, aggravated misdemeanors; and providing false information, a simple misdemeanor.

CHARGED WITH ASSAULT HOSPERS—The Sioux County Sheriff’s Department reported the arrest of James Van Ommeren, 53, Hospers, following an investiga-tion into a report of a domestic disturbance at about 6:40 p.m. Sunday, June 3, at 4106 400th St., four miles west of Hospers. Van Ommeren allegedly assaulted a family member. He was charged with domestic assault, a serious

misdemeanor, and child endanger-ment, an aggravated misdemeanor.

MOPED DRIVER INJURED ROCK RAPIDS—James Blair, 20, Rock Rapids, was injured about 11 p.m. Friday, June 1, while he crashed his eastbound 2008 Peace Industry moped on First Avenue in Rock Rapids, according to the Lyon County Sheriff’s Department. Blair was transported to Sanford Rock Rapids Medical Center.

BLACKS OUT AT WHEEL GEORGE—Mark Richard Freeman, 45, George, was injured in one-vehicle accident about 7:45 p.m. Saturday, June 2, on 210th Street, near Kiwi Avenue, east of George. Freeman driving west when he blacked out, causing his 2005 Mazda MZ6 to travel into the south ditch, where it struck a culvert, according to the Lyon County Sheriff’s Department. Freeman was transported to Sanford Rock Rapids Medical Center. He later was arrested for possession of a con-trolled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Six entries qualifyfor national event SHELDON—Students from Northwest Iowa Community College in Sheldon won six gold, one silver and four bronze medals in the 2012 Iowa State Skills USA Cham-pionships held April 26-27 in Des Moines. First-place winners in the state contest advance to the national event to be held as part of the 47th Skills USA National Leadership and Skills Conference June 23-27 in Kan-sas City, MO. Here are the NCC students who placed in the top three at

the state competition: n Automotive Refinishing Technology: First, Jonathan Hibbing of Hartley; third, Kyle Techen of Hull. n Collision Repair Technol-ogy: First, Cody Mayer of Shel-don. n Diesel Equipment Tech-nology: Third, Kendall Hof-man of Sanborn n Job Skill Demonstration: First, Adam Bousema of San-born n Technical Drafting: First, Kelly Konz of Hull; second, Justin Jansma of Sioux Center; third, Daniel Van Roekel of Orange City. n Welding Fabrication: First, team of Jeremy DeBoom

of Hawarden, Tanner Doeden of Sibley and Jesse Rayevich of Castana; third, team of Bailey Christianson of Mapleton, Austin Evertse of Hull and David Peterson, Gowrie. n Welding Sculpture: First, Brooke Nelson of Hartley. NCC students consistently earn many awards at the state contest each year as well as qualify several for the national competition. More than 400 students com-peted at the state level for the opportunity to represent Iowa at the national event. More than 4,600 students will com-pete in 80 occupational and leadership skill areas in Kansas City.

Meetings now willbe held in Sibley SIBLEY—The Sheldon and Sibley Veterans of Foreign Wars posts have joined forces. David Harn, who was the quartermaster of the Bunker-Peterson VFW Post 7354 in Sheldon, said the local post no longer had enough active members because of its aging membership. As a result, the leadership approached Sibley’s post about consolidating. “We’re basically made up of World War II and Korean vet-erans. We don’t have that many Vietnam veterans. We don’t have that many Afghan veter-ans,” Harn said. “You get to be an old post. We’ve got 40-some members, but there was only about five or six that went to the meetings anymore. When you drop down that low, there’s not much you can do.” Harn, 66, who served in Viet-nam 1966-70, said Sibley post officials agreed to combine because they were in a similar situation. “We figured between the two

of us, if we could get 10 or 15 to come to the meetings and do things, maybe we could make a better post that way,” he said. The change became official in May after the paperwork received approval from the state and national VFW orga-nizations. The combined post will go by Sibley’s name: Wil-liam F. Allard Post No. 7373. Starting in June, the meetings also will be held in Sibley at 8 p.m. the second Monday of every month rather than at Sheldon City Park. “Anybody that wants a ride, I’ll be at the old post, and they can ride up with me if they want,” Harn said. He said all the life members of the Sheldon post received a new card stating they are mem-bers of the Sibley post. The rest of the members can decide if

they want to remain members. “All the continuous members, if they just keep paying their dues, they’ll be a member up there, too,” he said. Harn, who also is the 8th Dis-trict commander of the VFW, said the Sheldon post did vari-ous activities such as putting on meals to collect funds for the state and national conven-tions, distributing Buddy Pop-pies for disabled and needy veterans at VFW hospitals, con-ducting a Voice of Democracy essay contest for youth and collecting money to buy phone cards for active service person-nel to use to call home. He said the Sheldon post had difficulty pulling off these types of activities in recent years because it did not have enough people to help out. It also did not have the support

of the VFW Auxiliary for putting on events, either, because that group had folded a few years ago. As a result, the post often had to have family members come in to help out. Harn said the decision to merge with Sibley was a dif-ficult one for him and com-mander Dennis Baack. “Denny and I really didn’t

want to do it, but what are you going to do?” Harn said. He said the former Sheldon VFW post will continue to have a presence in Sheldon with the laying of the wreath at the Shel-don Memorial Day Service and assisting the American Legion at funerals. He also plans to provide Sheldon Prairie Museum with

a copy of the organization’s charter and other memorabilia — although much of that was lost in a 1990 fire when the VFW used to meet on the second floor of the J&B Bar building in Sheldon. “We want to pass over to the museum whatever we can so they’re not forgotten,” Harn said.

Sioux County getsready for its relay


ORANGE CITY—No one ever anticipates being diagnosed with cancer. Co u n t G e r r y B o m g a a r s among those people. The 55-year-old Orange City resident found out he had non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma nine years ago after having a lump in his groin area checked out. “I didn’t think it was cancer at all; I thought it was some kind of growth or something I’d have to get removed,” he said. “When I was told it was cancer, it was an eye-opening experience and a letdown somewhat.” Bomgaars and his wife, Deb, are serving as co-chairs of the 2012 Sioux County Relay For Life scheduled for Friday-Saturday, June 15-16, in Orange City. The event is an annual fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. Being diagnosed with cancer was frightening for Bomgaars. At the time, Bomgaars had not felt any different than usual and only realized it was cancer after painful biopsies came back positive. He never thought he would be one of the millions with the disease. But when he was diagnosed, he realized how much his life would change. “I had all these plans and all of a sudden, this threw a big, big, big wrench into it,” Bomgaars said. “You’ve got to change.” When Bomgaars was receiv-ing a stem cell transplant at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, his doctors told him he would not be able to work or do any sort of physical activity. He had to become comfort-able with the idea that he need-ed to comply with the doctors’ orders. Bomgaars also learned he needed to accept the physical symptoms of cancer, difficult as it was. He became adept to ignoring nausea and aches from the side effects of the cancer treatments. It took him

a year and a half after he was in remission to feel normal again. “I’ve learned I’ve got to adapt every day,” he said. While he was at the Mayo Clinic, Bomgaars realized he could find good in the situation despite the challenges of hav-ing cancer. “I thought of all the people who were praying for me. I felt that I owed them,” Bomgaars said. “My wife gets on me because I say ‘yes’ too often, but I just feel that I owe it. I just want to help, and I need to set a good example to the other people. I’m thinking about that all the time.” Bomgaars started provid-ing counsel for new cancer patients he met in Rochester. “That’s part of my job, I’m figuring,” he said. “After sitting through it, people are going to want to know about it.” He told them to remain positive or simply let them talk about what they were going through. Bomgaars reminded the patients they needed to ask the doctors questions if some-thing did not seem right. Although Bomgaars will cele-brate his fifth year in remission on Sept. 27 and has returned

to working as manager of the Orange City Gas Department, he still thinks about what could have happened if he did not recover from cancer — or if it came back. “Any time I get any type of feeling, that’s the first thing that goes through your head, ‘Is my cancer coming back?’” he said. “All we can do is keep a stiff upper lip and keep moving on. If I feel good I’m going to live each day to the fullest because it’s good to have goals.” He will be among about 20 volunteers and hundreds of individuals from across Sioux County who will gather for this year’s Relay For Life at the Northwestern College track in Orange City. Sioux County will incorporate a birthday theme to remind participants the money they raise will go toward funding research to help more individu-als survive for “Less cancer and more birthdays.” “My job is to help do what I can, if I can help, I’m going to do it,” Bomgaars said. “It must have been God’s plan to strengthen me to help other people. It made me a better person.”

David Harn, who served as quartermaster of the former Sheldon Veterans of Foreign Wars post, participates in the Sheldon Memorial Day Service. (Photo by Rylan Howe)

n The mission of Veterans of Foreign Wars is: “To foster camaraderie among United States veterans of overseas conflicts. To serve our veterans, the military, and our communities. To advocate on behalf of all veterans.”

MISSION:

NCC students earn medals atSkills USA state competition

Sheldon, Sibley VFW posts consolidate memberships

LAW & ORDER

Survivor of cancer looks for ways to give back

Gerry Bomgaars won his battle with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma discovered nine years ago and is fighting back this year as the co-chair with his wife, Deb, of the Sioux County Relay For Life. This will be the second time Bomgaars has served in the posi-tion. (Photo by Josh Harrell)

SIOUX COUNTY RELAY:

OTHER RELAYS: n O’Brien County: 7 p.m. Friday, June 22, at Sheldon High School track. For more information, contact Cindy Runger at (712) 324-4833. n Lyon County: 6:30 Friday, June 29, at Central Lyon High School track in Rock Rapids. For more

information, contact Marsha Hilbrands at (712) 348-1199. n Osceola County: 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 3, at Sibley-Ocheyedan School District in Sibley. For more information, contact Jackie Kannegieter (712) 461-1919.

The 15th annual Sioux County Relay For Life will be held overnight Friday-Saturday, June 15-16 at De Valois Stadium on the campus of Northwestern College in Orange City. The relay will kick off with the survivor lap at 7 p.m. followed by the luminaria ceremony at

10 to honor cancer survivors. The money raised at the Relay For Life goes toward the American Cancer Society. Teams of 12-15 members are invited to register at www.main.acsevents.org. Luminaria may be purchased for $10 each by calling Gerry Bomgaars at (712) 737-7707.


NEWS

AUCTIONEER TO CONTEST ROCK VALLEY—Duane Rus enters the auction block in Rock Valley each week calling for bids on local produc-ers’ livestock. He will participate in the World Livestock Auctioneer Championship June 15-16, in Turlock, CA. The annual contest showcases the professional auctioneering skills and livestock marketing knowledge of hundreds of auctioneers that com-pete in qualifying and championship events. he champion will take home $5,000 in cash, a custom diamond ring, tro-phy and other prizes, as well as the use of a new pickup for the year. Watch the contestants compete live at www.LMAAuctions.com. A special hourlong program high-lighting the championship will air on RFD-TV at 9 p.m. July 9, and again on July 10 and 15. Check your local list-ings for times.

DAIRY OPEN HOUSE SET HULL—There will be food, fun and activities for everyone at the fifth annual June Dairy Month open house hosted by Western Iowa Dairy Alli-ance. The event will include a dairy farm tour and free breakfast 8 a.m.-11:30 a.m. Saturday, June 16. A special guest at this year’s event will be KC Wolf, the mascot of the Kansas City Chiefs football team. KC will attend to help spread the word about “Fuel Up to Play 60,” an in-school program that encourages kids to choose nutrient-rich foods first, and get out and play at least 60 minutes every day. Parking and food will be on the grounds of Agropur cheese plant, 332 Division St., Hull. Transportation will be provided to neighboring Donsons Farms for the dairy farm tour and children’s activities.

HOSPITAL SEEKING VOTES ORANGE CITY—After receiving more than 300 nominations, the Soliant Health panel of experts nar-rowed down the list to the top 50 hospitals to go up for a nationwide vote to make their list of the Top 20 Most Beautiful Hospitals in America for 2012. Orange City Area Health System is among that group of 50. The hospitals with the most votes will make the Top 20 list. Votes will

be accepted through June 18 with the winners revealed on July 1. To support Orange City Area Health System, visit www.soliant.com/hos-pitals-2012/vote/.

CAREGIVERS CONFERENCE SHELDON—“Is That Your Final Answer,” the annual Celebrate Direct Caregivers Conference, will be held 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 19, with registration at 9:30 a.m., at Northwest Iowa Community College in Sheldon. Theresa Rose, award-winning author of “Opening the Kimono: A Woman’s Intimate Journey Through Life’s Biggest Challenges,” will be the keynote speaker. The conference fee is $20 and includes a snack, lunch, handouts and individual gifts of appreciation. For registration information, contact Marilyn Stille at (712) 324-5061 or 1-800-352-4907 by June 13.

CPA JAGER PROMOTED SHELDON—Shane Jager, certified public accountant, has been promot-ed to the position of principal at Cain Ellsworth & Company in Sheldon. Jager began his career with Cain Ellsworth in 1998 after earning his degree in accounting from North-western College in Orange City. He is responsible for the manage-ment of client engagements in the community banking and manufactur-ing industries. Jager is a member of the Iowa Society of Certified Public Accountants, AICPA, and the Siouxland Bankers Association and is serving his second term on the MOC-Floyd Valley School District Board of Education.

NOMINATE FAVORITE DOC REGIONAL—The Iowa Academy of Family Physicians is seeking nomina-tions for the 2012 Family Physician of the Year, based on outstanding service to patients, the community and devotion to family medicine. Nomination letters should be sent by July 1 to the Iowa Academy of Family Physicians, 100 E. Grand Ave., Suite 170, Des Moines, IA 50309, or e-mailed to [email protected]. Previous N’West Iowa winners were Scott Helmers, Sibley, 1988; Ronald Zoutendam, Sheldon, 1998; Richard A. Jongewaard, Sioux Cen-ter, 2000; and Dale Nystrom, Sioux Center, 2007.

Facilities listed innational magazine


REGIONAL—Three N’West Iowa nursing homes are among the best in the state. Heritage House, which is owned and operated by Orange City Area Health System, Sioux Center Community Hospital & Health Center and Sibley Nursing & Rehab Center each recently were listed among the Best Nursing Homes of 2012 by U.S. News & World Report. The latest round of star rat-ings is based on data from Nursing Home Compare, a consumer website run by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which sets and enforces standards for all nursing homes enrolled in Medicare or Medicaid. The data for Nursing Home Compare comes from regular health inspections carried out by state agencies and from the homes themselves. Based on that information, CMS assigns an overall rating of one to five stars to all nursing homes. Homes also are given one to five stars in how well they do in three service areas: Health inspections, providing enough nurses and providing a high level of quality care. “Any time our efforts are rec-ognized we appreciate that, and most important to us is that we always provide the best quality of care we can to our residents,” said Dan McCarty, chief operations officer of Orange City Area Health Sys-tem. Sibley Nursing & Rehab administrator Jessica McDyer echoed McCarty’s praise. “Our rating is something that we are very proud of,” McDyer, who has been the administra-tor of Sibley Nursing & Rehab for five years. “Since the five-star rating has come out from CMS, I believe the home has maintained its five-star rating, and that’s something the staff is very proud of.” Nearly 2,500 nursing homes nationwide, including 77 in Iowa, received overall five-star ratings in 2012. Here’s a closer look at how each of the three N’West Iowa entities ranked:

Health inspections Because almost all nursing homes accept Medicare or Medicaid residents, they are regulated by the federal gov-ernment as well as by the states in which they operate. State survey teams conduct

health inspections on behalf of CMS about every 12-15 months. They also investigate health-related complaints from resi-dents, their families and other members of the public. Besides such matters as safety of food preparation and adequacy of infection control, the health checklist covers such issues as medication manage-ment, residents’ right and qual-ity of life and proper skin care. A home’s rating is based on the number of deficiencies, their seriousness and their scope, meaning the relative number of residents who were or could have been affected. Deficiencies that were identi-fied during the three most recent health inspections and in investigations of public complaints in that time frame are counted. State inspectors also check for compliance with fire safety rules, although their findings do not factor into the CMS rankings. Sioux Center Community Hospital and Sibley Nursing & Rehab Center each earned five stars in the health inspection category. Three deficiencies, including giving professional services that follow each resident’s writ-ten care plan; immediately tell-ing the resident, doctor and a family member if the resident is injured, there is a major change in the resident’s physical or mental health, there is a need to alter treatment significantly or the resident must be trans-ferred or discharged; and tell-ing each resident who can get Medicaid benefits about which items and services Medicaid covers and which the resident may pay for, or how to apply for Medicaid, along with the addresses of state groups that can help, were noted at Sioux Center Community Hospital on April 22, 2011, but each was remedied a month later. Sibley Nursing & Rehab Cen-ter was noted for two deficien-cies — keeping signed and dat-ed reports of X-rays and other tests, and telling each resident who can get Medicaid benefits about which items and services Medicaid covers and which the resident must pay for, or how to apply for Medicaid, along with the names and addresses of state groups that can help. Each deficiency was noted on Oct. 29, 2010, and was remedied the next day. “The health inspection side is where we really shine in qual-ity measures,” McDyer said. “When you look at our facility’s history, we have a great survey reputation, and that’s not just during survey time when the

surveyors are in our building; it’s something the staff does day in and day out.” Heritage House received four stars in the area, with five noted deficiencies — making sure that the nursing home area is free of dangers that cause acci-dents, giving professional ser-vices that follow each resident’s written care plan, making sure that each resident’s nutritional needs were met, making sure that residents who cannot care for themselves receive help with eating, drinking, groom-ing and hygiene and providing activities to meet the needs of each resident. The deficiencies were noted on Sept. 2, 2011, and remedied a month later.

nurse staffing Even first-rate nursing care falls short if there is not enough of it because of too few nurses who can spend time with residents, so CMS determines average nursing time per patient per day. Homes report the average number of registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, licensed vocational nurses and certified nurse aides who were on the payroll during the two weeks prior to the most recent health inspection and their number of hours worked. The information is compared with the average number of residents during the same time period and crunched to

determine the average number of minutes of nursing time resi-dents got per day. To receive five stars in the lat-est CMS rankings, nurses and aides had to provide slightly more than four hours of care a day to each resident, includ-ing 33 minutes from registered nurses. Heritage House and Sioux Center Community Hospital each earned four stars in the category. All nurses at Heritage House averaged one hour and one minute of care per day for its 44 residents, with registered nurses accounting for 34 min-utes, licensed practical nurses and licensed vocational nurses accounting for 27 minutes and certified nurse aides account-ing for two hours and 37 min-utes. The nursing staff at Sioux Center Community Hospital averaged 55 minutes of care per day for its 67 residents, with registered nurses accounting for 35 minutes, licensed practi-cal nurses and licensed voca-tional nurses accounting for 20 minutes and certified nurse aides accounting for two hours and 51 minutes. Sibley Nursing & Rehab received three stars in the area, with the nursing staff provid-ing an average of 54 minutes of care per day for its 46 residents. Registered nurses accounted for 26 minutes, while licensed

practical nurses and licensed vocational nurses accounted for 28 minutes and certified nurse aides accounted for one hour and 49 minutes.

Quality measures CMS requires nursing homes to submit clinical data for the most recent three-quarters, detailing the status of each individual Medicare and Med-icaid resident in 19 indicators, such as the percentage of residents who had urinary tract infections or who were physi-cally restrained to keep from falling from a bed or a chair. The Best Nursing Homes rankings and Nursing Home Compare display data for each home on all 19 indicators. The ratings, however, are based on 10 that are considered the most valid and reliable, such as the two above measures related to pain, bedsores and mobility. Heritage House earned five stars in the category. The only category the Orange City nurs-ing home ranked above the state average occurred in the percentage of low-risk long-stay residents who lose control

of their bowels or bladder. Heri-tage House had 47 percent of residents facing such a quality measure, while the state aver-age is 43 percent. Sioux Center Community Hospital and Sibley Nursing & Rehab each earned four stars. The Sioux Center home ranked the same or above the state average in the follow-ing quality measures: Percent of long-stay residents who have moderate to severe pain; percent of high-risk long-stay residents who have pressures sores and percent of long-stay residents whose ability to move about in and around their room got worse. Sibley Nursing & Rehab ranked the same or above the state average in four quality measures, including percent of long-stay residents whose need for help with daily activities has increased; percent of long-stay residents who have moder-ate to severe pain; percent of long-stay residents who are more depressed or anxious and percent of low-risk long-stay residents who lose control of their bowels or bladder.

Staffed by current,retired educators


SIOUX CENTER—Summer may be in gear, but that does not mean students have to halt their learn-ing. Research has shown s t u d e n t s b e n e f i t from extra s t u d y i n g o v e r t h e s u m m e r m o n t h s , w h i c h could mini-mize the chances of students forgett ing mater ial they learned during the school year. Area students have the opportunity to do just that by enrolling in the new Sioux Center Sylvan Learning Center. The Sylvan Learning program is a skills-based tutoring meth-od developed in the late 1970s. The Sioux Center satellite will be hosted at Sioux Center Pub-lic Library with the first session starting Monday, June 11. “Summer is actually a great time for Sylvan for two rea-sons,” said Brent Burns, execu-tive director of the Spencer Sylvan Learning Center. “If we identify the student as a little bit behind, this gives us a chance to work with them over the summer to get them caught up to start the next grade on track. But more importantly for the students that are doing well, it’s a way to keep them engaged and to prevent that summer learning

loss.” The Spencer Sylvan will be the headquarters for all Sylvan Learning Centers in northwest Iowa, and Burns has plans to open six or seven more satel-lite locations across the region within the year. Sylvan started with its first satell ite in Sioux Center because the city representa-tives previously had shown interest in hosting its own learning center. “We just knew Sioux Center was going to be first because they had expressed a need and were very supportive,” Burns said. David Netz, retired director of Sioux Center Public Library, will be the lead teacher at the center along with five other teachers representing the Sioux Center, Orange City and Rock Valley school districts. “We have a nice mix of cur-rent teachers and recently retired teachers,” Burns said. Teachers must undergo 30 hours of training to learn the Sylvan method before they are eligible to provide service. They also will be trained to teach lessons on iPads, which Sylvan has been utilizing in its tutoring sessions. “The most important thing about the iPad technology is that the teachers still teach,” Burns said. “The iPads are sim-ply the vehicle.” Students will use the iPads to do exercises involving the les-sons they need the most help with. Teachers then will score the assignment to determine whether students have mas-tered the assignment. “We have definitions and milestones that define mas-tering inside of our system,”

Burns said. “We don’t move to teach the next skill until the current skill is mastered.” Burns and his wife, Missy, who serves as director of edu-cation at the Spencer Sylvan Learning Center, both strongly believe Sylvan can help stu-dents who are struggling suc-ceed. Before they took over the Sylvan in Spencer, the couple researched thousands of stu-dents who had gone through the Sylvan system, and dis-covered students showed improvement. “We do our tutoring and at the first 36-hour mark, we

assess the progress,” Burns said. “Without exception, all students that I’ve reviewed had made progress.” Sylvan offers math, reading, study skills and ACT prep. This summer, however, Sioux Cen-ter Sylvan only will offer math and reading. ACT prep and study skills sessions will begin at Sioux Center Public Library in the fall. “I spent a lot of time research-ing Sylvan’s process, and they completely convinced me from a supplemental educa-tion perspective, Sylvan really works, that was the bottom line,” Burns said.

n To read more about U.S. News and World Report’s Best Nursing Homes for 2012, visit www.health.usnews.com/senior-housing/nursing-homes/ia.

FOR MORE INFO:

Nursing assistant Rebecca Boon serves milk during supper at Heritage House in Orange City. The nursing home was ranked among one of the best in Iowa by U.S. News & World Report. (Photo by Josh Harrell)

Three nursing homes in area rated among best

ABOUT SYLVAN:

TO ENROLL:

Sylvan Learning works with students through four steps: n Assessment: Teachers assess students’ strengths and weaknesses to find out what they know and do not know to target specific needs. n Planning: Teachers plan a learning program for each student to help students be more confident in their knowledge. n Teaching: Students are taught skills to help build confidence while teachers motivate them to do their best. n Application: Students apply what they have learned in the tutoring sessions to school work.

n Students can sign up for Sioux Center Sylvan Learning sessions by calling the Spencer Sylvan at (712) 580-2008 or e-mailing [email protected]. Visit www.sylvanistheanswer.com for more information.

David Netz

Sylvan Learning begins offering tutoring services at satellite office in Sioux Center

BRIEFLY


NEWS

BERRIESContinued from page A1 “It’s been amazing,” Karla said.

“Last year was a great hit.” This year is off to a great start as well. On the season’s first day, Monday, more than 800 pounds of strawberries were picked and sold. In the spring of 2010, Monte, Karla and Monte’s parents hand-planted one-third of an acre with strawberry plants in their backyard. They mowed down their crop in the fall as a custom practice, laid a bedding of corn stover to protect the plants from the winter and dis-ease, then crossed their fingers that 2011 would bring the first true strawberry crop. The efforts were successful, and the plants produced a healthy crop. The Gerbers opened their field up to public picking, but only advertised by word of mouth to keep the venture small and manageable as they tested their new business. In 2011, they planted another two acres of strawberry plants in a different part of their prop-erty, this time using a planting machine that also buried a drip line to feed the plant roots. If all went well, they would open their patch to more visitors in 2012. The Gerbers also did their part to whet the appetites of poten-tial customers last summer by offering homemade strawberry ice pops and smoothies at the Lyon County Fair in Rock Rap-ids. They also make syrup and jam and have experimented with pie fillings. They hope to add strawberry shortcake to their menu of offerings at the fair stand this summer. The Gerbers have four chil-dren who get their hands dirty in the operation from time to time. They also employ seven children to help them pick strawberries. Custom-ers can pick the strawberries themselves or purchase them already picked at an increased price. The strawberry season is only about a month long, usu-ally from mid-June through mid-July. The strawberries are about three weeks earlier than normal this year because of the warm spring. The Gerbers have planted 10 types of strawberry plants in an effort to extend the picking season as much as possible with early and late varieties. “Last year we wondered if

we’d get sick of eating strawber-ries. We never did,” Karla said. The Gerbers are doing a little more advertising this year. They recorded spots that are running on two Sioux Falls, SD, radio stations. Fresh strawberries are par-ticularly alluring because they tend to be more juicy and sweet than strawberries in the grocery store which often are picked before they are ripe. “Most people love straw-berries,” Karla said. “Store-boughten strawberries do not compare at all. You just can’t beat fresh-off-the-vine straw-berries.” If interested in picking at the patch, Karla said to keep in mind a few details. Because of the demand early in the season, the Gerbers have had to close a couple days to allow the plants to catch back up, so moni-tor the their website — www.gerberberries.com — to make sure they are open. Also, take water and sunscreen as there is no shade in the strawberry patches. There also is no need to take special containers as they are provided for you.

Gerber Berries opens patch to public picking

Fourteen-year-old Cade Knobloch of Rock Rapids grabs for a strawberry at Gerber Berries on Wednesday afternoon north of Lester. He and Brooks Metzger work at the strawberry farm as a summer job. (Photos by Josh Harrell)

Business: Gerber BerriesOwners: Monte and Karla GerberAddress: 2224 120th St., Larchwood. (Two and a half miles north of Lester)Hours: 8 a.m.-noon and 2-8 p.m. Monday-Friday; 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday; closed Sunday.Phone: (712) 400-9521Online: www.gerberberries.com

AT A GLANCE:

If you are thinking about planting strawberries here are some tips from the Gerbers: n Plant strawberries in the early spring when it’s cool. n Strawberries like sunny spots. n Plants need about an inch of water a week during the growing season. n Cut back the plants in the fall and cover with mulch to protect them from the harsh winter as well as disease. Mulch also keeps moisture in. n Give plants an inch of water per week again in the fall, which is the time they set their potential for growth the next year.

TIPS FOR BEGINNERS:

A red painted rock sits at the end of a strawberry row to draw attention away from the fruit at Gerber Ber-ries in rural Larchwood. The stone was placed there because birds peck the rock and leave the fruit alone.

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NEWS

PRIMARYContinued from page A1County sheriff. Unofficial election results indi-cate Rich Bos of Larchwood, a 43-year-old deputy sheriff with the Lyon County Sheriff’s Department, defeated Stewart Vander Stoep of Doon, a 47-year-old chief deputy with the sheriff ’s department, 1,360-1,350. However, Lyon County auditor Wayne Grooters said 22 absentee ballots originally were sent out to voters, and the majority have yet to be received. The absentee ballots were required to have been post-marked by Monday, June 4, to be counted. “The chances of them coming into play are pretty slim, because anything postmarked Monday should have been here by Tuesday or Wednesday, so now it’s just spec-ulation of course,” Grooters said Thursday. “The girls will probably line up the special precinct board on Friday or Monday to look at that, and we plan to canvass on Monday sometime, so in between then we just kind of wait.” O’Brien County incumbent John Haack of Sanborn, a 64-year-old part-time farmer and retired high school business teacher who has held the District 2 supervisor seat for the past three and a half years, was defeated by John Steensma of Sanborn for the Republican nomi-nation. Steensma, a 70-year-old retired grain general manager, received 36.8 percent of the vote. The other area incumbent to be unseated came in the District 2 supervisor race in Osceola County. Two-year supervisor Roger Sixta, 73, of rural Ocheyedan, was ousted by business owner Jayson Vande Hoef,

37, of Sibley. Vande Hoef collected 61.9 percent of the vote. Since no Democrats filed for the Osceola County office, Vande Hoef is expected to win November’s gen-eral election. Steensma, however, will face off in the general election against Democratic challenger Greg Frit-zsche, 58, of Primghar. In other contested races not involving incumbents, longtime auditor’s office employee Jen Smit, 39, of George, won the Republican nomination for the Lyon County auditor. Nancy McDowell, 30, of Sheldon, received the GOP nomination for the O’Brien County District 3 supervisor seat, while Dennis Brou-wer, 62, of Sheldon won the Demo-cratic nomination for the position. Dan Friedrichsen, 48, of rural Sutherland received the Repub-lican nomination for the O’Brien County District 5 supervisor seat, and he will face off against Demo-cratic Party candidate Darwin Dau, 64, of Paullina, in the November election. Rochelle Buchman, 69, of Sibley, received the GOP nomination for the Osceola County District 1 supervisor seat. Merlin Sandersfeld, 56, of rural Harris, received the Republican nod for the Osceola County District 5 supervisor seat. Both nominees will be uncon-tested by Democratic challengers in November’s election. Doug Weber, 56, of Ashton, won back his seat as the Osceola County sheriff after defeating police officer Matthew Block, 32, of Spencer, receiving more than 58 percent of the vote for the Republican nomi-nation. This will be Weber’s third term as sheriff.

Bos edges Vander Stoep in unofficial vote tally

CITED FOR FARM THEFTS ALTON—The Sioux County Sheriff’s Department reported the arrest of Jesse Dale Sorgdrager, 18, Alton, on Saturday, June 2, on a variety of charges following a lengthy investi-gation in thefts at farm residences. Authorities initially responded report of the theft of diesel fuel at a farm residence southwest of Orange City on March 9. They responded to a report of the theft of cattle gates, dairy cattle supplies, a bulk tank

pressure washer and propane heat-ers farm residence north of Alton on March 19. As a result of the inves-tigations, Sorgdrager was charged with two counts of fifth-degree theft for the theft of the fuel and one cattle gate, and two counts of trespassing, all simple misdemeanors. The sher-iff’s department still is investigating the whereabouts of the other cattle gates and supplies, the heaters and the bulk tank pressure washer. Anyone with information is asked to

contact the sheriff’s department.

TWO INJURED IN CRASH HAWARDEN—Two people were injured in a two-vehicle accident about 7:35 a.m. Monday, June 4, on Highway 10, three miles east of Hawarden. Raymond Miller, 58, Hawarden, was driving west when his 2004 Chevrolet Impala struck a westbound 1996 Mercury Cougar driven by Tuney Schreur, 59, Alcester, SD, according to the Sioux County

Sheriff’s Department. The Schreur vehicle entered the north ditch. Miller was transported to Hawarden Com-munity Hospital. Schreur received minor injuries but refused medical attention.

THREE HURT IN ACCIDENT HAWARDEN—Three people were injured in a two-vehicle accident about 6:10 p.m. Monday, June 4, at the intersection of Highway 10 and Coolridge Avenue, four miles east

of Hawarden. Catalina Lopez, 28, Sioux Center, was driving south on Coolridge when she stopped at the stop sign and entered Highway 10, turning west, and her 1998 Plymouth Voyager colliding with an eastbound 2002 Mercury Mountaineer driven by Mary Jane Hoogland, 60, Mau-rice, according to the Sioux County Sheriff’s Department. Hoogland was transported to Orange City Area Health System. Two passengers in the Lopez vehicle were transported to

Hawarden Community Hospital.

ARRESTED FOR ASSAULT SHELDON—The Sioux County Sher-iff’s Department reported the arrest of Jon William Manasil, 36, Sheldon, following an investigation into a report of a domestic disturbance at about 1:35 a.m. Tuesday, June 5, at 2936 Lily Ave., six miles northwest of Sheldon. Manasil allegedly assaulted a family member. He was charged with domestic assault.

REPUBLICANS:Lyon County n Auditor: Jen Smit, George, 2,158 (81.3%); Glenn Anderson, Rock Rapids, 495 (18.7%). n Sheriff: Rick Bos, Larchwood, 1,360 (50.1%); Stewart Vander Stoep, Doon, 1,350 (49.8%). n Supervisor District 2: Merle Koedam, Alvord (incumbent), 446 (75.8%); Timothy Kroger, Inwood, 138 (23.4%). n Supervisor District 3: Mike Modder, George (incumbent), 412.

O’Brien County n Auditor: Barb Rohwer, Primghar (incumbent), 1,653. n Sheriff: Michael Anderson, Primghar (incumbent), 1,651. n Supervisor District 1: Jim DeBoom, Sutherland, 946 (58%); Michael Negus, Sutherland, 684 (41.2%). n Supervisor District 2: John Steensma, Sanborn, 650 (36.8%); John Haack, Sanborn (incumbent), 613 (34.5%); Clara Black, Primghar, 367 (20.8%); Wes Schnack, Primghar, 127 (7.8%). n Supervisor District 3: Nancy McDowell, Sheldon, 1,384 (79.9%);

Edmond Stephens, Sheldon, 182 (10.5%); Rob Hegenbarth, Sheldon, 166 (9.6%). n Supervisor District 4: Tom Farnsworth, Archer (incumbent), 929 (52.2%); Rich Haack, Sheldon, 575 (32.3%); Gary Seivert, Sheldon, 275 (15.4%). n Supervisor District 5: Dan Friedrichsen, Sutherland, 607 (37.2%); Micah Powers, Paullina, 516 (31.6%); Richard Van Beek, Paullina, 412 (25.3%); John Putnam, Sutherland, 97 (6%).

Osceola County n Auditor: Barb Echter, Sibley (incumbent), 1,294. n Sheriff: Doug Weber, Ashton (incumbent), 851 (58.4%); Matthew Block, Spencer, 604 (41.4%). n Supervisor District 1: Rochelle Buchman, Sibley, 82 (40.2%); Doug Hensch, Sibley, 75 (36.8%). n Supervisor District 2: Jayson Vande Hoef, Sibley, 193 (61.9%); Roger Sixta, Ocheyedan (incumbent), 119 (38.1%). n Supervisor District 3: Michael Schulte, Sibley (incumbent), 309. n Supervisor District 4: Phil Bootsma, Melvin (incumbent), 158

(54.7%); Bill Imhoff, Ashton, 131 (45%). n Supervisor District 5: Merlin Sandersfeld, Harris, 129 (49%); Ed Jones, Ocheyedan, 109 (41.6%); Joseph McElroy, Ocheyedan, 23 (8.8%).

Sioux County n Auditor: Lois Huitink, Orange City (incumbent), 795. n Sheriff: Dan Altena, Sioux Center (incumbent), 806. n Supervisor District 1: John Degen, Hawarden (incumbent), 142. n Supervisor District 3: Al Bloemendaal, Sioux Center (incumbent), 175. n Supervisor District 4: Mark Sybesma, Hull (incumbent), 143.

DEMOCRATS:O’Brien County n Supervisor District 2: Greg Fritzsche, Primghar, 128. n Supervisor District 3: Dennis Brouwer, Sheldon, 82 (52.2%); Duane Kooistra, Sheldon, 75 (47.8%). n Supervisor District 5: Darwin Dau, Paullina, 134.Note: All numbers are unofficial until canvassed by county boards of supervisors next week.

N’WEST IOWA COUNTY PRIMARY RESULTS:

REPUBLICANS: n U.S. House District 4: Steve King, Kiron, 40,540. n Iowa Senate District 2: Randy Feenstra, Hull, 2,774. n Iowa House District 1: Jeff

Smith, Milford, 3,263 (54.5%); Kevin Wolfswinkel, Sibley, 2,721 (45.4%). n Iowa House District 3: Dan Huseman, Aurelia, 2,056. n Iowa House District 4: Dwayne Alons, Hull, 723.

DEMOCRATS: n U.S. House District 4: Christie Vilsack, Ames, 11,005.

STATE AND FEDERAL PRIMARY RESULTS:

LAW & ORDER

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NEWS

CASINOContinued from page A1by market research during the development phase. Through April, the $120 mil-lion Vegas-style casino had taken in just over $52 million from gaming, according to Grand Falls general manager Sharon Haselhoff. The figures do not include receipts from the restaurants, hotel, entertainment or salon and spa. “Overall, we’re happy with where things are at, but there’s definitely room for growth,” Haselhoff said. “This market is new to this style of gaming, this style of entertainment. It’s our job to continue to make sure the public in the area under-stand all we have to offer here.” Haselhoff thinks the $70 mil-lion figure overestimated the amount of knowledge and experience individuals around the region have had in this type of gaming entertainment. “I think over time we’ll grow to hit that number and probably exceed it, but we don’t want to wait 20 years,” Haselhoff said, noting a similar growth pattern for Argosy Casino in Sioux City. One way the resort plans to tap further into that market is by offering more promotions and events. Three outdoor

concerts are scheduled for this summer: Heart on June 30, Big & Rich on July 20, and Creedence Clearwater Rev-isted on Aug. 25. Other special events will draw people to the facility and naturally will get them on the gaming floor. “Obviously, not everyone walks out of here a winner, but hopefully they had a good time. That’s our goal,” Haselhoff said. A handful of individuals play-ing the slot machines at Grand Falls on Tuesday morning had positive impressions of the facility. “It’s nice and clean and new. There’s a friendly staff and good food,” said 72-year-old Fred Vandersnick of Sioux Falls, SD. Sharon Hanson, 71, of Sioux Falls gets out to Grand Falls about once a month. “The proximity to Sioux Falls is very nice,” she said. “There’s a variety of machines and a large number of machines.” Darlene Wendroth of Litch-field, MN, came to Grand Falls with a group of six on a “girls’ getaway,” and left impressed. “It’s clean, it’s fresh. I like the friendly people,” she said. “It’s very nice. We have casinos in Minnesota that are all Native American run. This is privately run. I think they take pride in this facility and they should

take pride in what they have.” Some of the most positive responses have come from the concerts held in the event cen-ter. The most popular enter-tainers have been the older country music performers. Haselhoff’s favorite moment from the first year was when the doors were opened and the employees began to interact with the patrons for the first time. She also enjoys watching the expressions on the faces of first-time guests. “I definitely think this resort is a lot more than people expected,” Haselhoff said. “We still hear that.” Traffic has gone in waves. The

busiest week of the year was between Christmas and New Year’s Day. March tends to have more activity at casinos as the weather improves and it is easier to get out. March also often has five weekends, and weekends always are busy regardless of what time of year it is. The quietest period is the three weeks prior to Christmas. The hotel has averaged about 70 percent occupancy in its first year, however, much of that clientèle has come through special reduced-rate offers to card-club members. The golf course was given a

rough grade last year when all the equipment already was on site, but there will not be any work on the course in 2012. The bulk of the 18-hole Rees Jones-designed course will take place in 2013 with an expected opening in the spring of 2014. Land around the resor t remains on the market for development, but thus far has had no takers. Part of the problem is that there is no infrastructure avail-able and it may be cost pro-hibitive to build infrastructure out in the country. Grand Falls operates on its own private

infrastructure. “We’re our own little city here,” Haselhoff said. “We have our own electrical substation; we have our own wastewater treatment plant. Some of the challenge is you don’t have the infrastructure that you would in a city.” She anticipates more devel-opment will happen down the road. Overall, Haselhoff considered the first year to be a good one. “It’s been a fun year. There’s always something happening, but that’s a good thing,” Hasel-hoff said.

LIEUContinued from page A1built back up, but as it grew and got back on solid foun-dation, Lieu returned to the United States in September 2010 to visit churches who had supported his ministry. Before heading back to Africa, Lieu wanted to get a medical checkup. He knew his kidneys were not functioning well, dat-ing back to his first time in the United States when he was diagnosed with kidney disease. The medical results were shocking. Without regular dialysis, doc-tors gave him only six months to live. Returning to the Ivory Coast would have been a death sen-tence with the nearest dialysis treatment center eight hours away. Lieu got his name on a donor list and began receiving regu-lar dialysis, but money was an issue. He knew if he were to receive a donation, it probably was going to have to be from a local live donor. That’s when Amy Vander Berg of Sioux Center took compassion on Lieu’s plight. Upon discovering she was a match for Lieu, she felt com-pelled to donate her 42-year-old healthy kidney. The kidney transplant opera-tion was on Jan. 5 in Iowa City and went as well as could be expected. Insurance paid a good part of the medical costs, meaning the donations col-lected through First Christian Reformed Church in Sioux Center should be able to cover Lieu’s prescriptions and doc-tor visits for three to four years. Lieu is in the midst of a three-and-a-half week trip to Alabama where he is visiting

friends and supporters and participating in a Service in Faith and Technology summit which simulates life in a Third World slum. He was unable to be reached for comment, but is expected back on June 12. On June 18, Lieu will board

an airplane in Omaha, NE, to make his return flight overseas. Vander Berg, meanwhile, is pretty much back to normal. “I’m in perfect shape. It all healed and I’m doing good,” she said. “I went back to work at about five weeks, but it took about eight weeks to feel like I

could exercise again.” Vander Berg said she was happy to have played a role in God’s plan. “It just shows how good God has been,” she said. “That’s the ultimate reason for all of this. None of this would’ve hap-pened without God’s dealings.”

BUSINESSES BURGLARIZED ORANGE CITY—The Sioux County Sheriff’s Department is seeking infor-mation regarding burglaries at two businesses. A burglary was reported Tuesday, June 5, at Greenway and Associates, 3811 450th St., one-quarter mile east of Orange City. A burglary was reported Wednesday, June 6, at Custom Parts Engineering, 3894 Hospers Drive N., Hospers. The businesses were entered without force sometime during the overnight hours. It is unknown whether the perpetrator is unlocking the door or if a door is being found unlocked. In both burglaries, 50-gallon barrels containing machine-milled pieces of aluminum and brass scrap metal were taken valued at more than $1,000. Also taken were more than $200 in cash, NASCAR replica cars, tokens for a vintage slot machine and several roles of postage stamps. Anyone with information is asked to contact the sheriff’s department at (712) 737-2280 or e-mail [email protected] or through Text-A-Tip at 274637 scso.

FIRE DESTROYS VEHICLE HUDSON, SD—No injuries were sustained after a vehicle fire that was reported at about 3:15 p.m. Tuesday, June 5, to the Sioux County Sheriff’s Department. The incident occurred in a grass field at the intersection of 360th Street and Cleveland Avenue, east of Hudson, SD. Randy Ray Iede-ma, 43, Sheldon, was driving in the field when the grass caught fire from hot vehicle parts and fully engulfed his 2004 Chevrolet Trailblazer. The fire was extinguished by Hudson Fire Department. The vehicle sustained about $9,000 damage.

MOTORCYCLIST INJURED ALTON—One person was injured in a two-vehicle accident about 6:45 a.m. Wednesday, June 6, on Highway 10, east of Alton. Joel David Van Engen, 28, Paullina, was driving a 1979 Honda CX500 motorcycle west when he ran into the rear of a 2004 Pontiac Bonneville driven by Sharon Ann Bortscheller, 57, Remsen, who had stopped for oncoming traffic before attempting to turn left onto Division Street. Van Engen was trans-ported to Orange City Area Health System. He was cited with failure to

maintain control of his motorcycle.

PICKUP HITS MOTORCYCLE ROCK VALLEY—One person was injured in a two-vehicle accident about 12:35 p.m. Wednesday, June 6, on Highway 18, east of Rock Valley. Donald Dales Ovre, 66, Larchwood, pulled out of a driveway and his 2010 Ford F-150 pickup collided with an eastbound 1995 Kawasaki Vulcan motorcycle driven by Brent Steven Maassen, 41, Rock Valley, according to the Sioux County Sheriff’s Depart-ment. Maassen was transported to Hegg Memorial Health Center. Ovre was cited for failure to yield the right of way.

METH DEALER TO PRISON SIOUX CITY—Terry Lee Lowry, 32, Milford, was sentenced June 7 in U.S. District Court in Sioux City to two and one-half years in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute metham-phetamine. During a Feb. 28 guilty plea, Lowry admitted his involve-ment in a conspiracy that from 2010 through February 2011 distributed more than 50 grams of meth in the Spencer area. Lowry also must serve a four-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

CAR-SEMITRUCK COLLIDE DOON—One person was injured in a two-vehicle accident about 4:55 p.m. Tuesday, June 5, at the intersec-tion of Highway 75 and 260th Street, three miles east of Doon. Karen Cathleen Ver Meer, 53, Boyden, was driving west 260th when she stopped at the stop sign at the intersection and then attempted to cross the highway, according to the Lyon County’s Sheriff’s Department. Due to a hill crest, Ver Meer did not see a northbound 2005 Peterbilt semitruck driven by Paul Allen Tschetter, 39, Ethan, SD. Tschetter tried to stop and took evasive action in an attempt to get around Ver Meer, but his semi struck Ver Meer’s 2008 Chevrolet Impala. The car spun around numer-ous times and entered the northwest ditch. It then went through a fence before coming to a stop in the corn field. Tschetter was able to stop his semi on the shoulder of the road. Ver Meer was transported to a hospital. No other injuries were reported.

LAW & ORDERDonations enable Lieu to return to Africa

Dea Lieu expressed some thoughts in his most recent Caring Bridge update, posted May 21: “At this point of time I look at the past, starting from the day the doctor found out that my kidneys were on the verge of failing and this present time when we are talking about my return trip to Cote d’Ivoire. In November 2010, the end of the tunnel was invisible and even the way through that tunnel was then so dark and seemed impossible to walk. Indeed it was a very rough way to go, just like a huge mountain. However, with the prayers of the multitude this huge mountain has been removed by the grace of the Lord and now the end of the tunnel is at hand. It is now visible and touchable. In about one month I will be on my flight back home to be with my family and continue on the ministry. Meanwhile, my health has been overall improved except for some dizziness that are side effects of the medicines that I take, and my blood pressure that continues to be unstable. However, my kidney functions have been stable. In fact, my last lab work showed the best result I ever had, 1.17 which confirms that the end of tunnel is at hand. Contacts have been made with physicians at home to do my follow up and a pharmacy that will provide my medicines has been identified. My last checkup visit is scheduled on June 13 at 8:30 a.m. Thanks for your continued prayers for every thing to go well. Your prayers are still needed even as I return home. There are many challenges as I am moving in an environment that is quite different from here. As I look back I also see that I could not have come this far if I didn’t have your financial support. Thanks to every one of you for your concerns and brotherly love. I will forever remember your love out pour. May the good Lord bless you and keep you and turn His sweet face toward you.”

LIEU’S THOUGHTS:

Dea Lieu continues to be thankful to Amy Vander Berg for the donation of a kidney in early Janu-ary, which will allow him to return to his family in Africa later this month. (File photo)

Grand Falls schedulesthree outdoor concerts

Guests try their luck at various slot machines on the gaming floor of Grand Falls Casi-no Resort in rural Larchwood. The casino is noting its one-year anniversary today (Saturday, June 9). (Photo by Josh Harrell)

n Grand Falls Casino Resort will celebrate its one-year anniversary today (Saturday, June 9). Cake and champaign will be served on the gaming floor 5:30-9:30 p.m. A pool party will be held in the outdoor pool starting at 8 p.m. The event will conclude at dusk with a fireworks show.

CELEBRATION:

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R E V I E W E D I T O R I A L


We are so blessed to live in an area that features one of the

greatest recreational spots in the country (or, in our humble opinion, the entire world). When people of N’West Iowa think of summer, their thoughts invariably turn to the Iowa Great Lakes — all the swimming, skiing, boating, fishing, barbecuing and just plain fun. We are headed full-speed into the summer vacation season, so it is a good time to remind everyone what steps they can take to make sure the season remains safe. The fact is, boating remains a tremendously safe activity. Fatalities in Iowa are rare — four in 2011, five in 2010, three in 2009 and none in 2008. But just a month ago, four people were killed along the Mississippi River during the collision of two fishing boats that were carrying partiers. Almost all water-related fatalities and injuries can be avoided by keeping the following in mind: n Don’t drink and operate a boat. It’s no different than driving a car. In fact, the legal alcohol limit is the same — 0.08 percent — for both activities. Seventeen percent of all recreational boating fatalities can be linked to drunk boating. n Wear an approved life jacket. It’s troubling how many people ignore this. But

remember: Ninety percent of the victims who drown after a boating accident were not wearing a life jacket. They’re not just for children. n Develop a float plan. Let someone know where you are going, how many people are going with you and how long you expect to be gone. Also, let someone know what kind of communication and signal equipment you have on board. The U.S. Coast Guard recommends a modern VHF marine radio. n Slow down. One of the most important parts of boating safety is to use common sense. Reduce your speed in crowded areas, and be alert to potential problems ahead of you. Steer clear of large vessels and watercraft that cannot stop or turn quickly. Observe the 50-foot distance rule. n Take a boater education course. Many are available, and it is good to involve the entire family. You can find classes near you at www.boatus.com. n Be weather wise. You do not want to be caught on the water in the middle of a sudden storm. There’s nothing particularly difficult or onerous about following these guidelines. And there’s nothing here that will prevent you from enjoying every second of your Iowa Great Lakes experience. Have the best summer ever. And stay safe while doing so.

Operate boats safelyTake all proper precautions

Finally. We have discovered a politician who is honest about his motives.

His name is New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, and he wants to rule the world, one behavior at a time. Oh, he doesn’t just come out and say that, but it’s pretty clear what he’s up to. Bloom-berg’s latest proposal is to ban restaurants, delis, sporting venues and food carts from selling sugary drinks — like soda pop — in containers larger than 16 ounces. Bloomberg’s logic is that obe-sity is a national health crisis, and that studies have shown the more people are served, the more they will consume. Ergo, the government has a right to take action to modify consumer behavior. Of course, this would do absolutely nothing to solve anything. You could always buy two drinks instead of one, or get a refill, or go buy a barrel-sized container of pop at a convenience store, which apparently would not be affected by the proposed law, or go purchase some whipped cream caloric masterpiece at Starbucks. But this isn’t about solving a problem, it’s about exert-ing power. Bloomberg thinks he knows better than you do how you should behave (or at least how New Yorkers should behave), so he’s going to use the government to inconve-nience you. This is the same guy who pushed through laws to ban smoking indoors and in most public spaces; to remove trans fats from restaurants; and to force fast-food chains to dis-play calorie counts on their menus. All of which, taken separately, don’t bother me much person-ally. I don’t smoke, and I enjoy not having to inhale second-

hand smoke when I walk into a bar or a restaurant. But let’s be clear: Each of those is another example of the government getting involved into an area that used to be considered personal behavior. It’s another limitation on per-sonal freedom. I don’t really need the govern-ment banning smoking inside a restaurant. I could simply choose to patronize those establishments that don’t allow it. But the politicians decided that they know what’s best for us. On some matters — like requiring us to carry insur-ance or to buckle our seat belts — society has reached a con-sensus that it’s willing to forgo some small measure of per-sonal freedom for the greater good. But the problem is, it never ends with one small measure. There’s always another. Then another. And then you have the mayor of the nation’s larg-est city proposing to limit how much soda pop can be sold at one time. This is the proper role of gov-ernment — to monitor our pop intake? Why stop there? Why not limit how large a steak a restaurant can sell? Why not tell movie theaters how much popcorn they can distribute at a given

time? Maybe we could give every American a card to swipe at a grocery store. If you don’t buy enough fruits and vegetables, the purchase is voided. If your son or daughter gets too fat, we’ll let the govern-ment remove that child from your house. Sound preposter-ous? There are people propos-ing that very thing right now. In Bloomberg’s view of the world — and in the political mindset of about half this country — Americans are sim-ply too stupid to make their own decisions. They need the government to step in to help them. And, as we all know, the government has a fantastic success rate when it conducts social experiments. Yeah, right. I predict Bloomberg will be successful with his soda-limit-ing campaign in New York City. And when it proves to do noth-ing to reduce the obesity levels, he’ll come up with another idea, like forbidding how many bags of Doritos you can buy in a week. Or forcing citizens to join health clubs. Mandatory calisthenics at 5 a.m. You laugh, but did you ever imagine the day would come when cities and towns would place cameras on street cor-ners to determine if you’re speeding? When you allow the govern-ment to get involved in small matters of your life, don’t be surprised when it grabs the opportunity to get involved in big ones. But don’t worry, Mayor Bloomberg is here to take care of you. He knows what’s best. Eat your vegetables, New York-ers. Or else.

Ken Fuson lives in Des Moines. He may be reached at [email protected].

Forget about Big Gulp

We should never forget

OPINION

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KEN FUSONLETTER FROM DES MOINES

I don’t cry very often. I won’t say it never hap-pens, but it takes a pretty

good tear-jerker get me choked up. Listening to the stories of two Hartley women this week almost did me in. Coinciding with a special section about Hartley in this week’s Accent section, I asked Mary Donnenwerth and Jes-sica Webster to do something they probably hate to do — relive the worst moment of their lives. For Donnenwerth, it was hearing confirmation her son, Army Staff Sgt. Shane Koele, had been killed. For Webster, it was burying her husband, Army Staff Sgt. LeRoy Webster. I never met either of the fallen soldiers. I attended Webster’s funeral in May 2009, but that was the extent what I knew. What I know now is that they were two of Hartley’s finest, willing to do anything to any extent asked of them. For them, being in the Army was more than a job. It was a mission, a calling. It was their passion. They gave absolutely every-thing they had. Watching and listening to these women relive those anguishing moments wasn’t easy. I can only imagine what it’s like for them to live with those horrible memories each day of their lives. The gut-wrenching pain remains, three and seven years later. The tears are there, too. It’s those stories — however difficult to share — that cannot be undervalued. As Americans, we cannot for-get the cost of freedom. Hearing a widowed Army wife break down, and watching the tears well up in the eyes of

a grieving mother puts a vivid perspective on it. We cannot take their sacrifice lightly. Koele and Webster carried out their jobs faithfully, and now we have a job to do: Keep their legacies alive by retelling their stories. Shame on us if we only remember our fallen heroes on Memorial Day or the Fourth of July or special anniversaries, and forget them the rest of the year. The stories cannot stop with Koele and Webster. We need reminders of Army Staff Sgt. Bruce Pollema of Hull and Marine Lance Cpl. William “B. Jay” Leusink of Maurice and Army Pfc. William “Willy” Thorne of Hospers, all who gave their lives in recent mili-tary service. We need reminders of all the other names on your town’s veterans memorial. We need to hear stories from World War II, Vietnam, Korea, Desert Storm, Afghanistan, Iraq. We need to remember. Donnenwerth has a spe-cial way of keeping her son’s memory alive. She found one of Shane’s baby fingerprints in an old box. She brought it to an engraver who raised one of the images onto what’s called

a “thumby.” She wears the fin-gerprint on a necklace every day, along with a black bracelet around her right wrist which bears the name of her son. Shane’s oldest sister, Shannon, named her firstborn son, now 5, Shane. Jessica Webster keeps the legacy of her husband alive by having regular conversa-tions with her children about memories of their dad. They have a chest full of his med-als, ribbons, blankets and knickknacks. Each of her three children has pictures of their dad. They visit his grave site regularly. In recent years, a number of veterans memorials have been built in N’West Iowa. Others are in the works. That’s great, but for as sleek and snazzy as the new memorials look, don’t forget they’re only brick and mortar. It’s the names on them and the flags that fly above them that mean everything. Thank you Mary and Jessica for sharing your stories. Thank you Shane and LeRoy for you service. Thank you to all the veterans for the service you gave. Thank you to all the active service military protecting us and defending our freedoms today. Find a veteran to thank today. Shake their hand, and tell them what their service means for you. Volunteer at an American Legion event. Bring a meal to a family with loved one away in active duty. Say a prayer for our troops. Fly a flag. Do whatever it takes. And never forget.

Dan Breen is a staff writer for The N’West Iowa REVIEW and lives in Orange City. He may be reached at [email protected].

DAN BREENSTAFF WRITER Q: It seems that everyone

has a motorcycle these days, but do these guys really know how to ride safely? What are the laws regarding motorcycle safety classes and wear-ing protective riding gear?

A: This is a timely question, especially consid-ering recent motor-cycle fatalities in the region. Motorcycle use has become increasingly popular in recent years, and motorists need to be aware of their pres-ence on our roads. Recent statistics show that motorcycle crashes are on the rise, as well as the number that end up being fatal. The

Iowa Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau reports that during 2005-10, motorcycle crashes accounted for approximately 2 percent of all reported crashes in Iowa, but they made up 14 percent of all fatalities and 12 percent of all serious injuries. Iowa law requires the “L” endorsement for all motor-cycle operators. To get this endorsement, motorcyclists are required to pass both writ-ten and skills tests. A motorcycle instruction permit is available for those who would like to practice their skills prior to taking these tests. The permit requires the learner to be under the super-vision of another fully licensed motorcyclist while operating. The fully licensed motorcyclist must be on a separate bike and

within sight and hearing dis-tance of the learner at all times. It is important for motorcy-clists to wear protective cloth-ing, eyewear and a helmet. Sta-tistics from 2005-10 also show that in more than 80 percent of the motorcycle fatalities the riders were not wearing a hel-met. There are no laws in Iowa governing the use of helmets, or other clothing. In fact, Iowa is one of only three states in the country that does not require motorcyclists to wear a helmet. Whatever mode of transpor-tation, please drive defensively!

Vince Kurtz lives in Orange City and serves as the safety education officer for Iowa State Patrol Post 6 in Spencer. He may be reached at [email protected].

ASK A TROOPER

What do laws say about cycles?


OPINION

Jay’s wife, CeCe, brought nine large boxes of our son’s books to Sibley this week

from Des Moines. She’d offered them to me when he died, knowing the connection they provided Connie and me to our son. Many of the volumes my wife and I will add to our individual libraries. Some will be shared with Jay’s brother, Jeff, an avid reader with many of the same interests as his younger brother. The balance I’ll store for Jay’s children, Zoey and Kiernan, for when they grow older and have a place of their own. Jay, our youngest son, was a writer and editor most of his working career. He loved books and collected new and used volumes the same way some people collect baseball cards. His passion for books was wide and undefinable. He enjoyed current and historic great literature. You could find the latest John Sanford on his bedside table just as likely as a first edition by turn-of-the-century N’West Iowa author

Frederick Manfred. The boxes are filled with Jay’s interests — books on travel, modern thought and human philosophy, biographies on political leaders and a favorite theme: publishing, writers and editors. I looked through one box and discovered a paperback titled “Editors on Editing.” Inter-ested, I opened the cover to find an inscription on the first page. It read “To Jason, who grows in ability and style every day and makes me very proud! Christmas, 1985. Dad.” I don’t remember giving it to him,

but a request for books always topped his and his brother’s Christmas and birthday wish lists. The Wagners have always been readers. When the boys were young, Connie would read to them in the car to keep them entertained on long automobile trips. The four of us, Connie reading as I drove, worked our way through the C.S. Lewis Narnia series, the complete set of Little House book, some of the Hardy Boys mysteries and a variety of other volumes. Even as high school students both boys often went to bed early so they could read a “chapter or two” before going to sleep. When Jay eventually moved to Des Moines, first to work for The Register and later to edit The Iowan, he moved into a nice, comfortable, little apart-ment. The problem was the operative word “little.” Our son had stacks of books every-where. One weekend soon after he moved his mother and I vis-ited his new home with the

idea of getting him organized. I remember his first request for help was for some kind of shelving to hold his beloved books. We eventually found three matching, ceiling high, solid oak bookshelves at a store just across from Merle Hay Mall. Jay and I had to make three trips with my pickup to move the shelves, one at a time, to his apartment. Lined up along one wall the bookshelves pro-vided enough space for his current collection and some future purchases. That extra space was gone in a just a few months. Having Jay’s library of books here in Sibley means more to Connie and me than some might appreciate. Our son shared many of the same inter-ests, loves and beliefs as the two of us. Over the years, as he lived in Des Moines, he’d often call to discuss his reaction to some-thing he’d read with his mother or me. I remember those calls with tenderness and a bit of pain: “Pops,” he’d start because that was always the way he

addressed me when the con-versation was going to be seri-ous, “did you ever think about . . .” During such conversations my son taught me a lot about the reality of politics, the art of writing, places I really should visit and unusual people I needed to read a certain book about. Even now books are a major part of our family’s life. All four grandchildren are read-ers. It isn’t unusual for Zoey to consume an adult book in one day. Sam often can quote player stats and key biographi-cal information from his read-ing about a favorite football, baseball or basketball player. Jeff regularly learns about and reads new business and man-agement books long before they become a popular best-seller. Both of our daughters-in-law prefer lighter reading but, like most busy mothers, are very selective about the novels to which they commit their lim-ited free time. I’m currently reading an unofficial Frank Sinatra biography enjoying the many side comments on the

big bands and other popular singers of the period. And Connie, with more time following retirement, seems to be reading two or three books at one time. She even joined a local book club that reads and discusses a new book every month. But, most interestingly of all, my redhead and I are back to sharing books as we make long trips in our car or van. I’ll drive and Connie will read. Current-ly, we’re working on “Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet” by Jamie Ford. Set in the early 1940s and covering the inter-racial problems of those war years, it is full of details and insight to a different, world-changing, time. We can hardly wait for our next road trip to complete another couple of chapters. Somehow I think Jay would be very pleased.

Peter W. Wagner lives in Sibley. He is the founder and publisher of The N’West Iowa REVIEW and may be reached at [email protected].

PETER W. WAGNERPUBLISHER

Many people displaying yellow ribbons don’t fight veteran cutsb y n a n c y P e T e R S

We are a romantic nation. Weddings are such a fan-tasy that commercials use

the wedding scenario to sell us most anything. Similarly, we romanticize cars, homes and recreation. We even romanticize war by thinking “we are the best country.” That validates our invasions in other lands. However, statistics place the United States below No. 25 in most categories of excellence in health, education and happiness. We are No. 1 in military spending. The next step is to romanticize the soldier. Yellow ribbons are on many of our vehicles to tell the world how much we support the soldiers. Memo-rial Day just passed and a few of us honored our soldiers and veterans by attending events to hold up their sacrifices for our nation. We remem-

ber the slogan: Freedom is not free. We remember the heavy and final price that 1 percent of our citizens pay enabling the rest of us to have the good life that we desire. But this Memorial Day, I was trou-bled as I thought of all the yellow rib-bons on cars and pickups, which give a message opposite of the way most folks vote on election days, at least in N’West Iowa. How can it be that in Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget, which is the recently-released GOP budget, the word “veteran” doesn’t appear even once in the 100-page document? Actually, the GOP budget would cut $11 bil-lion from veterans spending even at a time when 45,000 U.S. troops return-ing from Iraq and Afghanistan are still recovering from wounds and ampu-tations. We should not in good conscious extremely cut the care of veterans

who rely on VA services, in addition to cutting the veterans of other wars and eras who also depend on the VA. But this shortsightedness has happened before. President Bush in 2005 underfunded the Department of Veterans Affairs by a billion dollars, despite the expand-ing need. Fortunately, Jim Nicholson, secretary of Veterans Affairs, secretly crawled before Congress to plead the case of veterans just to keep the VA’s doors open. It looked bad then and it is terrible now to forget the soldiers who have served our nation and now suffer the aftermath. Medicare is on the chopping block in a severe way in the GOP Paul Ryan budget. While many of us believe the GOP is solely chopping our grandpar-ents’ ability to receive medical care, actually the veterans also will suf-fer. The veterans who have become disabled, are entirely dependent on

Medicare for their primary care. Think of all the veterans who suffer without having any limbs now becoming homeless and having no medical care. Think about the one out of four of the homeless in this country who are veterans. They were forced into homelessness because the chopping block has had its way. Once the chopping has happened, does the money go to reduce the defi-cit as is the GOP argument? Actually, under the current Paul Ryan budget, the debt as a share of gross domestic product would increase. There are giveaways to the richest Americans and to the largest corporations in this nation. Our richest folks already pay a lower actual tax rate than working people. Yet, their influence in Con-gress and in elections is extremely powerful and they get their way. They want their taxes reduced further. The concluding story is more

than sad. Often disabled veterans are denied the opportunity to vote. Because they are disabled, they often have no photo identifications or often no driver’s license. Story after story reveals that they cannot afford to apply for official paperwork to obtain voter rights. Many red states have cre-ated tough new hurtles which are pre-venting the poor citizens from voting. Should people decide to vote for elected representatives who support cutting veteran benefits and their medical care, then at least they also should remove the yellow ribbons from their property. To oppose ben-efits for our soldiers is to be a begot; to display the yellow ribbons while voting for elected officials who cut veteran benefits is to be a hypocrite.

Nancy Peters lives in Sheldon and writes for Northwest Iowa Peace Links.

VIEWPOINT

Box of books remind of son’s love for reading

Orthopedic Institute has gained a reputation as the region’s most trusted name in comprehensive orthopedic care. We’re happy to have another gifted specialist, Dr. Corey Rothrock, see patients in Rock Valley, beginning June 18.

Dr. Rothrock is Board Certified by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery. He specializes in hip and knee joint replacement, revision surgery and general orthopedics. He has completed advanced training in minimally invasive knee and anterior hip replacement, pelvic and acetabular fracture surgery.

Dr. Rothrock will see patients in Rock Valley at Hegg Memorial Hospital, located at 1202 21st Avenue. No referral necessary. To schedule an appointment, please call 712-476-8000.

Orthopedic Institute is proud to announce that Dr. Corey Rothrock will see patients in Rock Valley.

810 E. 23RD ST., SIOUX FALLS, SD WWW.ORTHOPEDICINSTITUTESF.COM

SCAC - Sioux County Archery Club

Week of July 10-17, 2012


NEWS

REYNOLDSContinued from page A1 In early May, AdvancePi-erre Foods in Orange City announced it was closing its plant, leaving 305 work-ers out of jobs by November. Last week, Nemschoff Chairs informed workers it would be closing its Sioux Center production facility, leaving another 111 jobless by mid-September. Reynolds, in her second year as Republican Gov. Terry Branstad’s right-hand aide, talked about the progress that has been made in job growth, but also noted there is room for improvement. “We’re laying the foundation that’s conducive to job growth. Of course, we always believe we can do better,” Reynolds said. “We’re making progress. We’re moving in the right direction. Do we think we can do better? Absolutely.” Iowa’s unemployment is at 5.1 percent, well below the national average of 8.2 per-cent, but Reynolds said that’s still too high. Still, she said that Tom Vil-sack and Chet Culver’s gover-norships created in the past 12 years, the Branstad adminis-tration created 29 in the past 12 months. Branstad ran for governor in 2010 on a platform of creating 200,000 new jobs in Iowa by 2014. “We have to find jobs for people,” Reynolds said. “We have to work with businesses to make sure we create an environment where they can grow and feel confident in the stability of Iowa’s government, that they will re-invest the cap-ital not only into their business but into our communities.” One of the areas the state could offer some assistance is through a commercial and industrial tax climate. Com-

mercial property is the only property class taxed at 100 percent of assessed value in Iowa and it is the third highest such tax in the nation. Republicans and Democrats seem to be on the same page that something needs to be done, but there has been no agreement on exactly what that would look like. “That will continue to be a No. 1 priority for our admin-istration,” Reynolds said. “It is a deterrent to small business and job growth in the state of Iowa.”

She said Iowa also needs to work on developing a skilled workforce, more than ever driven by science, technology, engineering and math. She thinks community colleges and technical schools will be important in giving employees the right skills they need for the workforce. From a broader perspective, Reynolds is pleased with the progress the state has made in getting Iowa’s fiscal health in order, turning a $900 million deficit into a balanced bud-get that is spending only 97

percent of incoming revenue, and curbing the previous administration’s willingness to spend one-time money to fund ongoing programs. She said some progress has been made in education reform, but more is needed to turn Iowa from a middle-of-the-pack eduction to a pre-mier one. The administration also is committed to making Iowa the healthiest state in the nation. Reynolds and about 30 city and business leaders from the community heard a report from Orange City mayor Les Douma about the rebranding and development of the town of 6,000 in recent years. It was one of the first events held in the new Prairie Winds Event Center. Reynolds also was given a tour of the community and met with officials at Orange City businesses Quatro Com-posites and AdvancePierre Foods.

The Ashton Fire Department was joined by 17 other departments for a training exercise Friday, June 1, in Ashton. The department lit a fire at about 8 p.m. at a feed mill owned by United Farmers Co-op, and 100 fire-fighters controlled the blaze. The structure only took 45 minutes to burn down. (Photo by Kiley Seligman)

Training day

Lieutenant governor shares outlook

Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds talks about the progress made in Iowa over the last year dur-ing a stop in Orange City on Wednesday. She focused some of her comments on making the state a location conducive to job growth. (Photo by Dan Breen)

n Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds will hold town hall meetings Thursday, June 14, in N’West Iowa. They will be at Prairie Queen Bakery in downtown Sheldon at 8 a.m.; The Lantern Coffeehouse & Roastery in Sibley at 9:15 a.m.; and Sully’s Grill in Rock Rapids at 10:30 a.m. They also will tour Exemplar Genetics in Sioux Center at noon.

GOVERNOR TO HOST MEETINGS:

Thirst posters ondisplay at Dordt SIOUX CENTER—Poster designs created by the Chicago-based design studio Thirst are on display through July 15 in the Dordt College Art Gallery, located inside the Campus Center, in Sioux Center. The free exhibit is open Monday-Saturday 8 a.m.-5 p.m.

Goodwill trailerto be in Primghar PRIMGHAR—The Ambas-sador trailer of Goodwill Industries Wall Street Mis-sion in Sioux City will receive donations June 19-26 in the parking lot of United Church

of Primghar. Goodwill will accept clothing, working small appliances, household goods, sporting goods and toys. The donations are processed and sold in Goodwill stores to sup-port programs and services for people with disabilities.

Hosts sought forexchange pupils REGIONAL—ASSE Interna-tional Student Exchange Pro-gram is seeking local families to host boys and girls ages of 15-18. Host families can choose their students from a wide variety of backgrounds, countries and personal inter-ests. For more information, call 1-800-736-1760, or visit www.assehosts.com.

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Asked for ideas, they givedirection on improvements


HARTLEY—Most teenagers dream of having more activities to participate in.

Megan Jordan is an exception.

The 18-year-old, who graduated from Hart-ley-Melvin-Sanborn High School in Hartley last month, wants com-m u n i t y members of a l l ages to benefit from the O’Brien County city’s offerings in the future. How e v e r, Jordan, who doubles as a lifeguard at the Hartley Sw i m m i n g Pool, is not alone. E i g h t -e e n - y e a r -o l d K r i s -ten Recher

See FUTURE on page B4

Three schools consolidated 15 years agob y l i n d S ay H o e P P n e R

S t a ff W ri t e r

HARTLEY—The Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn School District has gone through quite the transformation over the past three decades.

Nancy Rosenboom witnessed the conversion firsthand.

Rosenboom, who now serves as the secretary for principal Mark Petersen at Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn High School in Hartley, has ties to the district that began when she was growing up in the com-munity. Rosenboom, the former Nancy Kluender, graduated from Hart-ley High School in 1972, but not before amassing 13 track and field school records. What’s more, the now 57-year-old still holds two of those achievements — as the anchor leg of the 880-yard medley that posted a time of 1 minute, 58.3 seconds in 1971 and a 440-yard dash time of 1:01.25, which she set in 1972 — which are proudly displayed on the school’s record board. The Hartley High School graduate, however, could not get enough

See H-M-S on page B2

They enjoy food, fellowshipoffered at downtown eatery


HARTLEY—Steve Lux recalls the excitement of driving into town from rural Hartley with his family to have dinner at Red’s Cafe.

“It was kind of a big deal to get to come into

town with mom and dad, go into Red’s and get a Coke,” he said. But times have changed and so has Red’s Cafe, and the 58-year-old Lux, who now is the owner of the establishment, has noticed more families traveling farther to go out to eat. Red’s is no lon-ger is the fam-ily destination it once was. O r i g i n a l l y opened in 1913, R e d ’ s C a f e served home-style c lassics l i k e b u r g e r s , hot beef sand-w i c h e s , l i v e r and onions, and pan-fried chick-en. The down-town business was a destina-tion after dances and movies in the 1940s and 1950s. “It was always the place to go after the dance. Couples would come in and get a burger and soda,” Lux said. “They’d bring their dates over

See RED’S on page B2

Family insurance agencyvalues its clients over years


HARTLEY—Surprisingly little has changed in Treimer’s Insurance Agency’s nearly 100-

year legacy. T h e c o m p a n y

only has moved offices three times in its his-tory, always has been managed primarily by the Treimer family and maintains the major-ity of the values on which the company was founded. David and Bill Treimer, both 54, are the cous-ins who currently are the co-owners of Tre-imer’s insurance. Before them, their fathers,

See TREIMER’S on page B4

ACCENTThe N’West Iowa REVIEW • June 9, 2012 • Section B

Sibley➻ ➻

50years together

50years together

50505050505050505050505050505050505050505050years together

T his year marks the 50th anniver-sary of The Golden Shopper and 40th anniversary of The N’West Iowa REVIEW.

We’re marking those occasions beginning this week with a series of special tributes where we will reflect on the most important participants in that growth — you the reader. We will be interviewing early subscribers and former employees, updating big stories published over the years, looking at longtime businesses, profiling establishments and talking to residents about their dreams for the next 50 years for communities throughout the region. This week’s tribute focuses on Hartley.

Hartley➻ ➻

Share➻ n If you have a personal memory you would like to share of the early years of The Golden Shopper or The N’West Iowa REVIEW, e-mail editor Jeff Grant at [email protected] or Facebook us at www.facebook.com/nwestiareview.

Still the Same➻

Then & Now➻

Profi le➻

Youth sharethoughts oncommunity

Future 50➻

Charles Schmidt, Aud De Graaf, Mark Butt and Clayton Pyle discuss a number of topics while meeting for coffee on a recent morning at Red’s Cafe in down-town Hartley. (Photos by Josh Harrell)

Focus puton people

Cafe still ‘big deal’ to customers

Feelings varied when districts merged

Jan Hall, formerly

of Hartley, painted the cafe’s logo onto one of the bricks removed

during the remodel and gave it to the restaurant.during the remodel and

David Treimer works with his cousin, Bill, in the family insurance busi-ness. Treimer’s Insurance Agency was started by David and Bill’s grandfather, William. (Photo by Josh Harrell)

Nancy Rosenboom has worked through most of the system at the Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn School District. She currently serves as the secretary for high school principal Mark Petersen, but graduated from Hartley High School in 1972. (Photo by Josh Harrell)

Maybe a soccer

program at the high school or just a com-munity program for kids.”

Morgan De groot13, FRESHMAN-TO-BE AT HARTLEY-

MELVIN-SANBORN HIGH SCHOOL

‘‘

Land of the FreeLand of the FreeLand of the Free

HomeHomeBraveBraveBraveBrave

HomeBraveBraveBraveBraveBraveBrave

of the

Hartley’s lost heroesremembered for theirservice to our nation

leRoy WebsterAPRIL 25, 2009

Shane koeleMARCH 15, 2005

‘‘Your worldjust changes.Mary Donnewerth

MOTHER OF SHANE KOELE


ARTLEY—Hartley understands the cost of freedom as well as any small town. Within a span of four years, the community of 1,670 was rocked twice by the deaths of two of its bravest young ser-

vicemen in active duty. Several years removed from separate accidents in 2005 and 2009 accidents, the

wounds still are healing.

They will never heal completely, espe-cially for the families of Army Staff Sgts. Shane Marion Koele and LeRoy Otis Web-ster. Those scars will last forever. Their lives were taken too early, but were not taken in vain. The action and courage of the young men have helped to better secure two nations and have made the world a safer place.

Shane koele Growing up, Shane Koele was so busy that his mother, Mary Donnenwerth, sometimes had a hard time getting him to eat. “Food was not a priority for him,” she said. Between his involvement in sports and video games and his love for the Univer-sity of Iowa Hawkeye football and basket-ball, there was hardly time for eating. From a young age, Koele wanted to be a firefighter, a dream that later morphed into an interest in the military for the 1998 graduate of Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn High School in Hartley.

See SOLDIERS on page B4

The Big Story➻

FILE PHOTOS

SATURDAY, JUNE 9, 2012 n THE N'WEST IOWA REVIEW/SHELDON, IA B2

50 YEARS TOGETHER: HARTLEY

H-M-SContinued from B1of the school, and began serving as a teacher associate in the media center shortly before the district consolidat-ed with Melvin in 1981. “There were a lot of mixed feelings,” Rosenboom said. “I remember lots of meet-ings, but when it finally hap-pened, I thought it went really smooth.” The smooth transition, how-ever, did not seem likely at first. Following the Aug. 5, 1980, approval of the proposed merger of the major portion of the Melvin School District with the Hartley School Dis-trict, emotional arguments were brought forth by con-cerned parents and school officials. The reorganization passed by a vote of 256-236 in Melvin, and easily carried 525-12 in Hartley. The Melvin School District previously had rejected a plan to merge with Sibley in a 295-225 vote. Rosenboom said mixed emotions again were present in 1992, except with Sanborn instead of Melvin, as the San-born School District joined to form the Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn School District. “We were always rivals, so I think that was a little tougher,” she said. “The kids had no idea, though. I think it was more of a parent thing.”

R o s e n b o o m , w h o n ow resides in Sheldon, noted specific changes throughout the district over the years, with technology being a catalyst. “One of the biggest things that I’ve noticed from being in the media center that makes me sad is with the technology the book part is not what it used to be,” she said. “With research and that kind of thing, those books just sit on

the shelf.” And although it took some time for the consolidation wounds to heal, Rosenboom — whose three children, Tra-vis, Keri and Breann graduated from the district in 1998, 2000 and 2004, respectively — said the schools have since united. “It has blended well,” she said. “Some of my kids’ best friends were from the different towns.”

RED’SContinued from page B1here and a lot of people who went to the movies would come over here for a burger and soda after the movie and it was just kind of the place it was.” It remained open as Red’s for about 70 years until it shut down and reopened as Doug’s Pizza and Steakhouse, and later as Pucci’s Pizza. Pucci’s eventually closed before Lux decided he would reopen Red’s Cafe and restore it to its original glory in 1993. “The place wasn’t open and I thought, ‘I’ve paid my debt to learning the business,’” Lux said. “I thought I would buy this one and make it back to the way it was when I was a kid and remembered the home cook-ing part of it.” Lux had been managing golf courses in Hartley, Primghar and Sanborn and operating a catering business before he decided to reopen Red’s. It was important to him to make the restaurant appear as it did for the first 70 years it was in operation. That meant remodeling the establishment to include a kitchen at the front of the restaurant and decorat-ing with memorabilia that originally adorned the walls. “We found some things that had been put away in storage that were up years ago and brought them back to a mod-ern type of look, with the feel-ing that it was still the original decor that was in here,” Lux said. Although the decor and meals may be similar to how they were early in Red’s his-tory, there also have been some major changes. Lux brought his catering busi-ness to the new Red’s, which operates in a kitchen located in the back of the building. He also purchased the space locat-ed next to Red’s and converted it to a party room that can hold about 50 people. In addition to the physical changes, Red’s has faced the changes resulting from the

declining rural population. “The biggest thing is the rural community and not as many people being here,” Lux said. “It’s easier for people to get into cars and go to bigger shopping areas and when they’re there, they partake in the fast-food restaurants and different types of meals than they can get around here.” But Lux said Red’s offers con-sistent and good quality meals, which have been a part of the restaurant’s history since it first opened. “I think also our personnel that we have working for us,” Lux said. “People working for the original Red’s were always

people that were first of all good workers, good with cus-tomers. They were involved in the day-to-day operation and felt like it was their place. They wanted to make sure they did a good job for the owner and I think my people do it the same way.”

Business: Red’s CafeOwner: Steve LuxAddress: 162 S. Central Ave.Phone: (712) 928-3324

AT A GLANCE:

1889: Hartley Independent School District formed.1901: First brick school building constructed with auditorium on third floor.1935: Vote enables school to bond for $66,000 to construct new building on same location after demolition of first school building. Classes held at local churches and businesses while new school under construction.1936: New school opens at its present location on First Street.1955: New grade school addition completed to house kindergarten through third grade.1961: Decision made to construct new high school along Highway 18 on west side of Hartley.1963: New high school dedicated and opens for 1963-64 school year.1981: Melvin School District consolidated to form Hartley-Melvin School District.1992: Sanborn School District consolidated to form Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn, with preschool through fourth grade and high school in Hartley, and fifth through eighth grade in Sanborn.1998: Plan approved for 34,000-square-foot addition to high school, including 1,200 seat gymnasium.2000: New high school addition opens.

TIMELINE:

Nancy Rosenboom has been through several changes to the Hartley-Melvin-San-born School District. (Photo by Josh Harrell)

Three districts blend into one

Red’s Cafe in Hartley remains a popular place for food and fellowship even though it has undergone some changes over the years. (Photo by Josh Harrell)

Cafe reminder of daysgone by in community

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50 YEARS TOGETHER: HARTLEY

FUTUREContinued from B1expressed a similar interest in the future of the community of 1,670

residents. We asked the future generation of leaders what their hopes and dreams are for the next 50 years in Hartley:

Thoughts provided onways to improve town

“I think everyone wants their community to grow, but we’re close-knit now, so I think that Hartley will always find a way to grow in the future. I think we’ve proven that over time, though, how to sustain. I think the biggest thing is just to keep the school strong.” — Kristen Recher, 18, 2011 graduate of Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn High School who attends Northwest Iowa Community College in Sheldon

“I want our community to be a lot cleaner, and I’d like also to have the right people around.” — Gage Towne, 17, senior-to-be at Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn High School

“I think lots of the houses around town should be cleaned up a little bit, because it’s not really being enforced that well, and it definitely needs

to be picked up more. Another thing is to always have a restaurant open in town. I know that Pete’s has been going through different managers, and that’s been hard for them, so I’d like to see a night-time restaurant be open year round and have people support it. I also think we should keep the pool as it is — an actual swimming pool and not an aquatic center where there’s just toys and games. We need to have an actual swimming pool, which helps kids with their imagination.” — Megan Jordan, 18, 2012 Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn High School graduate

“More things to do, like a better swimming pool with water slides.” — Bella Fennell, 12, seventh-grader-to-be at Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Middle School.

WHAT’S NEXT?

Kristen Recher

Gage Towne

Megan Jordan

Bella Fennel

TREIMER’SContinued from B1Donald and Virgil Treimer, were in charge of the agency. And their grand-father, William Treimer, was the original founder of Treimer’s Insurance Agency, opening the business in 1915 in Hartley. “Our grandfather really believed in insurance, and not everyone did back in those early days, but there was a need for it,” Bill said. William Treimer got his start likely before there were many cars on the road, David speculates, and when farm-ers had to rely on insurance from large East Coast stock companies that were offering farmers insurance at overpriced rates. William began selling insurance to farmers from his Hartley home located north of town. “It was a good opportunity for him; he liked business,” David said. William had four sons, one who died fighting in World War II, another who went on to sell insurance in Des Moines, and then Donald and Virgil who took over the business along with a third partner, Duane Kolpin, 1945-50. David began working at the company in 1980 and Bill joined in 1984. “It seems like our personalities and our parents and grandparents are all sort of geared for the job,” Bill said. “We just like people, we like business.” “It’s a people business,” David added. David and Bill said the nature of their agency — which is a full-line, indepen-dent agency offering auto, home, farm and life insurance — has attributed to Treimer’s longevity. That, and the fact the agency tries as best it can to offer honest service. Treimer’s has a high employee reten-tion rate. Insurance agent Marjean Wes-terman recently celebrated her 50th year working at the agency, and Bill noted the people that the agency hires are most often replacing employees who are retir-

ing. “We’ve been fortunate to have a lot of long-term employees,” David said. “We haven’t had a lot of turnover, Bill and I. We must be doing a few things right.” Additionally, Bill’s son, Marcus, 20, may carry on the family legacy when he graduates from college. He will be a junior at University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls this fall and is studying to eventually obtain his insurance license.

Although many aspects have remained the same for Treimer’s Insurance Agen-cy, the company has faced changes that come with advancing technology and changes in the industry. “There’s been a lot more changes in the last 10 years than there were in the last 20 years,” David said. “As far as technol-ogy and coverage go, it’s not like you go into this business and quit learning, it’s perpetual learning — you’re always try-ing to gain more knowledge.

Name: David TreimerPosition: Co-owner of Treimer’s Insurance Agency in HartleyAge: 54Residence: HartleyEducation: Graduated from Hartley High School in 1976; graduated from Morningside College in Sioux City in 1980 with a degree in business administration.Experience: Began working at Treimer’s Insurance Agency in 1980.Family: Wife, Cathy; daughters Abigail, 28, and Sarah, 25.Interests: Golfing, boating, reading.

Name: Bill TreimerPosition: Co-owner of Treimer’s Insurance Agency in HartleyAge: 54Residence: HartleyEducation: Graduated from Hartley High School in 1976; graduated from Iowa State University in Ames in 1984 with a degree in business administration.Experience: Began working at Treimer’s Insurance Agency in 1984.Family: Wife, Patty; children Meredith, 23, Marcus, 20, and Valerie, 17.Interests: Golfing, boating, listening to music, electronics.

AT A GLANCE:

Insurancebusinessremainsin family

Treimer’s Insurance Agency recently moved into a former bank build-ing in Hartley. The family-run insurance agency has been a part of the community for nearly a century. (Photo by Josh Harrell)

Memories of fallen heroes from Hartley live onSOLDIERSContinued from B1 Despite resistance from his mother, Koele joined the U.S. Army in 2000. He served a six-month tour in Iraq in 2003 and returned safely home having set the building blocks for the victory in Iraq. Koele was a member of the 212th Military Police Company based in Kitzingen, Germany, in early 2005 when he received word that his unit was being called up to Afghanistan. The call up would mean he would be leaving his wife, Cheryl, and their 4-month-old daughter, Kiley. Cheryl and Kiley moved back to Hartley to be closer to family during his deploy-ment. That tearful goodbye in Germany would be the last time the Koeles would embrace. Just one week into his deployment of Afghanistan, Koele, 25, was killed. “Your world just changes,” Donnen-werth said. “It’s like something reaches in and takes your heart out. It’s physi-cally painful.” Koele’s company had been patrolling an area 12 miles south of Shindand, near the Iranian border, when one of the two Humvees in his patrol became stuck in the mud. Koele got out of his own Humvee to help the soldiers in the other vehicle out of the mud. That’s when a nearby land mine detonated on March 15, 2005, injuring five soldiers, including Koele. He died one day later at Shindand Airfield. A military funeral was held in Hartley the following week, with an outpour-ing of support from the community. “I cannot believe how much people cared, how awesome they were,” said Donnenwerth, 59, the office manager at Community Memorial Health Cen-ter in Hartley. “I was just so amazed. You just don’t realize how much people care. That’s what I think about. They were just so wonderful.” She has learned to take life minute by minute, training herself not to think about the future ramifications of her son’s death and the pain it would

cause on the family. Cheryl Koele and Kiley recently moved to Williamsburg where Kiley is a happy and healthy 7-year-old. Donnenwerth said she can see her son every time she looks into Kiley’s eyes. “Her eyes are exactly like her dad’s,” Donnenwerth said. “She looks a lot like her mom, but when you look at Shane’s eyes and Kiley’s eyes, they’re exactly the same.” Kiley also has a couple more of her dad’s traits — a love for video games, certain mannerisms and his athleti-cism. The verdict’s still out on whether she like to eat. “Through all of the sadness there have been joys as well, and blessings,” Donnenwerth said.

leRoy Webster LeRoy Webster was only one year behind Shane Koele in school at Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn. Little did they know it at the time, but the two would be connected in many ways. A year after marrying Jessica Webster, LeRoy joined the Iowa Army National Guard in 2001. Jessica, a 2000 Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn graduate, remem-bers LeRoy talking about going into the military during their time in high school. “That was his true passion and what he wanted to do,” said Jessica, 30, who lives in Hartley with the couple’s three children. “I was very supportive, but also worried, because we had one daughter already. But it was some-thing he wanted to do.” After a year working homeland secu-

rity and two terms of duty overseas — Afghanistan, 2004-05, and Iraq, October 2006-January 2008 — LeRoy was again called to duty in 2009. During that time, Jessica and her children, ranging in age 2-9, moved back to Hartley to be closer to family during the one-year deployment. Jes-sica had been through deployments before and had a good idea of what to expect. “With every deployment you have the same concerns and worries, but they’re so used to going though it. It’s their job,” Jessica said. “You kind of adapt to that lifestyle and get used to it.” LeRoy was assigned to the Battery B, 3rd Battalion, 82nd Fields Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division based out of Fort Hood, TX. He had been in Iraq for about three months when he was sent out on a dismounted patrol of Kirkuk in north-ern Iraq on April 25, 2009. He was joined by a company of sol-diers when enemy insurgents opened fire on them shortly after 5 p.m. local time. LeRoy Webster was shot and killed. He was 28. Jessica will never forget the moment when she saw the two uniformed men arrive at her door late at night to deliver the horrific news in person. “Like any Army wife, when you see them at the door, you know. You don’t even have to open the door,” she said. “You can’t really put it into words to describe that moment. It’s one of those life moments that you wish that no one has to go through. You’ll never understand until you’re the one there.

It’s best described as a huge open hole in your life. What was there is now gone.” Sharing the news with her children in brute honesty was perhaps the hard-est part. Having moved back to Hartley dur-ing the deployment turned out to be a blessing. “The support of my family was exceptional. I couldn’t have gotten through it without them,” Jessica said. “The outpouring of the commu-nity, the kind words, the food that was brought over, it was what helped us get through a very difficult time.” Jessica said the family is commit-ted to keeping LeRoy’s legacy alive

by having open conversations and displaying pictures, medals, ribbons and other memorabilia at the house. Each of her children have photos of him. They visit his grave site on many holidays, most recently Memorial Day. Sharing memories is the most impor-tant part. “That’s all we’ve got,” she said. Jessica said her children each carry special traits and characteristics that remind her of LeRoy. She hopes LeRoy is remembered as a person who would assist you in your greatest time of need — something he did until his last moments. “He would do absolutely anything he could do to help you,” Jessica said.

n A traveling photo exhibit that honors the life of every Iowa soldier killed during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will come to Hartley later this summer. The exhibit, “Remembering the Fallen, “will be displayed at Hartley Public Library, 91 First St. St S.E., Aug. 2-7 during normal library hours. Along with photos and descriptions of the fallen soldiers, a patriotic slide show also plays. The exhibit has been traveling throughout Iowa since early in 2011.

REMEMBERING THE FALLEN:

PHOTOS BY JOSH HARRELL

PAST IT ONConsignments

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OBITUARIES

SANBORN—Eugene F. “Gene” Watters, age 89, of Indianola, Iowa, and formerly of Sanborn, Iowa, died Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012, at t h e We s t -view of Indi-anola Care C e n t e r i n Indianola, Iowa. Memorial services will b e 2 p. m . today (Sat-urday, June 16) at the First Pres-byterian Church in Sanborn. Burial will be in the Roseland Cemetery in Sanborn, Iowa. The Sliefert Funeral Home of Storm Lake is in charge of the arrangements. Eugene Forrest Watters, the son of Forrest and Mae (Niswander) Watters, was born in Sanborn, Iowa, on Oct. 9, 1922. He lived his youth and received his education at the Sanborn Community School, graduating with the class of 1940. On Aug. 16, 1942, Gene was united in marriage to Bernice Kimmel at her parents’ home and they were blessed with two children: Carol and Jerry. Gene was drafted into the United States Army on Dec. 17, 1942. During basic training in New Orleans, Louisiana, Gene became critically ill with spinal meningitis and was honorably discharged. A loving and devoted hus-band and father, Gene’s fam-ily was his first priority. He was employed with the Milwaukee Road Railroad, the Co-op Oil, and the Sanborn Post Office

where he served as acting postmaster and rural mail car-rier. He was a member of the Sanborn American Legion and served proudly for 28 years with the Sanborn Volunteer Fire Department. Gene and Bernice were active in their church and often worked as a team. In his spare time, Gene enjoyed doing remodeling projects on their home, feed-ing birds and watching college football and basketball. For 30 summers, Gene and Bernice made wonderful memories at their cabin on Spirit Lake, fishing together and welcom-ing family and friends to share time with them. In 1990, the couple moved to the town of Spirit Lake. In 2005, Gene and Bernice returned to Sanborn residing at Prairie View Manor. Bernice passed away on June 13, 2006. Gene moved to Vin-tage Hills Assisted Living in Indianola in August of 2011. Those left to cherish his memory are his daughter, Carol (Gary) Walke of Sumner, Iowa; his son, Jerry (Holly) Watters of Indianola, Iowa; grandchildren, Erik (Bonnie) Walke of DeFor-est, Wisconsin, Jason (Michelle) Walke of West Des Moines, Iowa, Joe (Vicki) Watters of Ames, Iowa, and Matthew (Holly) Watters of Ankeny, Iowa; great-grandchildren, Blake, Katie, Lewis, and Bailey Walke; Alissa, Amanda, Rachel, Nicole, and Ally Watters; other extend-ed family and many friends. Gene was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Ber-nice; and a granddaughter, Ann Watters. Blessed be the memory of Eugene F. “Gene” Watters.

Eugene WattersOct. 9, 1922—Jan. 29, 2012

Gene Watters

ORANGE CITY—Mr. James Doornink, age 81, of Orange City, passed away on Wednes-day, May 30, 2012, at his residence. S e r v i c e s w e r e o n M o n d a y , June 4 , at the Oolman F u n e r a l H o m e i n Orange City. T h e R e v . Keith Krebs officiated. Burial was Tuesday, June 5, at the West Lawn Cem-etery in Orange City, with the Rev. Jeffrey Whitt officiating. James Dennis was born on Feb. 5, 1931, at Orange City, the son of Dr. William and Gertrude (Dykstra) Doornink. He was raised at Orange City, where he graduated from the public high school. He then attended the University of Iowa in Iowa City. On Dec. 20, 1952, he married Kathryn Ann Freyder in Iowa City. After serving in the United States Air Force, they settled on the Doornink family farm north of Orange City. In 1965, they moved into Orange City. In 1967, they established Doornink Insur-ance, which later became Siouxland Insurance. “Kay” passed away on Dec. 26, 2009, in Orange City, after 57 years of marriage. “Jim” was a member of the

American Reformed Church in Orange City, where he served on the consistory as a deacon. He was active in the Boy Scouts, becoming an Eagle Scout and later serving as a Scoutmaster. Mr. Doornink also partici-pated in Tulip Festival activities and was a “Master Gardener.” Survivors include two daugh-ters, Ann Doornink of Orange City, and Linda and her hus-band, Terry Mulder, of Ireton; a son, Bill Doornink of Spirit Lake; 12 grandchildren, Andrea Vollink of Ames, Lori Vollink of Sheldon, Natalie (Trevor) Seibold of Ames, Todd (Ali) Van Otterloo of Algona, Tim Van Otterloo of West Des Moines, Emily Van Otterloo of Pome-roy, Cody Mulder of Hospers, Megan Zeutenhorst of Orange City, Tyler Mulder of Eugene, Oregon, Kim Zeutenhorst of Denver, Colorado, and Caleb Mulder and Alex Mulder, both of Ireton; three great-grand-children, Casey, Taylor and Peyton Van Otterloo; a sister and her husband, Alma Jane and Paul Sulhoff of Bella Vista, Arkansas; special friends, the Valdez family; and his dog and companion, Sofie. In addition to his parents and wife, he was preceded in death by a daughter, Sue Postma. Memorials will be directed to the Orange City Boy Scouts. You may express your sympa-thy at www.oolman.com.

James DoorninkFeb. 5, 1931—May 30, 2012

Jim Doornink

LUVERNE, MN—Peter Weg, 85, Luverne, MN, formerly of Worthington, MN, died Satur-day, June 2, at Sanford L u v e r n e M e d i c a l Center. S e r v i c -e s w e r e Wednesday, June 6 , at Worthing-ton Chris-t i a n R e -f o r m e d Church, with the Revs. Adam Eisinga and Tom Voigt officiat-ing. Burial was at Memory Gar-dens Cemetery in Worthington, MN, with military rites by the American Legion Calvin Knuth Post 5 in Worthington, under the direction of Andringa Funeral Home in Sibley. Peter Weg was born on Jan. 22, 1927, in Worthington, Min-nesota. He was the son of Dick and Dena (Rutgers) Weg. He lived his youth in rural Bigelow, Minnesota, and rural Sibley, Iowa. He attended Bigelow Consolidated School and one year of high school. Peter worked for his father until he enlisted into the United States Army in 1952, and was honor-ably discharged in 1953. He was united in marriage to Joyce Dykstra of Bigelow, Min-nesota, on May 26, 1952, at the Christian Reformed Church in Bigelow. They lived in rural Bigelow and rural Sibley, Iowa ,until 1 9 9 1 , w h e n t h e y re t i re d from farming and moved to Worthington, Minnesota. Peter also sold Archer Oil for many years. Joyce passed away on March 26, 1999.

He was a member of Worth-ington Christian Reformed Church. He was a former member of Bigelow Christian Reformed Church. He served as an elder and deacon at both churches. Peter was a loyal Minnesota Twins fan. He enjoyed reading, music, playing cards and pool. He loved to travel, visiting his children and family across the country. He moved to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in 2009 and moved to Luverne, Minnesota, VA Nursing Home in March of 2012. Peter passed away on Satur-day, June 2, 2012, at Sanford Medical Center in Luverne, Minnesota. Those left to cherish his memories are his children, Donald and Rhonda L. Weg of Worthington, MN, Kenneth and Rhonda S. Weg of Sibley, IA, Timothy and Shane Weg of Ferndale, WA, Verlyn Weg of Casa Grande, AZ, Kevin Weg of Sioux Falls, SD, Judy and Drew Bakkene of Sioux Falls, SD, Vivian and David Park of Sioux Falls, SD, Cynthia and Tim Begeman of Madison, SD, Diane and Rusty Braden of Sioux Falls, SD, Michele and Robert Bendt of Center-ville, SD; 25 grandchildren; 13 great-grandchildren; one brother, Gerald and Anita Weg of Worthington, MN; one sis-ter, Carolyn and Abel Zwart of Grand Rapids, MI. Online expressions of sympa-thy can be sent to www.andrin-gafuneralhome.com. He was preceded in death by his wife, Joyce Weg; two sons, Duane Weg and infant Merlin Weg; his parents; one brother, John Weg; one sister, Etta Vogel.

Peter WegJan. 22, 1927—June 2, 2012

Peter Weg

PRIMGHAR—Eunice L. Ebel, age 92 of Primghar, Iowa, passed away on Sunday, June 3, 2012, at the P r i m g h a r Care Center in Primghar, Iowa. H e r s e r -vices were Friday, June 8, 2012, at the United Church of Primghar in Pr i m g h a r, Iowa, with the Rev. Steven Campbell officiating. Burial will be in the Pleasant Hill Cem-etery in Primghar. On line condolences can be sent to eldridgefamilyfuneral-homes.com. The Eldridge Family Funeral Home in Primghar is in charge of arrangements. Eunice Lorraine Ebel, the daughter of Frank and Clara (Ihle) Powers was born Feb. 9, 1920, in Hartley, Iowa. She received her education in Hart-ley, graduating from Hartley High School. On Feb. 9, 1939, she was unit-ed in marriage to Milton Ebel in Hartley, Iowa. After their marriage the cou-ple farmed west of Primghar,

later moving to a farm east of Primghar. Milton and Eunice purchased an acreage by Gaza and lived there for a number of years until 1995, when they retired and moved into Primghar. Milton preceded her in death on May 21, 2001, in Primghar. Eunice entered the Primghar Care Center in September of 2001. She passed away at the care center on Sunday, June 3, 2012, reaching the age of 92 years, 3 months and 24 days. She was a member of the United Church of Primghar. She enjoyed being on the farm, gardening, flowers and espe-cially her family. Eunice is survived by her chil-dren, Lee Ebel of Toledo, Iowa; Jim and his wife, Bonnie Ebel of Aurelia, Iowa; Robert and his wife, Shirley Ebel of Sierra Vista, Arizona; Linda and her husband, Butch Bergendahl of Spencer, Iowa and Ben and his wife, Connie Ebel of Primghar; also 7 grandchildren, 14 great-grandchildren and other rela-tives and friends. She was preceded in death by her husband, a daughter-in-law, Maxine; a grandson, Jimmie Ebel; her parents, two brothers and four sisters.

Eunice EbelFeb. 9, 1919—June 3, 2012

Eunice Ebel

SANBORN—Loyal E. Monke-meier, age 97, of Sanborn, Iowa, and formerly of Ashton, Iowa, died o n M o n -d a y, J u n e 4, 2012, at the Prairie View Nurs-ing Home in Sanborn. F u n e r a l services will be 10 a.m. today (Sat-urday, June 9, 2012) at the Ashton Bible Church in Ashton, Iowa. Inter-ment will be in the Greenwood Cemetery in Matlock, Iowa. The Sliefert Funeral Home of Storm Lake is in charge of the arrangements. Loyal Edward Monkemeier, the son of Fred and Martha ( Washer) Monkemeier was born on a farm west of Ashton, Iowa, on Aug. 21, 1914. He began his education at Dale #1 Lyon County country school and continued his education at the Ashton Public School where he was valedictorian of his 1933 graduating class. Loyal was united in marriage to Inez Laura Dilly on Feb. 14, 1941, at the Ashton Presbyte-rian Church by the Rev. Arnold Langenburg. The Lord blessed Loyal and Inez with two chil-dren: James and Joy. The major-ity of Loyal and Inez’s married lifetime was spent west of Ash-ton where they were engaged in farming for over 50 years. Being a farmer was a noble vocation for Loyal and he always enjoyed planting and harvesting crops and maintained an interest in his farm, even in his retire-ment. In February of 1998, they moved to Sanborn where they made their home. Loyal enjoyed residing on the Prairie View Campus for the past five and one-half years.

Loyal was a longtime member of the Ashton Bible Church where he had served in various capacities within the church. Loyal and Inez had the gift of hospitality and opened their home to many missionaries and friends. He was a soft-spoken man who testified to his personal relationship through Christ by living a humble and godly life that pointed others to Christ. His Christian faith is a legacy that will continue to touch his family and friends for generations to come. Loyal and Inez spent many winters in southern Texas and also enjoyed traveling throughout the United States, Europe, and the Middle East. T h o s e w h o w i l l a l w a y s honor and cherish his memory include his children, James Monkemeier of Tomball , Texas, and Joy and Brad Smith of Storm Lake, Iowa; his grandchildren, Stephen Monkemeier of Leander, Texas, Dannielle (John) Sansom and Michelle (Steve) Aucoin, all of Magnolia, Texas, Matthew (Yvonne) Smith of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Michael Smith of Marion, Ohio, and Sean (Jaclyn) Smith of Rock Valley, Iowa; his great-grandchildren, Jordan, Carissa, and Jacob Sansom, Cheyanne and Ayden Aucoin, Kinsey, Jacob, and Aly McDonald, Emma Smith, Carson and Adelyn Smith; his brother-in-law, Robert Henrich of San Pedro, California; nieces, nephews, other extended fam-ily and many friends. Loyal was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Inez, on May 5, 2007; his three sisters, Margie, Irene, and Pearl; and two brothers, Raymond and William. “Well done thou good and faithful servant . . . enter thou into the joy of the Lord.” Mat-thew 25:21

Loyal MonkemeierAug. 21, 1914—June 4, 2012

Monkemeier

Summer weddingplans announced ORANGE CITY—Lester and Harriet Van Veldhuizen of Hull announce the engagement of their daughter, Kathy of Orange City, to Joshua Avery of Orange City, son of Michael and JoAnn Avery of DeBary, FL. The bride-to-be is employed at Staples Promotional Prod-ucts in Orange City. Her fiancé is employed at Rosenboom in Sheldon. The couple is planning an outdoor summer wedding. Kathy and Joshua

Gleora and Marvin, 1962 Marvin and Gleora, 2012

DeBruins to observe 50th anniversary

SHELDON—Mar vin and Gleora (VanOmmeran) DeBru-in will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary on June 14. They were married June 14, 1962, at First Reformed Church in Sheldon. The couple has three children, Tim (Sandi) DeBruin of George, Shelley DeBruin of Denver, CO,

and Becky (Rick) Gustin of Iowa Falls. They have three grand-children, Cassaundra DeBruin and Kristine and Andrew Gus-tin. Their children invite you to shower them with cards for this special occasion. Cards may be sent to 1201 Kahler Court, Sheldon, IA 51201.

SHELDON—Jim Coomes, 78, Clearlake, CA, formerly of Shel-don, died Tuesday, May 1, at St. Helena Hospital in northern

California. Services were Thursday, June 7, at East Lawn Cemetery in Sheldon.

Jim Coomes1936—2012

PRIMGHAR—Beverly Ann Ra y m o n d , 7 8 , Pr i m g h a r, died Wednesday, May 30, at Primghar Rehabilitation and Care Center. Services were Monday, June

4, at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in Primghar. Burial was at Calvary Cemetery in Primghar, under the direction of Eldridge Family Funeral Home in Primghar.

Beverly RaymondOct. 13, 1933—May 30, 2012

INWOOD—Angeline Alyda “Elsie” Niemeyer, 93, Inwood, died Thursday, May 31, at Fel-lowship Village in Inwood. Services were Monday, June

4, at First Reformed Church in Inwood. Burial was at Richland Cemetery in Inwood, under the direction of Porter Funeral Home in Inwood.

Angeline “Elsie” NiemeyerMay 13, 1919—May 31, 2012

ROCK RAPIDS—Ruth Mees -ter, 91, Rock Rapids, died Friday, June 1, at Lyon Manor Nursing & Rehabilitation Cen-ter in Rock Rapids. Services were Tuesday, June 5,

at Bethel Reformed Church in Lester. Burial was at Stateline Cem-etery near Rock Rapids, under the direction of Jurrens Funeral Home in Rock Rapids.

Ruth MeesterJan. 24, 1921—June 1, 2012

RO C K R A P I D S — Ev e r o n Klinkenborg, 92, Rock Rapids, died Friday, June 1, at Sanford Rock Rapids Medical Center. Services were Wednesday, June 6, at Salem Reformed Church in Little Rock. Burial was at Pleasant View

Cemetery in Little Rock, with military honors by the Van Anne-Fields 6960, Veterans of Foreign Wars and Rex Strait Post 103 American Legion, and arrangements under the direc-tion of Jurrens Funeral Home in Rock Rapids.

Everon KlinkenborgOct. 25, 1919—June 1, 2012

July 28 weddingplans announced SIBLEY—Dr. Greg and Deb Kosters announce the engage-ment of their daughter, Beth, to Joseph Tweedt, son of Dr. Dan-iel and Julie Tweedt of Council Bluffs. The bride-to-be is a 2006 graduate of Sibley-Ocheyedan High School in Sibley and a 2010 graduate of Northwestern College in Orange City and will complete the radiology tech program this June at Sanford in Sioux Falls, SD. Her fiancé is a 2007 graduate of Council Bluffs Lewis Central High School and a 2011 gradu-ate of Iowa State University in Ames. He is enrolled at Creigh-

ton University School of Law and Werner Institute in Omaha, NE. A July 28 wedding ceremony is planned in Sibley.

Beth and Joseph

OBITUARIES

ALTON—Coleton Lawrence Hanson, 17, Spirit Lake, for-merly of Alton, died Saturday, June 2. Services were Wednesday,

June 6, at Alton Reformed Church. Burial was at West Lawn Cemetery in Orange City, under the direction of Oolman Funeral Home in Orange City.

Coleton HansonMay 31, 1995—June 2, 2012

SIBLEY—Genevieve “Jenny” Kathryn Jones, 90, Bigelow, MN, died Sunday, June 3, at Sibley Nursing & Rehab. Services will be 10:30 a.m. today (Saturday,

June 9) at St. Andrew’s Catholic Church in Sibley. Burial will be at the church cemetery, under the direction of Jurrens Funeral Home in Sibley.

Genevieve “Jenny” JonesMarch 15, 1922—June 3, 2012

ROCK VALLEY—Shirley Mae Bunch, 82, Sioux Falls, SD, formerly of Rock Valley, died Sunday, June 3, 2012, at her Prairie Creek Apartment. Ser-vices were Thursday, June 7,

at Pioneer United Methodist Church in Rock Valley. Burial was at Valley View Cemetery in Rock Valley, under the direction of Porter Funeral Home in Rock Valley.

Shirley BunchSept. 2, 1929—June 3, 2012

LIT TLE ROCK—Michael Francis Kerrigan, 62, Little Rock, formerly of Lansing, MI, died Monday, June 4, at Avera Heart Hospital in Sioux Falls, SD. Services were Thursday, June 7, at St. Andrew’s Catholic Church in Sibley, under the

direction of Jurrens Funeral Home in Sibley. There also will be a graveside service at 11 a.m. today (Satur-day, June 9) at Macken Funeral Home in Rochester, MN. Burial will be at St. Patrick’s Cemetery in Ridgeway, MN.

Michael KerriganJuly 6, 1949—June 4, 2012

SANBORN—Dennis William Gardner, 75, Sanborn, died Monday, June 4, at Sanford Sheldon Medical Center. Services were Wednesday, June 6, at St. Andrew’s United

Methodist Church in Sanborn. Burial will be at a later date at Silver Ridge Cemetery in Stickney, SD. Arrangements are under the direction of Sanborn Funeral Home.

Dennis GardnerMay 6, 1937—June 4, 2012

BIRTHS n Slayden Jay Sandbulte, son of Mark and Sara Sand-bulte of Sanborn, was born Sunday, June 3, 2012, at San-ford Sheldon Medical Center, weighing 6 pounds, 2 ounces, and measuring 19 inches. He has three brothers, Treyton, Bryson and Cobyn. Grand-parents are Curt and Darlene Hartog of Sanborn and Merlyn and Donna Sandbulte of Rock Valley. Great-grandparents are Gerdena Dirksen of Sanborn, Grace Hartog of Sanborn, Flor-ence Sandbulte of Rock Valley and Jack and Lorraine Ellis of

Sheldon. n Jul ia Kay Diekevers , daughter of Brent Smit and Kali Diekevers of Sanborn, was born Wednesday, May 30, 2012, at Sanford Sheldon Medical Center, weighing 7 pounds, 12 ounces, and measuring 20½ inches. Grandparents are Kevin and Lisa Diekevers of Sanborn and Dale and Verla Smit of Orange City. Great-grandpar-ents are Roy and Lois Folkerts of Inwood, Bill and Kay Belt-man of Sheldon, Thomas and Gert Smit of Maurice and Gerrit and Julia Diekevers of Hospers.

MILESTONES

SPORTSThe N’West Iowa REVIEW • June 9, 2012 • Section C

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Golf tournaments can come in lots of different formats, but most of the variations are reserved

for tournaments at your local clubs. High school golfers rarely get to step away from their standard stroke play format. MOC-Floyd Valley juniors Ryan Chris-ty and Kalyn Root were able to do just that Tuesday, plac-ing third in the Class 1A state coed golf tournament at River Valley Golf Course in Adel. The tournament is unique for several reasons. There is no qualifying procedure for this state tournament. Any school can bring up to two two-person teams to the event. “For us, we have a long way to go to get there. We try to take teams down if we think they are going to be able to compete,” said MOC-Floyd Valley girls golf coach Monte Tilgner. “But you still have to have kids that want to go and a coach that can take them. If they are out for baseball or softball, then that’s a problem. It doesn’t always work for us to bring a team down there.” Tilgner said Christy and Root had been among the highest ranked indi-viduals in the state by the Iowa High School Golf Coaches Association, and he mentioned to the duo on the way to the tournament that he thought they could compete with anyone there if they played well. “The group that they were playing with there was there just for fun. They weren’t goofing off or anything, but they weren’t as serious,” Tilgner said. “Ryan and Kalyn were really competing.” The tournament is played in an alter-nate shot format, with the boys hitting the tee shots on odd-numbered holes and the girls teeing off on the even-numbered holes.

See BYERS on page C2

SCOTT BYERSSPORTS EDITOR

Dutch duo takes third at state golf

Top two squads in leaguestandings add to win total REGIONAL—With many teams resting up for weekend tournaments, there was a light softball schedule on the docket in N’West Iowa on Friday. In the Siouxland Conference, George-Little Rock/Central Lyon pounced on a late opportunity to top Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley and MOC-Floyd Valley remained perfect in conference play with a win over Okoboji. The War Eagle Conference games did not go well for the N’West Iowa teams that were involved as Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn dropped a home game to Class 1A 15th-ranked Remsen-Union and West Sioux was decked on the road by Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn.

Defensive cracks show lateas Nighthawks tripped up GEORGE—Host George-Little Rock/Cen-tral Lyon used a six-run inning to ensure itself a 7-3 win over Boyden-Hull/Rock Val-ley in Siouxland Conference softball Friday. A tight ballgame through the first five frames, the Mustangs utilized four errors

committed by the Nighthawks’ defense to score six runs in the bottom of the sixth. “We hit the ball hard and were able to take advantage of their mistakes,” said George-Little Rock/Central Lyon coach Jeff Jager. “This was a good, clean and well-played game, and the first team to make a mistake was going to lose. Thankfully, that wasn’t us.” Keeley Kruse capped off the sixth with a two-run double. Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley played flawless defensively up until then. With a two-run lead and two outs already recorded in the sixth, Nighthawk coach Sara Friedrichsen saw several chances for her squad to pick up the third and final out to end the frame slip away. “It was a good game up until that sixth inning, and I think we had at least three or four chances to get out of the inning. We just didn’t execute and George-Little Rock/Central Lyon took advantage,” she said. The Mustangs scored first with one run in the second stanza. Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley tallied one in the fourth and one in the sixth. The Nighthawks could only get one run back in the seventh on a two-out single

See SOFTBALL on page C3

Contests have many variations

Lions escape

Mustangs’ athleticism puts pressure on foes

Style of play can changedepending on matchups REGIONAL—The flavor of the War Eagle Conference baseball game you were at varied greatly depending on your location Friday. Those who prefer offense got to see a lot of it in Hartley, where the host Hawks fell to Remsen-Union. Those who would rather watch a low-scoring tilt got one in Granville, but again the host came up short as Spalding Catholic fell to LeMars Gehlen Catholic. West Sioux and Unity Christian had more bitter pills to swal-low, as both were shut out on the road.

Rockets ignite in sixth,battle way past Hawks HARTLEY—Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn could not overcome Remsen-Union’s seven-run sixth inning as part of a hit-ting parade Friday in Hartley. The Rock-ets left with the 14-9 War Eagle Confer-ence baseball win. Remsen-Union never lost the lead, starting with a three-run first inning and matching that in the second stanza. Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn kept pecking away at that difference, beginning with a two-run first. It scored one run second and had a two-run fourth. The Rockets held just a 6-5 edge head-ing into the sixth inning when they tal-lied seven runs in the sixth inning off of senior pitcher Matt Queck. “I actually thought that Matt Queck threw his best in the sixth inning,” said Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn coach Scott Metzler. “He had better command, velocity, and he was placing his pitches well. They just hit him hard. I thought about bringing in Ryan Flynn earlier. I

See WAR EAGLE on page C2

George-Little Rock/Central Lyon sophomore Jessica Sandbulte looks to throw out Boyden-Hull/Rock Val-ley junior Joanna Heemstra at first base after a bunt attempt on Friday in George. (Photo by Rylan Howe)

Timing more important than statistics for Central Lyon

Central Lyon senior Ross Ackerman tries to dive back to first base after being caught in a pickle against George-Little Rock on Friday in George. The Lions edged the host Mustangs 4-0 in a Siouxland Conference contest. (Photos by Rylan Howe)

Siouxland Conference tusslesbring interesting end results

REGIONAL—There were only two Sioux-land Conference baseball games on the slate for Friday, but both proved to be competitive affairs. Central Lyon rode strong pitching and

defense to a road win over George-Little Rock, while Sibley-Ocheyedan got some late juice on the offensive side to overtake Sheldon.

Guest Lions make proper use ofopenings offered by Mustangs GEORGE—Central Lyon was outhit and had more errors than George-Little Rock, but won 4-0 by capitalizing on early defensive mistakes by the Mustangs in Siouxland Conference baseball Fri-day. The Lions scored a run in the top of the first inning without getting a hit. An error, stolen base, ground ball and sacrifice fly by Luke Grooters gave them a 1-0 lead.

Central Lyon added two runs in the second inning on an RBI double by Jaren Schrick and an RBI groundout by Ross Ackerman. The final run of the game came in the sixth stanza. “It’s hard to believe we only had four hits in the game,” said Central Lyon coach Jason Engleman. “We definitely hit the ball harder than four hits. We took advantage of the walks and errors and got some timely hits with runners in scoring posi-tion.” The Lions had four errors of their own, but hurler Chris Ladd worked out of the jams and pitched six solid innings. Grooters threw a 1-2-3 seventh stanza to seal the victory. “Chris kept guys off base,” Engleman said. “The errors and walks were spaced out nicely. There were some tough plays at shortstop that should have been made, but we had good defensive plays after the errors that kept them off the scoreboard.” Ladd had four strikeouts and four walks in the game. Schrick finished with two hits and two RBIs. Ladd and Jared DeBey also added hits for Central Lyon as the Lions improved to 5-5 overall and 3-2

See BASEBALL on page C2

Senior infielder Kyler Huisman heads to the dugout after forcing the final out of the inning at second base for Cen-tral Lyon Friday evening in George.

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place third at stateBYERSContinued from C1 “They both contributed pretty equally. They both hit a lot of real nice shots,” Tilgner said. “One of the neat things to see was how well they worked together. I can only talk to them from the green to the tee. After that, they are on their own. That is a format they never play, and it was fun to see the way they talked about strategy and helped each other read the putts.” Christy and Root combined for a score of 78 on the day. “They knew we were in the hunt, and that made it fun, too. I think by the middle of the second nine, they knew they were in the hunt, but I would not say they were feel-ing the pressure. They were really focused,” Tilgner said. “They played really well down the stretch. They hit a bunch of good golf shots.” The score of 78 actu-ally put Root and Christy in a three-way tie for second. Sophomores Justin Kraft and Makayla Ernst of East Sac County won the title with a 76. Sophomore Patrick Grasso and senior Victoria Grasso of Ankeny Christian and seniors Brian Schreck

and Megan Wiederin of Car-roll Kuemper joined Root and Christy at 78. The tiebreaker was determined by handicap holes. The Ankeny Christian duo was awarded second place. “Unfortunately, we bogeyed the No. 1 handicap hole,” Tilgner said. “We knew that would come into play when we saw three 78s on the scoreboard. We did birdie the No. 2 handicap hole, though.” Despite being an entirely different form of golf than what they play during the regular season, Tilgner said the experience should aid the Dutch golfers when the spring season rolls around again next year. “It really helps with your patience,” he said. “Your part-ner is going to put you in a bad spot now and then, and you are going to do the same to them. Both of them han-dled it great. It helps you to remember that when you are playing by yourself, you have to be able to forget about your last shot. In this case, that last shot wasn’t even yours, so you really have to be able to forget about it.” Sixty-nine teams participa-ted in the Class 1A state tour-nament.

MOC-Floyd Valley juniors Kalyn Root and Ryan Christy placed third in the Class 1A state coed golf tournament at River Valley Golf Course in Adel. (Photo submitted)

WAR EAGLEContinued from page C1should’ve done that. That’s my fault.” The Hawks mounted four runs in the sixth but that would be all as Remsen-Union added another run in the sev-enth. Queck tossed six innings and struck out eight. Flynn struck out three of the five batters he faced. Heath Nagel had two hits, one RBI, two runs and three stolen bases for the Hawks. Evan Metzler had two hits and an RBI. Travis Enger had two hits, a double and an RBI. Every batter except one had one hit in the game for Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn. “The guys never quit and played pretty good defense,” Metzler said. “I’m not discour-aged at all. We’ll figure the things out we need to and we’ll take care of business.” The Hawks’ record dropped to 7-4 overall and 4-3 in the conference.

Two late runs helpJays edge Spartans G R A N V I L L E — Sp a l d i n g Catholic and LeMars Gehlen Catholic stayed neck-and-neck down to the wire before the Jays scored a pair of runs in the sixth inning to clip the Spartans 4-2 in War Eagle Con-ference baseball Friday. “It was another good, Friday night, pressure-packed ball-game,” said Spalding Catholic co-coach Dave Heying. “This conference is so tough every night.” LeMars Gehlen Catholic took a 2-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning. The Spartans answered right away. Michael Grady led off the bottom of the frame with a walk. He was replaced on the base paths by Brady Heying after Hey-ing grounded into a fielder’s choice. Tanner Christoffel then singled to left and both runners came around to score on a Jarod Steffes double. That was just about all the

offense the Spartans could muster in the contest. They had only two other hits — singles by Grady and Tommy Stoll. “We were coming off a long layoff since our game on Mon-day night and I thought our hitting reflected that,” coach Heying said. “We did a good job of putting a rally together in the seventh, but needed one more key hit.” Spalding Catholic stayed in the game due to pitching and defense. Brady Heying threw six innings, allowing six hits, walking two and striking out 10. Tyler Konz was on the mound for the final frame. “We played solid defense. It was a pitchers’ duel for most of the game. Brady threw well, as did their pitcher,” coach Hey-ing said. The loss dropped Spalding Catholic to 6-6 overall and 5-2 in the conference.

Falcons’ lumber stillfrosty against Eagles MARCUS—The West Sioux bats continued to be ice cold in a 9-0 loss to Marcus-Mer-iden-Cleghorn in War Eagle Conference baseball Friday. Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn started the offense rolling early. The Eagles scored five runs in the first inning and one in the second. The home team coasted after three runs were added in the fourth to push the lead to 9-0. “We had a real bad first inning,” said West Sioux coach Brian Engleman. “They put the ball in play and we didn’t. Because of that we had more errors. We need to play better defense and put the ball in play more so the other team is the one making errors.” The Falcon defense got plenty of action as Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn connected for 11 hits in the contest. The four West Sioux errors extend-ed the first and fourth innings and caused four unearned runs for starting pitcher Porter Hummel. “Hummel pitched a good

game,” Engleman said. “He didn’t throw any walks. It would have been nice if we could have had some more base runners and scored more runs for him.” Jesus Rivera had two hits, including a double for the Falcons. Kezden Blankenship, Trevor Ericson and Hummel each had a single. Hummel struck out five bat-ters as West Sioux continues to look for its first win.

Westerners wallopthree Knight hurlers AKRON—Unity Christian was target practice for a hot-swinging Akron-Westfield squad in a 15-0 four-inning loss in War Eagle Conference baseball Friday. The scoring for host Akron-Westfield started out simple enough with a run in the first inning and two in the second stanza, but the Westerners turned it on in the fourth frame and scored 12 runs. “We didn’t come prepared to play,” said Unity Christian coach Marlin Schoonhoven. “The kids just weren’t ready to play. We have a good bunch of players. They just need to per-form.” The Knights used three pitchers in the game, but none could quite Akron-Westfield’s bats. Starting pitcher Benton Vargeson allowed one earned run off of two hits in one two-thirds innings. Trevor Dorhout surrendered seven earned runs in two innings and Taylor Dorhout allowed three runs, none earned, off of two hits in one-third of an inning pitched. Unity Christian only record-ed three hits in the loss. “They put a good pitcher out there and we couldn’t hit him,” Schoonhoven said. “Now the players know what it’s like to get blown out, so hopefully it won’t happen again.” Grant Kobza, Aaron Van Wyhe, and Vargeson had the three hits for the Knights. Unity Christian slipped to 4-8 overall and 2-5 in the confer-ence.

Hawks’ nine runs not enoughas Rockets’ bats make contact

BASEBALLContinued from page C1in the conference. George-Little Rock continued a weeklong trend of getting runners on base, but failing to drive them home. The Mus-tangs left nine runners aboard. “We just couldn’t get anything going,” said George-Little Rock coach Brian Luenberger. “We weren’t aggressive enough at the plate. We struck out five or six times which wasn’t so bad, but we popped up way too many balls.” Brent Klingenberg took the loss despite a strong perfor-mance for the Mustangs as he went the distance on the mound. He struck out four bat-ters and walked three. Only two of the four runs scored off of him were earned. “Brent did everything I could have asked of him,” Luenberger said. “He struck guys out, he battled, and he threw really well. We couldn’t make the easy plays behind him and they took advantage of it.” Ethan Christians and Klingen-berg had two hits for George-Little Rock. Judd Rosenboom had a double as the Mustangs

slipped to 3-6 overall and 0-6 in the conference.

Generals overcomeoutburst by Orabs SIBLEY—Host Sibley-Ocheye-dan was able to shake off a rough patch and kept its focus throughout an 8-5 Siouxland Conference baseball win over Sheldon on Friday. The Generals were leading 1-0 before Sheldon rattled off five runs in the top of the second inning. Sibley-Ocheyedan started to regain its footing in the bottom of the second stanza. The Generals crossed the plate three times to cut the lead to 5-4. “If we don’t come back a little right there, we’re prob-ably going to start hanging our heads,” said Sibley-Ocheyedan coach Daryl Tutje. “We got within one and our heads were in the game. We were playing hard.” The teams exchanged goose eggs for the next three frames. The Generals then found the right formula in the sixth. Jacob Seivert and Tyler Reck started the inning with walks. Ethan

Stofferan then smacked an RBI double that tied the game. Eric Tutje’s two-run single gave the hosts the lead. Tutje eventually scored when Grant Greenfield reached on an error to account for the final margin. “They played pretty well on defense. We walked seven times, and that was a factor, but a lot of it was pretty well clean hits,” coach Tutje said. Tyler O’Connor got the pitch-ing win. He allowed seven hits, walked three and struck out 13. “Tyler threw a lot of pitches in the second. Beyond that, he was cruising along,” coach Tutje said. “He was locating well. He threw about 75 percent strikes, which is something we haven’t seen that often this year.” Eric Tutje had two hits and drove in three runs. Stofferan was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs. Dillon Thies had a hit and drove in two. Statistical information on Sheldon and comments from coach Brad Zeutenhorst were not available by press deadline. Sibley-Ocheyedan improved to 2-4 overall and 2-3 in the conference. Sheldon is 2-7 overall and 1-4 in the league.

Mustangs put runners on,Lions keep them off board

The ball rolls past Central Lyon senior Jarod DeBey at second base during a Siouxland Conference game against George-Little Rock on Friday in George. The Lions defeated the Mustangs 4-0. (Photo by Rylan Howe)


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Hurler allows just twobase runners in battle SHELDON—Jon Van Beek was sen-sational on the bump and used the stick to get West Lyon the only run it would need in the opening inning of a 2-0 Siouxland Conference baseball win at Sheldon on Thursday. Van Beek was untouchable, throwing a no-hitter in the contest. He walked two and struck out 12. James Van Beek doubled and scored on a Jon Van Beek single in the top of the first inning. Neither team scored again until the top of the seventh stanza. “Jonny did a great job of attacking them. He had his off-speed stuff work-ing in all counts. He was changing eye levels. It was fun to watch,” said West Lyon coach Koury Kramer. “He wasn’t just a thrower; he was a pitcher.” Kramer was not as pleased with the West Lyon offense, which left eight runners in scoring position in the con-test. The Wildcats did get an insurance run in the seventh on singles by Tyler Kruse and James Van Beek and an RBI groundout from Ethan Erickson. “It seemed like we had chances all night, but couldn’t get that big hit to break it open,” Kramer said. “Their pitcher (Mitchell Jensen) had a really different arm slot. It was almost like he was releasing it from his hip. Our guys had a tough time sitting back and picking it up.” Jensen walked three and struck out six in the complete-game outing. “The way Mitchell was pitching, they shouldn’t have scored either,” said Sheldon coach Brad Zeutenhorst. “We misplayed a bunt in the seventh that helped them get that run, and that made a big difference. We’ve got to score two then, and that makes it a different game. I did think both teams played pretty well, though. We turned

a couple of nice double plays.” Kruse was 3-for-4 with a double for the West Lyon. James Van Beek was 2-for-3 with a run scored. Kasey Myrlie had two hits. Leadoff hitter Cody Hatting drew both Sheldon walks and made it to second each time, but was stranded there.

MOC-Floyd Valley swingsway out of hitting slump ORANGE CITY—MOC-Floyd Valley came out of a recent slump at the plate in a big way, drilling Unity Christian 16-1 in five innings of nonconference baseball Thursday in Orange City. The Knights scored a run in the opening inning without the benefit of a hit. MOC-Floyd Valley then quickly turned the momentum with two runs in the bottom of the first. The Dutch then scored two more in the second before erupting for seven in the third and four in the fifth. “It was a big offensive outburst for us after we had struggled earlier in the week. Coming off our game against Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley, our batters stepped up this time and focused more. We put together a lot of good at-bats and really hit the ball hard. It was a lot of fun,” said Dutch coach Adam Boeve. “Hopefully we can continue to build on that.” For Unity Christian, the wheels came off rather quickly. “MOC-Floyd Valley was all over us in every aspect of the game,” said Unity Christian coach Marlin Schoonhoven. “That was a little disappointing because of the high level we were play-ing at in the last couple of days.” Derek Rupp did the pitching for the Dutch. He allowed three hits, walked one and struck out four. Rupp also went 2-for-3 at the plate with a triple, three RBIs and two runs. Mitch Van Es was 3-for-4 with a double, two

runs and one RBI. Caleb De Haan was 2-for-2 with three RBIs and two runs. Zach Landhuis was 2-for-2 with a double, three runs and one RBI. Grant Kobza pitched the first two and two-thirds innings for Unity Christian and took the loss. Jordan Everson and Cody Gradert each went 1-for-2 with a double.

Western Christian wearsout Sioux Center squad SIOUX CENTER—Western Christian needed a few innings to get the timing down, but was locked in at the plate in the second half of the contest as it topped Sioux Center 11-1 in noncon-ference baseball Thursday. The host Warriors struck first, scor-ing a run in the bottom of the third inning. A combination of hitting by the Wolfpack and defensive leaks from the Warriors allowed the guests to come back. Western Christian scored three runs in the fourth. Davis Fenchel led off with a double. An error and a sacrifice fly brought him in. Grant Van Bemmel then roped an RBI triple and Brandon Vander Stoep followed with an RBI single. Three walks, an RBI double by Fenchel and another sacrifice fly made it 5-1 in the fifth. “David Fenchel broke out in a big way for us tonight,” said Western Christian coach Brent Van Maanen. “He hit the ball hard all night and that really set the tone for us. It was good to see our guys come up with the big hit or sacrifice fly to get runs across when we had runners on. Hitting with run-ners on had been our weakness so far this year.” Western Christian then used four hits and five Sioux Center errors to score six times in the seventh. Wolfpack hurler Grant Van Bemmel

utilized his defense well. He walked one and struck out two in going the route. “Grant Van Bemmel pitched very well tonight. He threw a lot of strikes and the defense played well behind him,” Van Maanen said. Fenchel was 3-for-5 with a double, a n RBI and a run. Drake Van’t Hul had a double and drove in two runs. Tyler Van Engen had two RBIs.

Nearby-rival Spirit Lakesizes up Okoboji pitchers MILFORD—A trio of Okoboji pitch-ers couldn’t stop the Spirit Lake bats in a 16-6, six inning Pioneer loss on Thursday. Spirit Lake scored a run in the first inning and two in the second. After the inning, starting pitcher Weston Burgeson was taken out of the game because of arm pain. Zach Jones came in and gave up nine runs off of five hits in two and 2-3 innings. Ben DeMuth

finished out the game and gave up five runs off of four hits. The Okoboji bats never heated up until the fifth and sixth innings when they scored five of their six runs. But the deficit was already too much. “We always seem to struggle the first time through the lineup,” said Okoboji coach Rory Marra. “We finally strung three hits together in the fifth and sixth innings. It takes two times through the lineup to get anything going and I don’t know why.” The Pioneers also had an uncharac-teristic four errors in the loss. Marra said nothing in the game went as he expected. “We haven’t had many errors all year,” Marra said. “We didn’t show up defensively. It just didn’t look like we were having fun out there.” Dalton Syverson had three hits in the game and scored two runs. Keaton jones drove in two runs in a 1-for-3 performance and Alex Koepp drove in a run to go along with two base hits.

West Lyon senior A.J. Whalen leaps for the ball as Sheldon senior Cody Hatting slides for second base Thursday. The Wildcats beat the host Orabs 2-0. (Photo by Josh Harrell)

West Lyon’s Van Beek fires no-hitter

Tiger girls launch offense to dominate host WarriorsFive in first inning getstrain rolling off quickly WHITING—Trinity Christian ex -ploded on offense in a 15-3 five-inning nonconference softball rout of host Whiting on Thursday. The Tigers scored at least two runs in every inning and took advantage of seven Whiting errors. Trinity Christian put a five spot on the board in the top of the first fol-lowed by Kalista Heynen striking out the side in the bottom of the inning. The team took off from there and scored two runs in the second and

third innings and three runs in the fourth and fifth. “The girls were really excited after we came out strong in the first inning,” said Trinity Christian coach Kassandra Heynen. “We did well at the plate and made solid connection with the ball. They switched pitchers after the first inning, but it didn’t slow us down.” Louise Van Maanen went 2-for-3 with a triple in the win. Nicole Vander Veen and Heynen each had two hits in the game as well. Heynen pitched a solid five innings for the Tigers and kept the Whiting hitters off the base paths. She sur-rendered three runs off of only four

hits and two walks. She also had eight strikeouts in the game. “Kalista did very well,” Heynen said. “She limited her walks, which was something we had been talking about. She also placed the ball in the strike zone so that when they did make con-tact it wasn’t solid. It was an all around great game for us.”

Tigers make solid contactbut have trouble in field WHITING—Trinity Christian hit the ball all over the field, but a lack of clutch hits and four untimely errors led to a 10-2 loss to Whiting in non-

conference baseball on Thursday. Whiting took a 6-0 lead after scor-ing three runs in the first and second innings. Trinity Christian put its first run on the board in the top of the third only to see the Warriors strike back with a run in the bottom half of the inning. Another three runs were added by Whiting to push the lead to 10-1 before the Tigers put a final run up in the sixth. “We had a lot of base runners,” said Trinity Christian coach Terry Dolieslager. “We hit the ball really well, but we needed clutch hits. Their pitcher was throwing a good curve

and we just couldn’t wait on it.” Jesse Teunissen led the Tigers’ offense with three singles. Adam DeBoer had a double and a single. Teunissen also took the start on the mound for the Tigers. He allowed six runs off of seven hits in two and one-third innings to go with three strike-outs and three walks. Blake Meyer finished off the game and allowed four runs off of five hits and struck out one batter. “We have a very young infield and team in general,” Dolieslager said. “We’re learning from every game and improving every game.”

SOFTBALLContinued from page C1from Kassidy Van Voorst. George-Little Rock/Central Lyon was led by Jessica Hil-brands, who had two doubles, a single and a run. Kruse had a double, two RBIs and a run. Abigail Eben fanned nine batters in going the distance as the Mustangs improved to 9-3 overall and 5-2 in the confer-ence. Van Voorst finished three hits and two RBIs for Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley. Whitney Vander Maten also went 3-for-3 at the plate with a run. Joanna Heemstra tossed five and two-third innings, and all seven runs went to her. She struck out six. C.J. Van Der Zwaag finished on the mound as the Nighthawks slipped to 5-7 overall and 3-2 in the con-ference.

Dutch win again, stillunbeaten in league MILFORD—MOC-Floyd Val-ley took advantage of six Oko-boji errors to claim a 7-1 victory in Siouxland Conference soft-ball Friday. The MOC-Floyd Valley runs and Okoboji mistakes started in the second inning when Bre Vander Ploeg reached first base on an error. After stealing second, she sailed home by a Rachel Reints single. Reints later scored in the inning off of another Pioneer error. “Offensively, our at-bats became better and more productive in the last three innings, which is why we were able to pull away,” said Dutch coach Jade Niemyer. “We were not as sharp as I would like at the plate, but their pitcher had a hand in that.” MOC-Floyd Valley added three runs to its total in the sixth inning thanks to an error

followed by back-to-back singles by Lauren McDonald and Vander Ploeg. Vander Ploeg scored on a wild pitch. Okoboji pushed a run across in the bottom of the sixth, but Dutch added two final tallies in the top of the seventh. Emily McDonald notched the win on the mound. She yielded just four hits while striking out seven batters. Reints finished 2-for-3 with a triple. Vander Ploeg had two RBIs and two runs. Tarah Hunt had a double as MOC-Floyd Valley improved to 9-1 overall and 6-0 in the conference. Okoboji received a good performance from pitcher Mik-kinzie Peschong. She struck out 10 Dutch batters and only walked one. The defense could not sup-port her and that resulted in four of the seven runs scored against her being unearned O k o b o j i c o a c h D e n n i s Baschke normally likes to use two pitchers in a game, but had to keep Peschong in for the whole night because the Pioneers’ backup pitcher had a sore leg. “Mikkinzie Peschong got a lot of strikeouts early,” said Baschke. “But after that she kind of tailed off. Later in the game they started hitting her better and we kept mak-ing errors. When the defense makes six errors on the infield you’re going to lose the game.” Olivia Rohlk, Anna Seeger, Abby Taylor, and Peschong all went 1-for-3 for the Pioneers, who slipped to 5-6 overall and 2-3 in the conference.

Efficiency rate downfor Hawks in defeat HARTLEY—Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn kept up with Class 1A 15th-ranked Remsen-Union in the hit category with 10, but could not keep up where it

counted in the run category in an 8-3 loss in War Eagle Confer-ence softball Friday. Remsen-Union spread out its runs in the first four innings, highlighted with a five-run third inning to pull away from the home squad. “That was the story of the game for us,” said Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn coach Dale Orthmann. “The girls are really improving on their hitting each day, but we’ve got to cut down on the strikeouts.” He said the score could have been worse if it had not been the play from his sophomore shortstop Katie Mills. “She made some outstanding plays from her position that go unnoticed. She kept the score down with her play,” Orthmann

said. The Hawks got one in the third, fourth and seventh innings. “The girls are continuing to improve at the plate and they’re learning that the deeper we get into the season, the higher quality of pitchers we’re going to face and they’re learning that pitchers won’t just float them a ball right down the middle,” Orthmann said. Kathyrn Ahlers tossed the first two and two- third innings, allowing five earned runs off nine hits for Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn. Kendra Zeutenhorst threw four plus innings of relief and surrendered one run. Jaylin Rieck, Jessica Stofferan, Michelle Beving and Zeu-tenhorst had two hits for the

Hawks. Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn’s record dipped to 3-6 overall and 2-6 in the conference.

Falcons fizzle withsticks in road loss MARCUS—After an 18-13 win on Thursday against South O’Brien, West Sioux coach Cindy Koopmans would have liked to have seen some of that offense transpire into Friday’s contest against previously state-ranked Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn. It was not to be as the Falcons lost 10-1 in War Eagle Confer-ence softball. “They had really good pitch-ing,” Koopmans said. “She didn’t throw fast pitches, but

she threw some stuff that we’re not used to, including an effec-tive curve ball.” Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn senior standout Kayla Fores-man kept West Sioux at bay most of the night. The Falcons finally got to Foresman in the sixth inning off one hit from Riley Negaard who drove in Karissa Anderson after she had reached on an error and stole second. Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn got one in the first and three in the third, fourth and sixth innings. “We got the bat on the ball pretty well, but we got no solid hits out of it,” Koopmans said. Courtney Hummel allowed nine earned runs off 12 hits. She struck out one batter.

George-Little Rock/Central Lyon junior Abigail Eben snags an infield fly ball backed up by Jessica Sandbulte and Taylor Carstensen during a game against Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley on Friday. (Photo by Rylan Howe)

Mustangs run down victory with late-comeback effort

Falcons turn it justa few extra times PAULLINA—Seven innings wasn’t enough to decide a winner between West Sioux and South O’Brien. West Sioux edged the Wolverines 18-13 in a nine inning hit-fest on Thurs-day. West Sioux started the scor-ing early and often, tallying a total of 10 runs in the first three innings, but South O’Brien didn’t let the game slip away, scoring seven throughout the three innings to make it a 10-7 game. “It was a great game for the girls who like to hit,” said West Sioux coach Cindy Koopmans. South O’Brien had 15 of its 17 hits come from five players. But even 13 runs wasn’t enough to overcome 10 Wolverine errors. “It was an ugly game on both sides,” said South O’Brien coach Heather Struve. “They scored runs in bunches and we scored runs in bunches. There were a lot of close plays on the base paths. The game could have gone either way.” In the seventh inning, West Sioux found itself down 12-11. The Falcons rose to the chal-lenge and got a two-RBI double from Jade Vlotho to take a late 13-12 lead. In South O’Brien’s half of the inning, the Wolverines tied things up and sent it to extra innings. Riley Negaard was perfect at the plate, tallying six hits in six at-bats highlighted with a two-run home run in the top of the ninth inning to spark a five-run ninth inning for the Falcons to pull them away from the Wol-verines and seal the win. “I was happy with how the girls just kept coming,” Koop-mans said. “From the start of the game to the end of it, they

gave it all they had.” Courtney Hummel tossed all nine innings allowing 14 hits and striking out five. Calena Topete went 4-for-5 with five RBIs. She also swiped a base. Vlotho finished with three hits and three RBIs. Kendra Rohlfsen swung the hottest bat for the Wolverines. She had four hits including a solo home run and a double. She finished the game with three RBIs and four runs.

Rachel Struve also drove in three runs in a 3-for-5 perfor-mance. Breana Van Beek had three hits and two RBIs. “We were hitting the ball well all night,” Struve said. “We had come back before in other games so we had confidence in hitting in the situation. We just have to make those routine plays more often.” Taylor Paulsen gave up seven hits in two innings of work. Emily Riedemann threw the

final seven innings and sur-rendered 12 hits and struck out two batters.

Westerners allowno room for error AKRON—Unity Christian struggled to find base runners in an 11-0, five inning loss to Akron-Westfield on Thursday. The Knights offense managed just two hits and a walk in the game, but struggled to get out

of innings on defense because of untimely errors. Unity Chris-tian coach Shirley Kaemink said that the five team errors are what need to be avoided. “We won’t be able to compete with a team like Akron if we don’t reduce our errors,” she said. “We have to get outs when we can so that we can stay competitive.” Akron started its scoring downpour in the bottom of the second inning when the West-

erners put up eight runs off of six hits, two walks, and two errors. The team struck again in the bottom of the third with three more runs off of one hit, two walks, and two errors. Heather Kaemink took to the loss for the Knights. In four innings pitched she gave up seven hits and four walks. Chantel le De Haan and Deidra Noteboom had both Knights hits in a 1-2 perfor-mance each.

Wolverines finishgame in just four PAULLINA—South O’Brien had no problem scoring runs, dispatching of West Sioux 15-0 in four innings of War Eagle Conference baseball on Thurs-day. The Wolverines scored at least one run in every inning and totalled nine hits in the contest. South O’Brien plated two runs in the first inning and one in the second. The offense exploded in the third inning for 10 runs to increase the lead to 12-0. The game ended after three final runs were scored in the bottom of the fourth. “We came out and played well,” said South O’Brien coach Heath Reichle. “We did what we set out to do. The players had a great mentality going in to the game and we weren’t flat at all.

We swung the bat well and ran the bases well.” Andrew Weaver looked solid in his first varsity start for South O’Brien. He only allowed two hits and walked one batter in the shutout. “He pitched well. He was throwing it right around the plate,” Reichle said. “He kept the batters off balance.” Tanner Matthews had a double, a triple, and drove four runs in. Michael Callahan had three hits and two RBIs. Eric Koehlmoos added a double and an RBI. The Falcons batters only recorded two hits, one from Dominic Hirsch and the other from Mitch Schlumbohm, but didn’t have any strikeouts as a team. “We put the ball in play today,” said West Sioux coach Brian Engleman. “We’ll take that and run with it. Dominic

did a nice job pitching espe-cially for a position player.” Hirsch threw all five innings for the Falcons. He surrendered

fifteen hits and walked six bat-ters. Engleman said he hopes that by the end of the season, the

Falcons will be able to compete at the varsity level. “The JV kids are playing well,” he said. “There’s only a differ-

ence of two kids between JV and varsity so it’s about getting those kids used to the varsity level of play.”

South O’Brien junior Kody Nelson patrols right field late in a War Eagle Conference game against West Sioux on Thursday in Paullina. The Wolverines defeated the Falcons 15-0. (Photo by Rylan Howe)


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Eben throws anothergem to silence Pioneers GEORGE—George-Little Rock/Central Lyon used a steady stream of offense and a strong pitching perfor-mance from Abigail Eben to win 6-1 over Okoboji on Thursday. Eben struck out 11 batters and gave up only one walk in seven innings. She surrendered only four hits and the Okoboji run was unearned. “It was as solid of a game as I’ve ever seen from her,” said George-Little Rock/ Central Lyon coach Jeff Jager. “She’s been so good all year. She put the time in during the offseason and she’s a lot stronger and more confident in herself.” The Mustangs started the scoring with two runs in the bottom of the first inning. They added one in the third and fifth innings, and two in the sixth. The lone Okoboji run came in the top of the fourth inning. “We had runners on base every inning,” Jager said. “There were some good, long at-bats and we played really solid all around.” Jessica Hilbrands led the team with three hits including a double for the Mustangs. Lexi Ackerman and Kori Schulte went 2-for-3 and Schulte had

a double with two RBIs. The Okoboji offense struggled to find itself the loss. The Pioneer hits came from Olivia Rohlk, and Anna Seeger, who both went 1-for-3, and Mikkinzie Peschong and Maddie Bates, who bat-ted 1-for-2. Savannah Heithus took the loss for Okoboji. In four and one-third innings she allowed four runs off of five hits. She struck out three batters and walked two. Peschong allowed two runs off of two hits and struck out four batters in one and two-thirds innings.

Warriors puts rough startin rear view vs. Wolfpack SIOUX CENTER—Sioux Center rebounded from a rough start defen-sively and came away with a 7-5 nonconference softball victory over Western Christian on Thursday. The Wolfpack scored a pair of runs in the opening inning. Jasmine Vander Zwaag drove in a run with a triple and scored on an overthrow when the War-riors tried to catch her at third. “We had our only two errors of the whole game in that first inning. Give Megan Cleveringa credit. She pitched hard and threw a very good game,” said Sioux Center coach Kari Schmal-beck.

Errors were also a problem for West-ern Christian throughout the contest. “We started out with a great first inning, but we just continue to give teams extra outs and it is costing us,” said Western Christian coach Travis Kooima. “We have to shore up some things in our defense, otherwise the second half of the season here will be a struggle each and every game.” Sioux Center scored one run in the first, then took the lead with two runs in the second. The Warriors scored three times in the fifth to go up 6-2. “We had back-to-back-to-back hits a couple of times in the game, and there were a few other times where we’d get a hit and they’d have a couple of errors. We were doing a good job of putting the ball in play,” Schmalbeck said. Western Christian scored twice in the sixth, but Sioux Center got one of those back in the bottom of that inning. The Wolfpack scored a run and had the tying run aboard in the seventh when the game ended. “The girls are pressing right now. They just need to relax and make the routine plays look easy and when they are at the plate they just need to feel comfortable and put the ball in play and good things will happen,” Kooima said.

Cleveringa was the winning pitcher for the Warriors. She walked one and struck out six in the contest. Carri-gan Cleveringa had two hits and two RBIs. Jillian Estes hit a pair of doubles. Megan Cleveringa was 2-for-3 with a double. Haley Simonson doubled and scored two runs. Vander Zwaag took the pitching loss for the Wolfpack. She gave up four earned runs in six innings. She walked none and struck out three. She was also 2-for-3 at the plate with two RBIs and a run. Summer Jansen was 3-for-4 with one RBI and one run.

Generals produce winnerin seventh-inning burst OCHEYEDAN—Sibley-Ocheyedan scored the winning run with no one out in the bottom of the seventh inning, completing a comeback in a 4-3 nonconference softball win over Harris-Lake Park on Thursday. Coach Curt Jacobsma was not sur-prised at all the game was a nail-biter. “It was a fun game. The two teams are really evenly matched. We played them a couple of times last year, too, and those were all close,” Jacobsma said. “It’s good competition.” Harris-Lake Park scored two runs in the first and one in the second to go up

3-0. All three runs were unearned. “We’ve been having trouble all year with giving up runs in the first inning. We had three errors in the first three innings and held them down after that,” Jacobsma said. “The kids can do it. They really made some nice plays out there.” Sibley-Ocheyedan got two runs in the second and then tied the game with a run in the fifth. The Generals stranded the potential go-ahead run in that frame, but they made sure that did not hurt them by taking advantage of Wolves’ miscues in the seventh. Jessica Loerts reached on an error to start the inning. Emma Bruns then singled to right. McKenzie Kleve bunt-ed, and Harris-Lake Park chose to hold the runner at third rather than make a throw. Maddie Lonneman then hit a hard shot up the middle that glanced off the fielder’s glove long enough for Loerts to scamper home. “Some timely hitting really made a difference,” Jacobsma said. “It was a nice way to end the night. We defi-nitely needed it.” Bruns was 2-for-3 with a triple and two RBIs for the Sibley-Ocheyedan. Loerts had a hit and scored two runs. Tayler Wasmund had a hit and a run. Jurnea Harberts threw a three-hitter. She walked two and struck out five.

George-Little Rock/Central Lyon steady in win over Okoboji

South O’Brien pulls curtains fast

Carousel around bases spins for both squads

West Sioux junior Carissa Anderson slides into second base during a War Eagle Conference game against South O’Brien on Thursday in Paul-lina. The Falcons won 18-13. (Photo by Rylan Howe)

Wildcat hurler getsshortened no-hitter LARCHWOOD—West Lyon pitcher Brandon Snyder threw a no-hitter in a game short-ened by the mercy rule as the Wildcats downed George-Little Rock by a 10-0 score in five innings Wednesday. Snyder struck out 10 batters and walked three in control-ling the Siouxland Conference baseball game. Snyder also contributed a two-run double for the Wild-cats. “Brandon did a great job,” said West Lyon coach Koury Kram-er. “He attacked the strike zone and was locating his fastball early. His off-speed pitch was also located well and he struck out a lot of batters.” The Wildcats also did a good job of scoring in bunches. The team put a three spot on the board in the bottom of the first inning, two in the bottom of the third, and five in the bottom of the fifth. “We started off with some really good at-bats,” Kramer said. “(Judd) Rosenboom is a top pitcher in our conference and putting 10 runs up on him is rare. When the ball was in the zone we put the barrel of the bat on it. There were a lot of hits with runners in scoring posi-tion.” Scott Erickson was one of the offensive standouts for West Lyon. He went 2-for-2 with four RBIs. Jacob Moser added two doubles, and Tyler Kruse and James Van Beek collected a single and run each. George-Little Rock struggled offensively, and defensively. The Mustangs committed four errors. Coach Brian Luenberger said his team gave a subpar effort. “It was an ugly game,” he said. “There was no effort, no intensity, nothing. They’re a good ball club and hit the ball well, but we still had a couple of errors that gave them more runs.” Rosenboom took the loss, giv-ing up five runs off of three hits in four innings pitched. He also struck out seven batters and walked five. Ethan Christians finished up on the bump. “We struck out a few more times than I would have liked,” Luenberger said. “Hopefully, we can get back out there and play better tomorrow.” Christians and Jake Hilbrands each had a stolen base for the Mustangs.

Rozeboom, Gladecarry Sioux Center SHELDON—Christian Roze-boom went 3-for-3 at the dish in a game where the offense was limited for both teams, leading Sioux Center to a 2-1 Siouxland Conference baseball victory at Sheldon on Wednes-day. Sioux Center pitcher Kamden Glade and Sheldon pitcher Cody Hatting were both over-whelming at t imes. Both registered 11 strikeouts in the contest. The Warriors broke a scoreless tie with a run in the fifth. Glade doubled and Ryan Van Beek and Dylan Van’t Hof followed with singles. Sioux Center added another in the sixth when Rozeboom doubled and scored on a Glade single. Sheldon got its run in the bot-tom of the sixth. Jake Rosburg and Brandon Frick hit singles and Rosburg scampered home on a passed ball. “Cody threw really well. We should have been able to score some runs, but we made some mistakes on the bases that real-

ly hurt us,” said Sheldon coach Brad Zeutenhorst. “Defensive-ly, we improved and pitching wise we improved. I guess this is just one of those deals that shows you need all three.” Glade had two hits for Sioux Center. On the mound he allowed four hits and walked three batters in the win. Hatting scattered eight hits but did not walk a batter. Bran-don Frick went 2-for-3 to lead the Orab offense.

Pennings shacklesNighthawk hitters ROCK VALLEY—Colin Pen-nings threw a three-hitter to boost MOC-Floyd Valley to a 4-1 Siouxland Conference baseball win at Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley on Wednesday. The Dutch scored three runs in the opening inning, which was more than they would need with Pennings dealing from the hill. Pennings walked three and fanned nine in the victory. Nighthawk pitcher Kyle Jen-sen retired the first two batters, then walked the bases loaded to set up a two-run double by

Austin Kelderman. Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley coach Josh Malenosky said the bases on balls issued by Jensen and reliever Tyler Dolieslager haunted the host squad. “We struck out nine times in the game, but they struck out 14. The thing was, we gave up 11 walks. We have to be able to put the ball in play and we have to throw strikes,” he said. “It was a good game. Pennings threw a really good game for them.” The double by Kelderman turned out to be one of only two hits by MOC-Floyd Valley.

Caleb De Haan singled in the second inning. “It was a struggle for us offen-sively. We walked 11 times, but they tried to give us more than that. We just kept chasing pitches. There were a lot of balls that were up in the zone,” said MOC-Floyd Valley coach Adam Boeve. “But Pennings had his best outing of the year. He was in command most of the night. He got after their lineup. He challenged them.” Jarod Hansen, Colin Bolkema and Hunter Berkenpas each had one hit for the Nighthawks. Jensen threw four innings and

took the loss.

Central Lyon makesquick work of its foe SIBLEY—Central Lyon had base runners galore through-out a short contest Wednesday as the Lions roared past Sibley-Ocheyedan 22-1 in four innings in a Siouxland Conference con-test. Central Lyon led the host Generals 3-1 after one inning. That was about the end of the good news for Sibley-Ocheye-dan. “They earned the runs. We didn’t play bad defense, but we didn’t get a lot of balls hit at us. Central Lyon hit the ball like crazy,” said Sibley-Ocheyedan coach Daryl Tutje. “They couldn’t miss the gaps.” Central Lyon coach Jason Engleman said the three runs in the first had a lot to do with setting up the rest of the con-test. The Lions scored seven times in the second, three times in the third and nine times in the fourth. “Getting the lead early kind of put everybody at ease. Early on we did some little things as far as bunting and stealing, but we really did a nice job of putting the barrel on the ball,” Engle-man said. “In our previous games it seemed like we were hitting it right at them. This time it seemed like everything was just a couple of feet to the right or the left of where they were standing.” The Lions had 16 hits. “There was a lot of confi-dence-building going on,” Engleman said. “It seemed like everyone went in thinking that the current at-bat was just going to lead to another at-bat. A lot of guys got to play a little bit. Our confidence was sky high.” Luke Grooters went 4-for-4 with a double, a triple, five RBIs and three runs for Central Lyon. Chris Ladd was 3-for-3 with a double, two RBIs and three runs. Kyler Huisman was 2-for-2 with a double, two RBIs and two runs. Cole Snyder was 2-for-2 with a double, one RBI and two runs. Ross Ackerman pitched the four innings, allowing two hits, hitting one batter and striking out three. Dillon Thies scored on a Grant Greenfield hit for the lone run for Sibley-Ocheyedan. Ethan Stofferan and Tyler Reck had the other hits for the hosts. Sibley-Ocheyedan used four pitchers. Jacob Seivert started on the bump and took the loss.


SPORTS

BASEBALL STATE RANKINGS:

Source: Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association

Class 3A 1. Sioux City Heelan 2. Harlan 3. Western Dubuque 4. Dallas Center-Grimes 5. Sergeant Bluff-Luton 6. Maquoketa 7. Clear Lake 8. Marion 9. Waverly-Shell Rock 10. Vinton-Shellsburg

Class 2A 1. Davis County 2. Beckman (Dyersville) 3. Carroll Kuemper 4. Fort Dodge St. Edmond 5. Prairie City-Monroe 6. North Polk 7. Ogden 8. Iowa City Regina 9. Wilton 10. Van Buren

Class 1A 1. Martensdale-St. Mary’s 2. Council Bluffs St. Albert 3. Mason City Newman 4. Preston 5. Lawton-Bronson 6. Pleasantville 7. Algona Garrigan 8. Van Meter 9. Lisbon 10. Coon Rapids-Bayard

Bottom portion oforder making noise O R A N G E C I T Y — S o u t h O’Brien received a strong performance from the bot-tom of the lineup in a 7-5 War Eagle Conference baseball victory over Unity Christian on Wednesday. The bottom four hitters for the Wolverines picked up seven of the teams’ ten hits and scored six of the seven runs. No. 8 batter Kody Nelson had a spectacular game, going 2-for-3 with a three-run home run in the second inning and an RBI triple in the sixth. “Offensively, Kody Nelson led the way,” said Wolverine coach Heath Reichle. “Kody has swung the bat well over the past two games and is becoming more comfortable at the plate every day.” South O’Brien also had a strong performance from their starting pitcher, Sam Weber. He struck out nine batters, walked five, and only allowed five hits in five and one-third innings. Zane Roberts finished off the game allowing four hits and struck out two batters. “I thought Sam had a pretty good outing on a night that he didn’t have his usual com-mand,” Reichle said. “He worked through some issues and found a way to get it done.” Weber and Adam Paulsen each added two hits and two runs in the winning effort. Reichle said that one of the few downsides in the game was the teams’ three errors defensively. Unity Christian matched South O’Brien’s ten hits, but also struggled with errors in the game. They had four including one in the second inning that helped to put them in an early hole.

“In the second inning, we should have been out of it 1-2-3,” said Unity Christian coach Marlin Schoonhoven. “But there was an error then a walk with two outs. Then the home run got them going.” The home run was the only hit given up by Unity Christian starting pitcher Cody Gradert in two and two-thirds innings of work. He also had four strike-outs and two walks. Trevor Dorhout surrendered four runs off of six hits in the rest of the game to go along with two strikeouts and one walk. Unity Christian spread their runs out in the game scoring two in the third and one in the fourth, sixth, and seventh innings. The Knights had one extra-base hit in the game from Jordan Everson who also drove in a run and scored one. Taylor Dorhout and Alex Schoonhoven recorded a hit and an RBI each. “It was a good game,” coach Schoonhoven said. “They are a very good team, but our guys matched them very well.”

Hinton hurdles guestin five-inning game HINTON—Hinton pounded out 12 hits as Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn dropped its second straight War Eagle Conference baseball decision, falling to the Blackhawks 12-2 in five innings on Wednesday in Hinton. The Hawks were 4-1 in the league before the recent skid. “We looked flat and tired,” said Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn coach Scott Metzler. Hinton charged to the front from the start. It scored twice in the first inning. The Hawks got one back in the top of the second, but Hinton scored twice more in the bottom of that inning. Hartley-Melvin-

Sanborn got one more run in the top of the third, but the Blackhawks scored five times in the third and three more in the fifth to end it. “They just pounded us. End of story,” Metzler said. Jordan Japenga was 2-for-2 with one RBI to provide the bright spot for Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn. Brett Flynn got the start on the hill and lasted three innings. Casey Dorhout finished up in relief.

Learning processcontinues in defeat HAWARDEN—West Sioux struggled to find base runners and to get opposing batters out in an 18-0 five inning loss to Remsen St. Marys on Wednes-day. The Falcons never had an answer for the Remsen St. Marys offense. The Hawks scored three runs in the first inning, four in the second, six in the third, and five in the fifth off of 17 hits. “We just struggle,” said head coach Brian Engleman. “Hav-ing a game every day of the week hurts our pitching staff. We don’t have enough pitchers for that.” Braedon Peterson took the loss on the mound. In three innings he surrendered 12 hits. Jacob Millikan pitched two innings and gave up four hits. “It’s a process,” Engleman said. “We only struck out six times which is definitely a posi-tive. We just have to get some experience. The JV team is winning most of their games so hopefully we can carry some of that over to varsity by the end of the season.” The Falcons received hits from Porter Hummel and Mil-likan, who had a double.

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Snyder throws up blanks against Mustangs

George-Little Rock senior Darren Winkowitsch can’t get to the ball despite a diving attempt at a catch Wednesday against West Lyon in a Siouxland Conference in Larchwood. The Mustangs were shut out by the Wildcats 10-0 in five innings. (Photo by Josh Harrell)

Wolverines collect another win

West Sioux junior Jacob Millikan tracks down a fly ball during a War Eagle Confer-ence game against South O’Brien. The Falcons lost to the Wolverines 15-0 Thursday in Paullina. They lost at home on Wednesday. (Photo by Rylan Howe)


SPORTS

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Line drives droppingall over in double dip ORANGE CITY—South O’Brien crammed what normally would be a good week’s worth of offensive pro-duction into just two games Wednes-day, sweeping Unity Christian in a War Eagle Conference softball double-header. The Wolverines won the first game 18-7 in six innings. South O’Brien put the same number on the board in the nightcap but was fortunate to come away with an 18-15 victory. Unity Christian started fast in both games. The Knights scored twice in the second inning and once in the third to go up 3-0 in the first game. South O’Brien got five in the top of the fourth, but Unity Christian added four in the bottom of the frame to make it 7-5. “We had a good start, and we came out hitting the ball,” said Unity Chris-tian coach Shirley Kaemingk. “We just tightened up and let them back into the game.” South O’Brien regained the lead with five runs in the fifth inning, then add-ed eight more in the sixth. The Knights couldn’t score the runs needed to keep the game alive in the bottom of that frame. “Early in that game, we were hitting a lot of balls right to their shortstop. Later on, we started finding some gaps,” said South O’Brien coach Heather Struve. “We really mixed it up on offense between the short game and hitting it hard. They weren’t sure if they should play us up or back. There were times you would see them mov-ing to play it differently during the same at-bat.” Struve said Unity Christian did many of the same things to the Wolverines, who committed five errors in the con-test. “All night long, our offense was spec-tacular and our defense was just the opposite,” Struve said. Taylor Paulsen pitched five innings and gave up seven runs for South O’Brien, but none of them were earned. Alyssa Bainbridge led the offense, going 3-for-4 with three runs and an RBI. Kendra Rohlfsen had a single, a double, three RBIs and two runs. Brett Struve had two hits, two runs and two RBIs. Kellie Einck was 2-for-2 with two runs and one RBI. Six Unity Christian players had one hit apiece. Madison Dorhout and Anna Christians each had one hit, one run and one RBI. Heather Kaemingk and Diedra Noteboom also had one run and one RBI. Chantelle De Haan pitched the first five-plus innings and took the loss. Tessa Schoonhoven threw an inning of relief. It was Unity Christian that had the chance to end the second game early, but it was not able to do so and paid the price when South O’Brien scored 13 runs in the sixth inning of an 18-15 win. The Knights scored three times in each of the first two innings. South O’Brien had it down to 6-3, then Unity Christian scored one in the fourth and six in the fifth to take a 13-3 lead. “We were able to regroup after our first game and start strong,” coach Kaemingk said. “We just need to execute.” There were two outs and two on in the bottom of the fifth when a fly ball glanced off a Unity Christian glove for an error that allowed South O’Brien to score two runs and prolong the game. “If it wasn’t for that, they would have 10-runned us,” coach Struve said. “This was by far our worst defensive game of the year. I guess when you make 12 errors, you kind of need to score 18 runs if you are going to win.” The Wolverines then had their sixth-

inning outburst. “All but one of our batters had a hit in that game. That should give us some confidence batting, at least. The sixth was pretty exciting, for us anyway. They had a few errors, but we hit quite a few balls to the fence, too,” Struve said. “It was just an odd night. Almost everyone had a hit, and almost every-one made an error.” Emily Riedemann threw the first four innings for South O’Brien, and Taylor Paulsen finished up. Casie Rehder paced the offense, going 3-for-4 with two doubles, three RBIs and three runs. Rachel Struve had two hits and three RBIs. Rolfsen hit a home run, drove in three runs and scored twice. Diedra Noteboom was 4-for-5 with two RBIs and a run for Unity Christian. Madison Dorhout had two hits and drove in three runs. Kroeze singled, tripled and scored three runs. Heather Kaemingk had two hits, two RBIs and a run. Erica Noteboom had a hit and scored four times. De Haan had a hit, drove in four runs and scored once. Heather Kaemingk pitched five and two-thirds innings and got no deci-sion. Tessa Schoonhoven took the loss in relief.

Orthmann not rattled byfirst start in center circle HINTON—Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn pitcher Krista Orthmann did not seem intimidated in her first career start, taking control of the proceedings as the Hawks edged Hinton 3-2 in War Eagle Conference softball Wednesday. “She tells me inside she is nervous, but you certainly couldn’t tell it from any outward appearances,” said Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn coach Dale Orthmann. “She had pitched in relief for us, and we decided to give her a start. She pitched very well. She did a good job of pitching to the hitters’ weaknesses and getting strikeouts. Each time you can do that, it is impor-tant because it’s one less time there is any chance of a defensive mistake.” That was not happening much any-way. “It was our best defensive game of the season,” coach Orthmann said. “There were a couple of times where the defense bailed us out of jams. In the third inning in particular, we got a double play to end the inning that was just a beautiful, heads-up play by our

girls. The kids really played well. It was a fun night.” Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn scored a run in the third to take the lead. Each team scored a run in the fourth. The Hawks got a run in the sixth, but the Blackhawks countered with one in the bottom of the inning. Hinton had a runner at second with one out in the bottom of the seventh, but Orthmann got a strikeout, and the last batter flew out to center field to end the game. Orthmann gave up three hits, walked one, hit one batter and struck out seven. Michelle Beving was 2-for-2 with a double for the Hawks. Katie Mills and Jessica Stofferan each had a hit and scored a run. Emily Elgersma had one hit.

Remsen St. Mary’s findsholes in West Sioux game HAWARDEN—West Sioux had a game to forget Wednesday when it lost 13-3 in five innings to Remsen St. Mary’s in War Eagle Conference soft-ball. The Falcons looked like they were on the right track after taking a 3-1 lead after the first inning, but the wheels fell off in the second inning. Remsen St Mary’s scored 10 runs, four of which came with two outs. “We just couldn’t finish the inning,” said West Sioux coach Cindy Koop-mans. “I told the girls they’ve got to keep their heads up, but it didn’t work out. I’ll take some of the blame for not making some changes, but with two outs, I kept thinking, ‘We’ll get out of it.’” Courtney Hummel took the loss in the center circle for the Falcons. She allowed 11 hits in her five innings of work and struck out four batters to go along with five walks. Koopmans said the timing of the walks and a lack of offensive production made for a dif-ficult evening. “You can’t give free walks without getting hits on offense,” she said. “After the first inning, we just couldn’t get any runs. We left two runners on base in the third and fourth innings. We lacked drive and intensity.” Jade Lynn Vlotho had a double and a single for West Sioux. Jaylen Blan-kenship also notched two hits. Rylee Negaard had one hit and two RBIs in the contest.

Figueroa blast liftsteam vs. Warriors SIOUX CENTER—Monserrat Figueroa’s three-run homer in the fifth inning made the differ-ence in Boyden-Hull/Rock Val-ley’s 5-3 Siouxland Conference softball win at Sioux Center on Tuesday. The Nighthawks had monster performances from Nicole Ewoldt, Whitney Vander Maten and Figueroa in the game. Ewoldt was 4-for-4 with a run and an RBI, Vander Maten went 3-for-4 with two runs scored, and Figueroa went 2-for-4, including the home run. It was a steady stream of offense that coach Sara Fried-richsen said helped the Night-hawks en route to the win. “We had runners reach base in every inning and were aggressive,” she said. “We did a better job executing offensively and overall put a total team effort together for this victory.” Back-to-back singles by Vander Maten and Ewoldt led to runs for the Nighthawks in the first and fourth innings.

Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley also received a strong pitching per-formance from Joanna Heems-tra. “Joanna fell behind in counts early in the game but adjusted and was able to get ahead in the count as the game went on,” Friedrichsen said. Heemstra only allowed five hits in the game and struck out three batters to go along with two walks in her seven innings of work. Despite surrendering 13 hits and all five runs, Megan Clev-eringa pitched all seven innings for the Warriors. Coach Kari Schmalbeck said she had faith in her pitcher. “I thought about taking her out in the fifth inning after the home run,” she said. “But she struck out all three batters in the inning and kept getting out of things. She battled back all game long. She’s a fighter, and she goes hard.” Cleveringa also said that the high number of hits is deceiv-ing because a lot of the Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley hits were infield singles off of drag bunts. The Warriors only recorded five

hits, but there were many fac-tors that could have changed the outcome for Sioux Center. “If you take that home run off the board, it’s a 3-2 game favor-ing us,” Cleveringa said. “There were a couple of innings where we left important runners on second and third base. We bat-tled and kept it close. Overall, I’m pleased with the way they hung in and battled as a team.” On the offensive side of the game, Jillian Estes led the team with a 2-for-2 performance including a stolen base and two runs scored. Shalee Gesink contributed an RBI double. Megan Cleveringa and Car-rigan Cleveringa recorded a hit each.

Hunt, Jacobsma hitsclear path to victory OCHEYEDAN—Tarah Hunt and Brook Jacobsma both pounded three hits, powering MOC-Floyd Valley in a 12-0 Siouxland Conference softball win over Sibley-Ocheyedan on Tuesday. Despite the wide margin in the end, the game didn’t get out

of hand until the sixth inning. MOC-Floyd Valley scored one run in the first, one in the third and one in the fourth. It got a pair in the fifth to go ahead 5-0. The Dutch then circled the bases seven times in the top of the sixth. MOC-Floyd Valley had five hits in that inning. “We started out a little bit sluggish, but we started to hit the ball hard in the last three innings,” said MOC-Floyd Valley coach Jade Niemyer. “Defensively, we were pretty sharp.” Sibley-Ocheyedan was not as sharp defensively, allowing six unearned runs, but coach Curt Jacobsma was just as con-cerned about a lack of offense. The Generals managed only two hits off MOC-Floyd Valley hurler Emily McDonald. She walked one and struck out seven. “We didn’t have enough offen-sive power. We left a few on where a few timely hits might have made a big difference,” Jacobsma said. “We were mak-ing contact most of the time, but we weren’t getting much out of the infield.”

Brook Jacobsma had three runs and two RBIs for MOC-Floyd Valley. Hunt had two runs and one RBI. McDonald and Amanda Edwards each went 2-for-4 with one RBI. Kayla Ackerman and Tayler Wasmund had the hits for Sibley-Ocheyedan. Pitcher Jur-nea Harberts walked three and struck out one.

Fatigue catches upto Pioneers in loss GRAETTINGER—Okoboji was in the thick of the battle physically for four and a half innings, but coach Dennis Baschke said the Pioneers may have never been in the game mentally Tuesday in a 6-3 nonconference softball loss at Graettinger-Terril. The Pioneers were coming off a big conference win over Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley the previous night and traveled to Huxley over the weekend for three tournament games. The results of all that were not evident right away. Oko-boji scored a run in the first inning. Graettinger-Terril tied

it with one in the third. Okoboji regained the lead with a run in the top of the fifth. The hosts then scored four times in the bottom of the inning. An error to start the frame was followed by a hit, an out and then four more hits. “Everything they hit they hit in the gaps. Mikkinzie (Peschong) kept getting behind in the count. I think she just got tired,” Baschke said. “That’s why I’ve been using two pitchers. I think I’m going to need them.” Each team scored one run in the sixth. “We didn’t hit the ball very well. We hit a lot of flairs and pop-ups. It wasn’t anything like what we’ve been doing,” Baschke said. “I think we were just a little flat after beating Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley. That was a big game for us.” Peschong gave up eight hits and struck out three in five-plus innings of work. Savannah Hei-thus pitched in relief. Oliva Rohlk was 2-for-4 and scored a run for the Pioneers. Anna Seeger had a hit and scored a run.

Tracy bears down infinal inning of victory LARCHWOOD—Two of the best offensive softball clubs in the Sioux-land Conference had it cranked up to high gear Wednesday as West Lyon escaped with an 11-9 home win over George-Little Rock/Central Lyon. The visiting Mustangs struck hard in the early going. George-Little Rock/Central Lyon scored three times in the first inning and once in the second. The damage could have been even worse for the Wildcats, but the Mustangs left the bases loaded in the second stanza. West Lyon got it going by tying the score in the third inning. The Wild-cats then scored five times in the fourth to go up 9-4. “In the first couple of innings, we didn’t get a whole lot accomplished, but then we got hot. We were hot in the fourth inning for sure,” said West Lyon coach Tony Kerkvliet. “And every run turned out to be really big. It’s a good little rivalry.” George-Little Rock/Central Lyon coach Jeff Jager said the Mustangs had one chance to stop the whole outburst from happening in the fourth. “They really hit the ball well. We got through the first two innings all right, but then you have to credit them for really hitting the ball,” Jager said. “In the fourth, they had a couple of girls on with two outs and no one had scored yet, and we made an error that let them keep it going. We’ve got to be able to work through that kind of stuff. It’s tough to play perfect when they are hitting the ball that hard.” The Mustangs got a run in the top of the fifth, but a solo homer by Marissa Childress in the bottom of the inning made it 10-5. George-Little Rock/Central Lyon scored a pair of runs in the sixth. West Lyon got one in the bottom of the inning. The Mustangs then made it inter-esting in the seventh. “The girls played tough all the way through, and we put ourselves in position to win,” Jager said. “That’s all I can ask.” Two runs were in and two runners were in scoring position with the heart of the batting order coming up. That is when West Lyon pitcher Jamie Tracy was at her best. She ended the game with a pair of strikeouts. “I’ll give Jamie some credit for that. She still walked a lot of people, and we need to work on that, but she really stepped up to strike out those last two at the end. I was happy with

the way she competed,” Kerkvliet said. Tracy walked six and struck out nine in the contest. Tracy and Tiffany Ripperda both went 3-for-3 at the plate for West Lyon. Ripperda had a double and three RBIs. Tracy drove in a run, and her courtesy runner scored once. Childress was 3-for-5 with and RBI and three runs. Caty Grotewold had two hits, two RBIs and two runs. Brenna Doherty had a single, a double and a run. Lexi Ackerman had a single, a double and a homer with two RBIs and two runs for George-Little Rock/Central Lyon. Jessica Hilbrands had three hits, one RBI and one run. Keeley Kruse doubled, singled, drove in one and scored once. Abigail Eben did the pitching. She walked three and struck out three.

Ranked Warrior squadhands Dutch first loss SERGEANT BLUFF—MOC-Floyd Valley entered the night unbeaten but lost that status as it struggled to keep Class 4A 14th-ranked Sergeant Bluff-Luton from putting crooked numbers up on the board in an 11-4 loss Wednesday in nonconference softball. Sergeant Bluff-Luton opened the scoring with a run in the first inning. The Warriors followed with three in the second, two in the third and five in the fourth. MOC-Floyd Valley held a lead for half an inning after scoring three runs in the top of the second but then was silenced until scoring one run in the sixth. “It was a tough loss for us against a very good team,” said MOC-Floyd Valley coach Jade Niemyer. “The positive from this game is that we battled in the field and at the plate and became a better team.” Rachel Reints led the Dutch offense, going 2-for-3 with an RBI double in the sixth inning. Caitlyn Van Es also added a double and two RBIs to her team’s cause, and Amanda Edwards went 2-for-3 in the game. MOC-Floyd Valley only had two errors, but Niemyer said they contributed to a prolonged fourth inning. “We need to do a better job of staying focused defensively, espe-cially during a long and drawn-out inning,” she said. “We left some plays, tough plays, out there defen-sively in the fourth inning.” Emily McDonald allowed six runs off seven hits and five walks in six innings in the loss for the Dutch.

Aggressive approach pays off for Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley girls

Hitters put on two laser shows

George-Little Rock/Central Lyon junior Keeley Kruse fields a West Lyon ball Wednesday in Larchwood. (Photo by Josh Harrell)

The ball rolls past South O’Brien freshman Brett Struve and sopho-more Alyssa Bainbridge against West Sioux on Thursday. The Wol-verines played twice on Wednesday. (Photo by Rylan Howe)

Batters roll through game on both sides

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Execution becomessharper late in win SIOUX CENTER—Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley got itself off the mat and took command with a five-run sixth inning on its way to a 7-4 Siouxland Con-ference baseball win over Sioux Center on Tuesday. Sioux Center took a 3-1 lead in the third, scoring three times in the frame. The guests got a run in the fifth to cut it to 3-2, then took the lead for good with the offensive surge in the sixth. “We got off to a slow start. We weren’t getting bunts down. We weren’t moving runners. I kind of got after them a little bit,” said Nighthawks coach Josh Malenosky. “In the fifth inning, we did a great job. That was the first big inning we’ve had all year where it was because we hit the ball. We had one other one, but that was due to walks. This time, we hit the ball and made some things happen.” Tyler Dolieslager started the rally with a double. The Night-hawks wound up with six hits in the inning. “They did earn it at the end. They probably had three little jam shots that kind of fell in no man’s land. They were hit-ting the ball, but they got a few breaks,” said Sioux Center coach Ryan Bomgaars. “Still, those look like line drives in the box score.” Kyle Jensen was 2-for-4 with three RBIs for the Nighthawks. Nick Elgersma went 2-for-3

with two runs and one RBI. Jarod Hansen singled, doubled, scored once and drove in a run. Dolieslager was 1-for-1 with a double and a run. Dolieslager picked up the pitching win in relief of David De Bruin. Dolieslager threw three and one third innings, allowing one hit, walking four and striking out six. “Tyler is doing a fantastic job on the mound,” Malenosky said. “He is throwing strikes and getting people out.” Bomgaars said the one tough inning spoiled a quality outing for the Warriors. “Really, as a team, I was pleased with the way we executed on defense, and we were able to get a few better at-bats,” Bomgaars said. “We were kind of in control, and we really could have broke it open in the fourth and fifth, but we had some unusual things happen to end those innings.” Kyle Heemstra pitched the first five and two-thirds innings for Sioux Center. He gave up 10 hits, walked one and struck out three. Zack Regnerus was 2-for-3 with one RBI for the Warriors. Christian Rozeboom tripled, drove in two and scored a run. Heemstra was 1-for-3 and scored a run.

Lions motor aroundbags often in victory ROCK RAPIDS—The Central Lyon batters shined, scoring at least one run in every inning on their way to an easy 13-0 vic-

tory over Trinity Christian on Tuesday. The Lions scored twice in the first inning, four times in the second, five times in the third and twice in the fourth. The game ended due to the 10-run rule after the top of the fifth. “Our bats woke up a bit. It was nice to get the guys in the groove where they see it com-ing off the barrel. That is one of the few games where we’ve had an early lead, and I think that helped our confidence both offensively and defensively,” said Central Lyon coach Jason Engleman. “Everyone was involved in it.” Trinity Christian only mus-tered one hit, a single by Colin Heynen, in the game but only struck out twice. Tigers coach Tyler Dolieslager said that a combination of luck and solid Central Lyon defense led to the low hit total. “We were hitting the ball well,” he said. “We just kept hitting it right at them, or they would make good plays in the field. We played well; we just didn’t get any breaks.” Jaron Schrick walked one and struck out three for the Lions. “He threw well. He mixed it up and threw strikes,” Engleman said. “He made our defense make plays, and they did all he asked of them.” Luke Grooters was a home run short of the cycle, going 3-for-3 with three RBIs for the Lions. Dalton Ver Beek was 2-for-2 and scored twice. Chris Ladd went 2-for-3 with three RBIs. Cole Snyder was 1-for-1

and drove in a run. There was also a difference in experience level between the two teams. Because of injuries, Trinity Christian had two eighth-graders starting while Central Lyon had mainly seniors in its starting lineup. Dolieslager said although it might be difficult playing against teams with more expe-rience, the playing time only can be positive. “We’re a pretty young team overall,” he said. “The young ones need to grow. It’s a big jump for them, but they main-tained their composure last night. I never saw them give up. The kids are improving every game, and with as tough of a schedule as we have, we need them to come together as a team.” Stephan Boonstra took the loss for the Tigers. He gave up five earned runs off of seven hits and struck out three batters in two and two-thirds innings. Jesse Teunissen finished off the game on the hill for Trin-ity Christian. He gave up six earned runs on six hits. He struck out two.

Strong mound workgoes to waste in loss SPIRIT LAKE—Pinch-hitter Brandon Stoll delivered a one-out RBI single in the bottom of the seventh Tuesday, giving Spirit Lake a 3-2 nonconfer-ence baseball win over MOC-Floyd Valley. The pitchers had been the story of the contest before

Stoll’s walk-off winner. The game was scoreless until the Indians managed a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth. MOC-Floyd Valley climbed back to even in the top of the sixth. Caleb De Haan singled, then went to third on a Mitch Van Es single, with Van Es mov-ing to second when the Indians tried to gun down De Haan at third. De Haan scampered in on a wild pitch. Lawton De Jong then smacked an RBI single. “We really didn’t have a lot of offense. Their pitcher did a nice job. He threw it in the zone,” said MOC-Floyd Valley coach Adam Boeve. “Zach (Landhuis) did a great job on the mound for us. He competed well and gave us a chance to win on the road against a quality team. In the end we just didn’t have enough quality at-bats to do it.” Nick Wentzler walked, moved up on two passed balls and scored on Stoll’s single in the seventh to cap it for Spirit Lake. Landhuis gave up five hits, walked three and struck out three in six and one-third innings. De Haan had two hits and a run to pace the Dutch offen-sively.

Twin killings keepPioneer bats limited MILFORD—Host Okoboji struggled offensively in a 10-1 nonconference baseball loss to LeMars on Tuesday. Okoboji only got six hits in the game and twice hit into bases-

loaded double plays. The Pioneers surrendered three runs in the second inning before getting one back in the sixth. What was a close game at that point suddenly was not when a seven-run seventh inning by LeMars all but shut the door on any possible comeback. “They had a good pitcher on the mound,” Okoboji head coach Rory Marra said. “He was one of the better pitchers we’ve seen. We had our opportuni-ties with the bases loaded but couldn’t get anything out of it.” James Halbur drove in the only Okoboji run in a 2-for-3 performance. Zach Jones and Keith Oskvig both tallied a hit in the game, with Oskvig scoring a run. Dalton Syverson took the loss on the mound for the Pioneers. All 10 runs were earned runs off of 12 hits in seven innings pitched. Syverson also record-ed four strikeouts and walked two batters. Marra pointed out that LeMars has been known for its bats, which was something it showed Tuesday. “LeMars is a good hitting team,” he said. “They’re hard to keep off the bases. The batters keep battling and fouling pitch-es off until they get a mistake pitch. For six innings, we did a nice job of holding them, but in the seventh, we kind of lost it.” Okoboji has been plagued by an inability to drive important runs in, but Marra said the team has a strength in its con-sistent defense.

Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley revived in comeback


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EMMETSBURG—Sensational pitching stood out in Western Christian’s 5-0 win over host Emmetsburg on Wednesday in Lakes Conference baseball. The dueling pitchers com-bined to strike out 25 batters while only allowing seven hits in the game. Marcus De Jager struck out 13 batters for Western Christian and only allowed three hits in

the complete-game shutout performance. He also did not walk a batter. “Marcus De Jager really kept us in this game,” said Wolfpack coach Brent Van Maanen. “We made the plays on defense that we had to. Our pitching and defense has been keeping us in games, and we have been able to make things happen late in the game to score some runs.” The Western Christian offense had been all but shut down with only three hits through the first six innings. The team was clinging to a 2-0 lead after getting single runs in the third and fourth innings.

With two outs in the top of the seventh inning, the Wolfpack got the offensive spark it was looking for — with a little help from some balky E’Hawk glove work. Heath Bonestroo reached base on an error, advanced to third base on a throwing error on a stolen base attempt and scored on a passed ball. The Wolfpack then drew three consecutive walks, the only walks issued by Emmetsburg pitcher Taylor Wagner in the game, followed by a two-run single by Jordan Van Maanen. De Jager helped his own cause by going 2-for-4 with a double

at the plate and stealing two bases.

Western Christianstill in learning stage EMMETSBURG—Western Christian could not avoid the big inning in an 8-0 Lakes Con-ference softball loss to Class 2A 10th-ranked Emmetsburg on Wednesday. The host E’Hawks pushed across five runs in the second inning, followed by two in the third and one in the fourth. “We continue to have that one bad inning versus really good teams,” said Western Christian

coach Travis Kooima. “Other than the second inning and them scoring five runs, we really did a good job of holding them and playing good softball. We put the ball in play well against their pitcher. Now we just have to learn how to manu-facture runs.” Contact was a major issue for Western Christian. The Wolfpack struck out 14 times and only walked once against Emmetsburg senior Faith Schmidt. Western Christian had four hits. Alissa Pollema had a single and a double. Kenzie Bousema and Elissa Jansma each had a

base knock. Kooima said the young team has a lot of room to mature and improve. “Emmetsburg is a very good team,” he said. “We are just very young in a lot of spots and still learning how to play. The biggest thing we have to concentrate on is to make sure we improve each time we go out and try to learn game by game so we get better and stay away from making the same mistakes twice.” Jasmine Vander Zwaag struck out eight batters and walked four in six innings of work. The E’Hawks had eight hits.

Unity Christian onewin shy of state bid

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ORANGE CITY—Class 1A third-ranked Sioux City Heelan had a little too much offensive muscle for Unity Christian, advancing to the state tour-nament with a 6-0 win in a girls soccer regional final Monday in Sioux City. Sioux City Heelan improved to 15-1 on the season. Its only loss was to Class 2A fourth-ranked Sioux City East, a setback it avenged later in the season. “Heelan is a very good team. Of the two of us, they are the better team,”

said Unity Christian coach Tim Kamp. “That said, I was very proud of Unity’s girls. They played hard all the way through, had some very good oppor-tunities and did very well defensively.” Keeper Shannell Nieuwendorp had a busy night for the Knights. Sioux City Heelan outshot Unity Christian 15-1 in the first half and 26-4 in the game. “Shannell Nieuwendorp had a great game, probably her best of the season. She read the shots well and made some very nice saves. She was under heavier pressure than she had been all season, and she came through for us,” Kamp said. “Defensively, we played well, too. It may not look like it in the final outcome, but there were defi-nitely bright spots.” Part of the problem for Unity Chris-

tian was tactical. “Because of the heavy pressure, our midfielders were pushed all the way back into the defensive line. That got to be a problem because we tend to play a bit of an offside trap, and with the midfielders back there, we mis-timed the trap and that led to the first two goals,” Kamp said. “Once we got that figured out, we got better on the trap.” Sam Tymkowicz scored the first two goals for the Crusaders, with the sec-ond coming 20 minutes into the game. Megan Glover finished on a corner kick in the 28th minute, and it was 3-0 at the half. Brooke Bleeker tallied on a shot from 20 yards out 16 minutes into the second half for Sioux City Heelan.

Alexandria Max headed in a cross 22 minutes into the second half, and three minutes later, Rachel Vondrak finally finished a rebound after being denied twice by Nieuwendorp on her initial attempts. “The central midfielders, Kaira Krommendyk and Shelby Kruger, had their hands full but did a good job of slowing down the attack through cen-ter. They often forced it to the outside where we could limit some of Heelan’s options,” Kamp said. “We limited the through balls that make for easy ones with the keeper, so they had to work complex passing in order to get good shots. Forcing the number of bad shots that Heelan took showed that we were keeping the pressure on all the way through the game.”

Unity Christian finished its season with a 10-6 record. It was the second year in a row the Knights have won 10 games and advanced to the regional final. “This has been a very good season for us. We’ve been led by a great group of seniors that have worked through both adversity and good times to show what it really means to be a good sportsman,” Kamp said. The Knights graduate 10 seniors, seven of them starters. “They will all be missed, but we also have plenty to build on. We have three very good juniors that can lead us next year, a big group of sophomores and two freshmen that saw a lot of time this season,” Kamp said. “The future looks bright for us next year, too.”

Powerful Crusaders put an end to Knights’ regional campaign

Wolfpack forced to grind out win at Emmetsburg Senior Davis Fenchel hustles down the line for Western Christian, trying to beat out an infield hit early in Lakes

Conference game against Cherokee on Monday. He later came up with a key two-run triple in a 3-2 Wolfpack vic-tory in Hull. (Photos by Scott Byers)

Western Christian freshman Kenzie Bousema gloves the ball as Cherokee junior Megan Hummel slides into third base during Lakes Conference confrontation on Monday in Hull. The host Wolfpack beat the Braves 9-5.


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Eight runs in firstput team on track ORANGE CITY—Unity Chris-tian had already matched its season high in runs by the end of the first inning, racing to a 12-6 War Eagle Conference softball win over Hinton on Tuesday in Orange City. The visiting Blackhawks scored a run in the top of the first but did not even sniff the lead again. Unity Christian scored eight times on nine hits in the bottom of the first. Brianna Kroeze started it with a double and later had a single in the frame. Hinton got a run in the third and one in the fifth, but the Knights got a two-out RBI sin-gle from Jenna Zevenbergen in the bottom of the fifth to make it 9-3. Hinton got one run in the sixth, but the Knights scored three more in the bottom of the frame. The Blackhawks scored two in the seventh but didn’t have enough happening to make it close. It was the first win of the sea-son for Unity Christian, which won only one game last season. “We executed well and put a full game together,” said Unity Christian coach Shirley Kaem-ingk. “Everyone contributed with at least one hit, and our defense only had one error.” Kroeze had two hits, two runs and two RBIs for the Knights. Zevenbergen was 2-for-2 with two RBIs and a run. Heather Kaemingk doubled, singled, scored a run and drove in one. Erica Noteboom had two hits, one run and one RBI. Becca Ten Napel had a hit, two runs and one RBI. Kylee Zevenbergen had a hit and two runs. Heather Kaemingk did the pitching. She scatted nine hits,

walked three and struck out two.

Flood of runs startsfast for Wolverines ROYA L — S o u t h O ’ B r i e n smashed the ball all over the field in a 14-0 victory in five innings over Clay Central-Everly on Tuesday. Eight of the teams’ nine bat-ters recorded at least one hit, and nearly every player also scored a run. The Wolverines started hot by scoring six of their runs in the first inning off five hits. The squad recorded 13 hits in the game while holding Clay Central-Everly to only one. South O’Brien head coach Heather Struve said the early run support determined the whole game. “It’s nice to see runs up and down the lineup,” she said. “It was a good, all-around team effort. When you come out scoring six runs, it makes the game a lot easier and keeps the team relaxed. The players have more fun and aren’t stressed out.” South O’Brien didn’t let off the gas after the first inning. The team added two runs in the second inning, one in the third, and five in the fifth and final inning. Casie Rehder led the squad’s offense in a 3-for-3 perfor-mance that included two RBIs and three runs. Emmali Sweeney went 2-for-2 and con-tributed an RBI and two runs. Rachel Struve drove in two runs, and Kendra Rohlfsen had three RBIs. Struve also complimented her duo of pitchers, Taylor Paulsen and Emily Riedemann, for combining to throw a shutout. “Taylor throws the ball harder, but Emily has more movement

on her pitches,” Struve said. “The strike zone wasn’t very big, so we issued a lot of walks, but I was very pleased with their performance.” Paulsen struck out one batter and issued two walks in three innings pitched. Riedemann allowed one hit and recorded one strikeout in two innings of work.

Eagles keep Hawkhitters locked down HARTLEY—Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn struggled offensively in an 11-1, six-inning loss to Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn in War Eagle Conference play Tuesday. The team’s only hit was a single in the fifth inning. The Hawks’ pitching staff struggled as well. Three pitchers com-bined to allow 15 hits in the game. “M-M-C is a lot better team,” Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn head coach Dale Orthmann said. “Their pitcher completely dominated us. We struck out six times, and you just can’t have that in a game. They are a vet-eran team and a better team, and they showed that.” Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn recorded their run in the fifth after Jessica Stofferan walked and then stole second base. Katie Mills then drove her in with a base hit to center field. The biggest blow came in the third inning when Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn scored six runs. Orthmann said the Eagles just kept hitting the ball in the gap, and the team’s three errors didn’t help its cause. “Our pitchers had good con-trol,” he said. “They just hit the ball hard. There were also times when we needed to make plays, and we didn’t make them. We didn’t hit the ball well, but the

kids are playing hard, and they have a positive attitude.” Kendra Zeutenhorst threw four and one-third innings for the Hawks. She allowed nine runs off of 11 hits and struck out three batters. Kathryn Ahlers gave up two runs in one inning of work, and Krista Orthmann finished.

Spartans slide pastFalcons in seventh GRANVILLE—A slow and steady comeback by Spalding Catholic led to a 3-2 walk-off win over West Sioux in a War Eagle Conference game Tues-day. Spalding Catholic scored a run in the fourth and sixth innings, but the run scored in the seventh was the one that mattered most. After an error by West Sioux and a sacrifice bunt attempt that turned into a single, Alex Willman delivered a base hit to center field to steal a victory for the Spartans. Spalding Catholic coach Kami Kuhlmann said pitcher Paris Schnepf gave a performance that kept the team in the game. Schnepf allowed two runs off six hits and two walks and recorded six strikeouts in seven innings pitched. “The balls that were hit weren’t hit hard,” Kuhlmann said. “She gave up six hits, and I’m OK with that. She held them off and limited runs. Most of her pitches were strikes, and she didn’t have very many walks.” Defense has been a weak spot for Spalding Catholic this season, but Kuhlmann was happy to say that the team is improving and only commit-ted two errors in the contest. However, she also said that the Spartans’ hitting game could be improved.

“We only got five hits in the game. That needs to be higher,” she said. “We’ve been getting people on base, but we’re not getting them around to score.” Willman had two of the Spar-tans’ hits to go along with her RBI. West Sioux spread their hit-ting around with five players getting the teams’ six hits, but they couldn’t get any more runs after they scored two in the sec-ond. “ We needed more hits,” West Sioux head coach Cindy Koopmans said. “Our hitting was down this game. I was not impressed.”

Jade Lynn Vlotho got two hits for the Falcons. Bailey Van Den Berg had an RBI walk in the second inning that started West Sioux’s scoring. Courtney Hummel threw a complete game but took the loss after giv-ing up three runs off five hits. She struck out one batter and walked six. Koopmans said there were too many walks in the game, but the team played well defen-sively. “We played with more inten-sity,” she said. “It was a strong defensive game. They played the game hard, but it just didn’t go our way.”

Drops in winninghit in final inning ORANGE CITY—Aaron Van Wyhe sent the home fans off happy, delivering the game-winning hit with two out in the bottom of the seventh inning as Unity Christian nipped Hinton 4-3 in War Eagle Conference baseball Tuesday. “It was a great and very com-petitive high school baseball game,” said Unity Christian coach Marlin Schoonhoven. Hinton scored a run in the first, but Unity Christian had a quick answer. Alex Schoonhoven walked, moved to second on a sacrifice and scored on a Van Wyhe double to make it 1-1. The Knights grabbed the lead in the fourth, taking advantage of two big errors by the Black-hawks. Hinton shook it off in the sixth, scoring twice to chase Unity Christian starting pitcher Alex Schoonhoven from the hill. Cody Gradert came on in relief and got the Knights out of the jam. Gradert mowed the Black-hawks down in the seventh to give the Knights a chance to end it in the bottom of the frame. A Hinton error opened the door. A walk and a double steal put two runners in scoring position. Van Wyhe then came up with the big hit. “Alex Schoonhoven and Cody Gradert combined for a nice game on the mound, and our defense did a solid job,” coach

Schoonhoven said. “We moved runners and had some timely hits to pull out the win.” Gradert walked one and struck out two in two innings of work for the win. Schoonhoven allowed four hits and four walks and struck out five in his five-plus innings of work. Taylor Dorhout and Gradert both had a hit and scored a run for the Knights.

Good mound outingnot enough for win HARTLEY—Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn pitcher Matt Queck was good, but Marcus-Mer-iden-Cleghorn hurler Jared Gross was even better as the Eagles topped the Hawks 4-0 in War Eagle Conference baseball Tuesday. The Eagles broke a score-less tie with a single tally in the fourth inning. The guests gained some breathing room with three runs in the top of the seventh. Each starting pitcher gave up only five hits in the game. Gross walked one and struck out eight in getting the win. Queck walked three, hit two batters and struck out 13. “Our bats were pretty quiet. Their pitcher shut us down,” said Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn coach Scott Metzler. The Hawks rarely even had much of a threat going on the base paths. “Our pitcher did a great job. It was a tough loss, but it was a great game,” Metzler said. “They just played really well

and pitched really well.” Queck also was the offensive leader of the game for the Hawks. He went 2-for-3 at the dish and stole two bases.

Matthews supportedwell in initial outing ROYAL—South O’Brien lit up the scoreboard thanks to patient at-bats, extra base hits and speedy base running in a 12-0, five-inning nonconfer-ence baseball win over Clay Central-Everly on Tuesday. Four of the squad’s nine hits were for extra bases, and the Wolverines swiped seven bases in the contest. The team also took 11 walks on the night. “This was a solid win for us tonight,” head coach Heath Reichle said. “We swung the bats well and ran the bases aggressively.” Seven different players had at least one walk for the Wolver-ines, but Cole Ebel stood out as the hottest offensive player for South O’Brien. The center fielder went 2-for-2 with three RBIs, two runs scored and two stolen bases out of the leadoff spot. Sam Weber went 2-for-3 with a triple and two runs scored. Adam Paulsen and Kody Nelson each added two RBIs for the ball club. Tanner Matthews pitched well in his first career start. He threw a five-inning, two-hit shutout. The senior struck out four batters while only issuing free passes to two. “He was around the plate, and because of that, he gave our

defense a chance,” Reichle said. “Our defense has been pretty solid for us all year, and if we can eliminate giving teams free bases, I like our chances of our defense making the plays.” Freshman Gunnar Klinker had his first hit in the fifth inning. Zane Roberts and Bret Puhrmann both had two stolen bases.

Falcons improve atdish in road defeat REMSEN—West Sioux set season highs in hits and runs, but fell to Remsen-Union n Union 20-10 in five innings on Wednesday. West Sioux put up five runs in the first inning, three in the second, and two in the third. The Falcons were outhit 20 to 7 in the loss, but coach Brian Engleman said the game was an improvement over past games. “We’re getting better,” said Engleman. “Their pitcher came out throwing strikes and we hit him. It felt good to come out there and score five runs early.” Justin Negard and Dominic Hirsch had two hits for the Falcons. Jesus Rivera, Braedon Peterson, and Jacob Millikan also recorded hits in the loss. The offense was slowed to a stop in the fourth inning when five of the six batters struck out. “They brought in one of their best pitchers late in the game,” Engleman said. “He struck out almost every batter, but it was a sign of respect towards our hitters.”

Leadoff batter isproductive in win


HULL—Western Christian scored two runs in the open-ing inning and never trailed in a 9-5 Lakes Conference soft-ball decision over Cherokee on Monday. Alissa Pollema was hit by a pitch to start the game. She made Cherokee pay, stealing second and third. Pollema scored on a Kenzie Bousema fielder’s choice. Later in the first inning, Summer Jansen singled and eventually scored on a passed ball to make it 2-0. The Wolfpack scored single runs in the second and third to make it 4-0. Speed got Western Christian two more runs in the fourth. Pollema reached on a dropped third strike, then scored on a triple by Jasmine Vander Zwaag. Bousema then hit an RBI single to make it 6-0. “Offensively, we did a great job of being tough outs and putting the ball in play. We only had one strikeout,” said Western Christian coach Travis Kooima. “If we keep putting the ball in play, good things will happen for us every night offensively.” Cherokee scored three runs in the fifth and added two in the top of the sixth to cut the Western Christian lead to 6-5. T h e Wo l f p a c k h a d t h e answer, scoring three times in the bottom of that inning. Abby Pollema’s RBI single was the key hit. “It was good to get a con-ference win. We had a few innings where we didn’t make the plays in the field and let them back in the game, but we came back in the sixth and got three big runs to seal the win,” Kooima said. “Jasmine continues to do a great job throwing strikes. We just have to keep improving our young defense and get better each time we go out and play.” Vander Zwaag threw a three-hitter for the pitching win. She walked three and struck out four. Alissa Pollema had a major impact without having a hit, scoring three runs, stealing

three bases and driving in a run. Vander Zwaag went 3-for-5 with a triple, two RBIs and a run. Jansen was 2-for-3 and scored twice. Abby Pollema was 1-for-1 with two RBIs and a run.

Faber gives teamtime to come back HULL—Colin Faber kept his team in the game until the offense could come around, outdueling Cherokee’s Zac Smith in a 3-2 Wolfpack vic-tory in Lakes Conference baseball Monday in Hull. Faber got a lot of help from his fielders in the contest. He allowed seven hits, walked three, hit one batter and struck out six in earning the pitching win. “Colin had a great outing. He gave up two runs early, but he stuck with it,” said Western Christian coach Brent Van Maanen. “In the first couple of innings, they hit him good, but he did a good job of mixing it up after that. He was throwing three different pitches for strikes and keep-ing them off balance. He really battled.” Cherokee held the 2-0 lead for most of the game thanks to Smith, who allowed just four hits, walked two and struck out four. “We played really good defense and made all the plays. So did they. It was really well-played on both sides,” Van Maanen said. “We only hit it well in one inning, but sometimes one is all you need.” That inning came in the sixth. Marcus De Jager singled to start it. Jordan Van Maanen walked. Davis Fenchel then tied the game with a two-run triple. He scored on a single by Ryan Leloux to put Western Christian ahead. “Their pitcher had us on our heels all night. Even in Davis’ at-bat, he got down in the count and then battled. He ended up seeing a pitch that was up that he liked, and he drove it over the center field-er’s head,” coach Van Maanen said. The Braves got two runners on with two outs in the sev-enth before Faber coaxed a popup on the infield to end it.

Speed of Pollemaprimes pump for Wolfpack attack

Van Wyhe finds open ground in end

Unity Christian junior Alex Schoonhoven reaches back in his pitching motion against Hinton on Tuesday. Schoonhoven pitched the first five innings of a 4-3 victory for the Knights. (Photo by Scott Byers)

Knights light up scoreboard in home win

Unity Christian junior shortstop Jenna Zevenbergen ranges over to catch a pop-up near the third base line on Tuesday against Hinton. (Photo by Scott Byers)


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Entire lineup helpsdrive squad to win OCHEYEDAN—West Lyon pounded out a season-high in hits on its way to earning a 15-2 Siouxland Conference softball win over Sibley-Ocheyedan on Monday in Ocheyedan. Eight of the nine batters in the starting lineup for the Wildcats had at least one hit in the con-test. “We hit the ball pretty hard all night,” said West Lyon coach Tony Kerkvliet. West Lyon scored three runs in the first, three in the third and two in the fourth to go up 8-0. “That team hit the ball all over the place. We had a half a dozen errors, too, and that didn’t help,” said Sibley-Ocheyedan coach Curt Jacobsma. “We just can’t seem to get out of that first inning. We need some offensive power, too.” The host Generals got both of their runs in the fifth. McKenzie Kleve walked, Jessica Loerts singled, and both scored on a hit by Jurnea Harberts. The Wildcats countered with two in the sixth and five in the seventh. “We did play better defense. We still walked a few too many,” Kerkvliet said. “But a lot of those walks came with two outs, so that helped. Getting a lead early helped, too. It’s easier to play defense. You are more relaxed.” Denyelle Viereck had two doubles, two triples, five runs and three RBIs for West Lyon. Brenna Doherty had two doubles, two singles and five RBIs. Maria Moser had a home run, two singles, four runs and two RBIs. Caty Grotewold had a double, a single, three RBIs and two runs. Tiffany Ripperda had a pair of hits. Jamie Tracy gave up three hits, walked six and struck out eight in earning the pitching win. Harberts did the pitching for Sibley-Ocheyedan. She walked one and struck out five. Only six of the Wildcats’ runs were

earned.

Dutch turn intensityup in later innings ORANGE CITY—MOC-Floyd Valley needed a while to get warmed up, but once it did, it quickly pulled away for a 9-1 Siouxland Conference softball win over Sheldon on Monday in Orange City. Sheldon scored its only run in the first inning after MacKenzie Radke had a hit and later was singled in by Krista Bousema. MOC-Floyd Valley got two in during the bottom of that inning. The bats then went silent until the Dutch got one run in the fourth. “We didn’t start the game with the energy and intensity that I would have liked. I think we were all a little tired after a long day of softball on Saturday,” said MOC-Floyd Valley coach Jade Niemyer. “Later on in the game, we found some confi-dence at the plate, and our bats were much better. Defensively, we played a bit better than we did on Saturday, which is encouraging.” The Dutch scored four times in the fifth inning. Brook Jacob-sma started it with a double. The Dutch wound up with five hits in the inning. MOC-Floyd Valley scored two more in the sixth. “We played pretty well for the majority of the contest,” said Sheldon coach Mike Niece. “It was actually a much better game for us overall. We hit the ball well again and did a bet-ter job fielding it than we have been. We just had some walks that started to hurt us, and they strung hits together in the fifth.” Br i Va n d e r Pl o e g h a d a single, a double, a run and an RBI. Jacobsma had two hits. Amanda Edwards singled and doubled. Michaela Goergen had two hits, stole four bases and scored a run. Emily McDonald was the win-ning pitcher for the hosts. She walked three and struck out six in the complete game outing.

Abbi Meendering had two hits in the contest for Sheldon. Five other players had one hit. Allie Jongewaard pitched. She scattered 10 hits, walked eight and struck out six.

Hilbrands knocks inwinning run in eighth GEORGE—George-Litt le Rock/Central Lyon’s Jessica Hilbrands plated the game-winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning to oust Sioux Center 3-2 in Siouxland Conference softball Monday in George. “The girls had a great will to win, and that’s one of the things that makes these girls easy to coach,” said Mustangs coach Jeff Jager. Errors plagued both squads at key moments, as the first two runs scored for both schools had at least two errors attached to them. George-Little Rock/Central Lyon scored two runs in the first inning, thanks in large part to a pair of pop flies dropped by the Warrior defense and back-to-back doubles hit by Hilbrands and Kori Schulte. After a scoreless three innings, Sioux Center got two runs off

one hit and two errors by the Mustang defense in the fifth inning. The game needed extra innings and after Sioux Center’s Jillian Estes recorded only the second hit for the Warriors in the top of the eighth, George-Litt le Rock/Central Lyon doubled her off to give itself a chance at victory. Hilbrands led off with a single and stole second. Schulte moved Hilbrands over to third with a bunt, and Keeley Kruse hit a sacrifice fly to center field to score Hilbrands. “That was exactly how I want-ed it, and the girls executed it to perfection,” Jager said. “Get Jes-sica on and move her around.” Although Sioux Center did not come out on top, coach Kari Schmalbeck knew exactly what to say to her team. “I told them, ‘Wasn’t that fun girls?’ I knew, and they knew, that we have been playing bet-ter than a week ago, and we hit the ball well in this game, so it should be a fun rest of the year,” she said. “Obviously, we would’ve liked to win this one, but we’ll get there.” Abigail Eben tossed eight innings of four-hit ball for George-Little Rock/Central

Lyon. She walked two and struck out six. Hilbrands ended up with two hits, a double, one RBI and two runs. Schulte and Kelsey Acker-man had two hits, and both stole a base. Megan Cleveringa pitched all eight innings for Sioux Center. She struck out seven. Haley Simonson and Estes recorded the only two hits for the Warriors.

Pioneers pressureguests throughout MILFORD—Okoboji started strong and finished even stronger, ending a 13-3 win over Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley in just six innings in Siouxland Conference softball Monday in Milford. The host Pioneers scored twice in the first and four times in the second to take a 6-0 lead. “We had a couple of hits that led to runs, and they made some errors we took advantage of, but our bats were pretty warm all night,” said Okoboji coach Dennis Baschke. Each team scored a run in the fourth inning. Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley cut the lead to 7-3 with two in the top of the sixth.

“We waited too long in the game to get things going offen-sively tonight,” said Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley coach Sara Friedrichsen. “We need to find a way to give ourselves scoring opportunities, and we aren’t doing that right now.” Okoboji finished the contest by scoring six runs in the sixth. “When you get a lead like that, your pitcher can throw what-ever you want. The pressure is on the other team,” Baschke said. “Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley has a lot of good athletes. We knew we would have to play well to beat them. To score like we did in the sixth shows how we never let up on the pressure. I thought we played really well.” Anna Seeger was 3-for-3 at the plate for Okoboji. Abby Taylor had two hits and an RBI. Mad-die Bates was 1-for-1 with two RBIs. Clare Eckard had a hit and drove in two runs. Mikkinzie Peschong allowed seven hits, walked none and struck out six. C.J. Vander Zwaag took the loss for the Nighthawks. She walked three and struck out four in five and two-thirds innings. Monserrat Figueroa was 2-for-3 with two runs and one RBI. Nicole Ewoldt went 2-for-3 and scored once.

Falcon hitters haveanswer for Hawks HARTLEY—West Sioux stifled multiple Hartley-Melvin-San-born comebacks to hang on to a 10-6 victory in War Eagle Con-ference softball play Monday. West Sioux always seemed to have a response in the game. After Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn scored three runs in the bottom of the fourth and two in the bottom of the fifth, the Falcons scored three in the top of the fifth and matched that in the sixth. “We’re getting a lot of hits,” West Sioux head coach Cindy Koopmans said. “Defensively, we played pretty well, too. I’m happy with the win.” West Sioux received strong performances on both sides of the ball. Jaylen Blankenship recorded three hits in the game and scored three runs to go along with an RBI. Jade Lynn Vlotho drove in four runs to go along with two hits, Calie Peterson delivered three RBIs, and three other players had multiple hits. Despite the victory, Koop-mans said the team lacked one factor that could have made its win a little easier. “It was a decent game,” she said. “Overall, we could have had a little more hustle. We need to play with more inten-sity.” C o u r t n e y Hu m m e l w a s the winning pitcher for the Falcons. She threw all seven innings, scattered ten hits, and struck out seven batters. Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn was resilient with their mul-tiple comebacks, but five team errors that allowed the West Sioux runs to score led to the Hawks’ demise. “Defense was the difference in the game,” coach Dale Orthmann said. “We hit the ball well, but they had better defense. When you have 10

hits and six runs, you should win the game. But pitching and defense wins games, and we just didn’t have it.” Kathryn Ahlers gave up four runs, one earned, off six hits in four innings. Kendra Zeu-tenhorst allowed six runs, one earned, off four hits in one and one-third innings. Krista Orth-mann struck out four batters in one and two-thirds innings pitched. “Our pitchers gave up too many hits,” Orthmann said. “They were putting the ball down the middle too much. We brought it back to 4-3 in the fourth, but we didn’t make

plays in the fifth inning, and it was really a rally killer.” Kori Boll led the Hawks offense with a 3-for-4 per-formance that included two doubles and two RBIs. Michelle Beving turned in a pair of hits, and Jaylin Rieck recorded an RBI single.

Spartans surpriseEagles in Marcus MARCUS—Spalding Catholic picked up its biggest win of the young softball season Mon-day — a 5-4 victory over Class 1A seventh-ranked Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn in War Eagle

Conference softball in Marcus. It was only the second win for the Spartans this season. “It was a lot of fun but terribly nerve-wracking at the same time for me,” said Spalding Catholic coach Kami Kuhl-mann. Tied at 3-3 heading into the sixth inning, Spalding Catholic got one run in the sixth and one more in the seventh. Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn got a leadoff home run from Kayla Foresman to start the seventh inning to cut the Spar-tans lead to 5-4. After Spalding Catholic pitcher Paris Schnepf recorded two outs, the Eagles

threatened to score by putting runners on first and second. Schnepf got the batter to ground out to the second base-man, and the Spartans sealed its second victory of the season. “It’s fun to beat a great team like that. It’s fun to make the great plays that allow you to beat a team like this,” Kuhl-mann said. The Spartans held a 3-1 lead through most of the contest after getting two in the first and one in the second. The Eagles scored its a run in the first and didn’t score again until the fifth, when they came up with two. Schnepf allowed one earned

run off eight hits. She walked four and struck out three in seven innings of work. Madison Pottebaum, Alex Willman and Schnepf each had two hits.

Wolverines let leadslip away in sixth PAULLINA—When the South O’Brien softball team has struggled, there has been a common theme this season. The Wolverines again gave up the big inning Monday, falling to Remsen-Union 9-2 in War Eagle Conference play. In the sixth inning, Remsen-Union tallied eight runs to pull away from South O’Brien. Before that, the Wolverines held a 2-1 advantage. “It was a good game up until the sixth inning,” said South O’Brien coach Heather Struve. “There wasn’t a whole lot we could’ve done in that sixth inning because they were just hitting the ball well and find-ing the gaps. This game was a lot closer than the scoreboard indicated.” Se v e n o f t h e n i n e r u n s scored by Remsen-Union were earned, and six of the team’s nine hits occurred in the eight-run sixth inning. Struve said the hosts saw some positives on offense, too. “One thing that I saw in this game that I haven’t seen so far this season was the girls’ ability to bunch hits together. I actu-ally think it was one of our best overall games,” Struve said. Taylor Paulsen pitched the first five and one-third innings, allowing five earned runs. She surrendered six hits and struck out two. Emily Riedemann threw the rest of the contest, allowing two earned runs off three hits. She walked one and struck out one. Erin Brasser was 2-for-4 with two runs, and Bret Struve ended with two hits for South O’Brien.

West Sioux crosses plate frequently in road victory

West Sioux junior Jaylen Blankenship slides toward home plate as South O’Brien sophomore Leta Wester applies the tag Thursday. The Falcons outscored Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn on Monday. (Photo by Rylan Howe)

Wildcats turn in best night at plate thus far

West Lyon freshman Alyssa Kock fields the ball against George-Little Rock/Central Lyon Wednesday in Larchwood. The Wildcats played at Sibley-Ocheyedan on Monday and won 15-2. on (Photo by Josh Harrell)


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Generals’ potent batson full display in upset SIBLEY—Sibley-Ocheyedan looked like it might put an end to the game early, but West Lyon had a strong enough offense to make it interesting at the end before the Generals got out with a 14-11 Siouxland Conference baseball victory Monday. The ball was sailing all over the park from the start as Sibley-Ocheyedan scored four times in the first inning. “You could tell it was going to be one of those games from the start. It was just a weird night,” said West Lyon coach Koury Kramer. “On the first bat-ter, they got on when we dropped the third strike and our catcher couldn’t find it. From there, it was a roller coaster. We had a tough time throwing strikes, and when you have a tough time throwing strikes, your defense tends to lapse.” West Lyon got one in the top of the second, but the Generals scored five times in their half of the inning to make it 9-1. The Wildcats got one in the top of the third, but the Generals scored four more times in the bottom of the inning to make it 13-2. Each team scored once in the fourth. “This is starting to become a trend — we score a lot of runs, and we give up a lot of runs,” said Sibley-Ocheyedan coach Daryl Tutje. “We didn’t do much wrong at first. We hit the ball well, and they struggled in the field. The combi-nation of the two led to a lot of runs. I do like that we’re showing a lot of balance in our lineup right now. That’s something you don’t always have.” The Generals could have closed it out by the mercy rule, but West Lyon rattled the bats for four runs in the fifth. “I was pleased that the guys didn’t fold the tents,” Kramer said. “We had runners on all night, and toward the end, we started to get some of the big hits we didn’t get in the first three innings.” The Wildcats scored one more in the sixth and had three runs in and a run-ner on in the seventh when the game ended. West Lyon stranded 16 runners on base in the game. “We’ve been having double digit walks from our pitchers in most games, and that’s really hurt us. Defensively, we were shaky at times,” Tutje said. “It was getting scary because West Lyon is very good and was hitting the ball well. I was nervous until the last out. It was almost like two different games. We were lights out at first and faded toward the end.” Mitchell Vander Sloot pitched the first three and one-third innings to get the win for Sibley-Ocheyedan. Josh Earll and Tyler O’Connor threw in relief. O’Connor led the way offen-sively, going 3-for-5 with four runs and two RBIs. Ethan Stofferan hit two dou-bles, drove in three runs and scored twice. Grant Greenfield had two hits, three runs and one RBI. Earll had two hits and two RBIs. Eric Tutje had one hit and drove in four runs. James Van Beek smacked a pair of doubles, drove in three runs and scored twice for the Wildcats. Jacob Moser had two hits and two runs. Ethan Erickson had two hits, one run and one RBI. A.J. Whalen added two hits. Moser started on the mound and lasted just two innings and took the loss. Kasey Myrlie pitched four innings and struck out seven, allowing only one unearned run.

Warriors, Mustangs battlewell into night in classic GEORGE—Sioux Center made a couple of great defensive plays to send the game to extra innings, but the end result wasn’t decided until long after that as the Warriors outlasted George-Little Rock 5-4 in 12 innings in Sioux-land Conference baseball Monday. “Wow. What a game. In almost every inning, it seemed like we would get a little momentum, and then in the bottom they would get it back,” said Sioux Center coach Ryan Bomgaars. “It was a great game for the kids in that it taught them in baseball, no matter what happens, you are going to get another opportunity. There will be another at-bat.” George-Little Rock got a stellar pitch-ing performance from Colin Sand-bulte. He threw eight innings, allowing only five hits and striking out 16. Brent Klingenberg saw four innings of work from the hill. He struck out six and sur-rendered only one hit.

“It was unfortunate that both Colin and Brent threw great games and neither one was rewarded with the win,” said George-Little Rock Brian Luenberger. Sioux Center scored one in the first, but George-Little Rock responded quickly with one in the bottom of the second. A two-run fourth inning pushed the Warriors ahead. The Mustangs got their first lead of the game with a three-run fifth inning, highlighted by a Judd Rosenboom RBI double. Sioux Center got one more run in the sixth to tie it. George-Little Rock had the bases loaded in the seventh with one out when Sioux Center junior right fielder Ryan Van Beek made back-to-back big plays. “They had a ball that got hit to right that Van Beek fielded, and he threw the guy out at home. Then, on the next play, there was a deep fly ball into the gap, and he made a great running catch,” Bomgaars said. George-Little Rock left the bases loaded in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings. “That was the story of the game for us, next to the errors,” Luenberger said. “Sioux Center made some great plays defensively to keep themselves in the game.” Sioux Center got the decisive run in the top of the 12th inning. “We got a few guys on in the 12th, and they had to pull their infield in. We were very fortunate to beat the throw home to end the game,” Bomgaars said. “It was one of the most excit-ing games we’ve had since I’ve been coaching here.” Trev Pieper threw six and one third innings allowing six hits and two earned runs. He struck out four. Miles Kleinhesselink threw five and two thirds innings, surrendering five hits and striking out four. Christian Rozeboom had three hits, one of them a triple, two RBIs and a run. Zach Regnerus had two hits and a run. Ryan Van Beek had a hit and an RBI. Sandbulte also led his team from the plate, going 3-for-4 with an RBI. Rosenboom and Jake Hilbrands had three hits, one double and an RBI. Klingenberg had two hits and a run.

MOC-Floyd Valley findsways to scoot back home ORANGE CITY—MOC-Floyd Valley looked overmatched at the plate at times, but the Dutch were opportu-nistic enough to slide past Sheldon 5-4 in Siouxland Conference baseball Monday. Sheldon pitcher Trevor Johnson was dominating. He went six innings, allowing six hits, walking five and

striking out 14. Only two of the runs were earned. “They just played defense a little better than we did. We tend to give away runs in certain situations. Our pitching has been very good. We just had a couple of mental mistakes and a couple of throwing errors,” Zeuten-horst said. “It’s frustrating when your pitcher has thrown a whale of a game like that.” The veteran coach suspects that defense will be the deciding factor all year. “With the new bats, I think what you will have is that teams aren’t going to win games — teams are going to lose games,” Zeutenhorst said. “Three of our four losses have been games we really should have won. I’ve got to do a better job of getting us prepared to play defensively.” The Orabs took a 2-0 lead in the third inning, with both runs scoring on a homer by Graden Nordahl. MOC-Floyd Valley took the lead with three runs in the fourth. Nordahl gave the Orabs back the advantage with a two-run double in the fifth. The Dutch caught a break in the fifth, scoring the tying run when Sheldon made an error after a dropped third strike. “That was a big run,” said MOC-Floyd Valley coach Adam Boeve. “Their pitcher was doing a nice job of throwing his breaking ball for strikes and commanding his fastball. He gave our guys a lot of problems at times. Any time you can find a way to beat that team with that guy on the mound, it’s a good thing.” The Dutch scored the winning run in the sixth when Zach Landhuis and Tyler Harald each singled and pinch-runner Brandon Harald scored on a Caleb De Haan sacrifice fly. David De Haan got the pitching win for the Dutch. He went six innings, walked one and struck out eight. Aus-tin Kelderman pitched the final inning and got the save. “David pitched well. It was his best outing of the year,” Boeve said. “He gave us a chance to win.” Colin Pennings had two hits for the Dutch. Lawton De Jong doubled and scored a run. Brandon Frick went 3-for-3 in the contest for the Orabs. Johnson hit a double.

Pitching, defense crucialfor Nighthawks in victory MILFORD—Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley got six effective innings from Chris Siestra, and the offense picked up enough runs to earn a 4-2 win over Okoboji on Monday. Siestra surrendered five hits and one earned run. He struck out four.

“Chris did what we asked of him,” said Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley coach Jason Malenosky. “He threw strikes, and the defense made solid plays behind him.” The Nighthawks’ offense had trou-bles as well in dealing with Okoboji ace Zach Jones. Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley got one run in the second and two in the third. Okoboji got one run apiece in the fifth and sixth innings to make it a one-run game, but the Nighthawks’ Blake Eichmann knocked in a pinch-hit RBI single to give his team a little cushion. David De Bruin entered the game in the seventh to shut the door on the Pioneers. After giving up a leadoff triple, De Bruin struck out the next three batters to earn his team the win. “We still need to come up with some timely hitting,” Malenosky said. “We left 12 guys on base, which is way too many, and if we come up with some big hits, we score some more runs.” Hunter Berkenpas finished with two hits and an RBI for Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley. Jarod Hansen and Tyler Dolieslager each tallied one hit. Han-son had a double. Okoboji spread their hits out

throughout the lineup with seven dif-ferent players getting at least one hit, but the Pioneers’ continuing trend of leaving men on base continued and cost them. “We had the opportunities to win this game,” Okoboji head coach Rory Marra said. “We got guys on base but couldn’t get the runs in. It was a well-played game against one of the bet-ter teams in our conference. It was a game we could have won.” Alex Koepp had two hits in the con-test. James Halbur and Dalton Syver-son each went 1-for-2. Weston Burge-son and Keaton Jones also contributed a hit each. The Pioneers ace pitcher had what Marra said “wasn’t one of his better games.” In seven innings, Jones gave up four runs on seven hits and four walks. He struck out six. “Zach had a hard time getting into the flow of the game,” Marra said. “He’s thrown 21 innings in the past week and a half, so his arm might be getting a little tired. But he’s the pitch-er we want against the better teams, and he fought and worked hard. Other pitchers would be happy to have the stats Zach had.”

Offensive damage donein two huge outbursts

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ROCK RAPIDS—West Lyon only scored in two innings, but it put up more than enough runs to beat Central Lyon 11-1 in five innings of Siouxland Conference baseball last Saturday.

The Wildcats scored seven runs in the second inning with two outs, thanks to two hit batters, two walks and two singles. They struck again in the fourth inning, driving in four runs off of six singles. “We were really patient at the plate,” West Lyon head coach Koury Kramer said. “The guys played solid defense, and it was a nice win against a good Central Lyon team.” Brandon Snyder had the hot bat for the Wildcats. He had four RBIs and

two runs in a 3-for-4 performance. Other standouts included Kasey Myr-lie, who went 2-for-3 with two runs scored, and Tyler Kruse, who went 1-for-2 with an RBI and a run scored. Jon Van Beek took the hill for West Lyon and didn’t disappoint. In five innings of work, he gave up a lone run, four hits and four walks to go along with 11 strikeouts. “Jon did a really good job attacking the strike zone,” Kramer said. “He mixed and matched his pitches and

varied the speed to keep the batters off balance.” Central Lyon only could muster four hits in the contest against West Lyon’s ace pitcher. Coach Jason Engleman said the team’s approach at the plate could use some improvement. “Their pitcher threw well,” he said. “We struck out 11 times and had some bad at-bats. When you get set down that much, it limits your chances to score runs. We have to put that ball in

play.” Jaren Schrick went 1-for-2 in the game. Luke Grooters and Cole Snyder went 1-for-3 for the Lions. Engleman said their pitching started off well in the game but sputtered out. “Our pitcher lost focus and didn’t throw strikes,” Engleman said. Ladd gave up seven runs in two innings of work. Kyler Huisman surrendered four runs in his two innings pitched for Central Lyon.

Second-inning uprising helps Wildcats to push past rival Lions

West Lyon stumbles against Sibley-Ocheyedan

West Lyon junior Jon Van Beek slides into home against George-Little Rock on Wednesday in Larchwood. He scored the final run as the Wildcats rebounded from a Monday loss to Sibley-Ocheyedan with a 10-0 victory. (Photos by Josh Harrell)

Sophomore Kasey Myrlie of West Lyon reaches for the out against Sheldon on Thursday. The Wildcats beat the host Orabs 10-0.


SPORTS

MonDAY WAR eAgle bASebAll

SATURDAY bASebAll AT MoC-fV

Wolfpack stretch outpitching at invitational ORANGE CITY—Western Christian was the most consistent of the four teams involved in the MOC-Floyd Val-ley Invitational baseball tournament last Saturday and was rewarded with the team title. The Wolfpack went 3-0 on the day to earn the crown. Unity Christian also did solid work, going 2-1, while the host Dutch won once.

MoC-fV 6, A-W 1 MOC-Floyd Valley scored four runs in the opening inning, and pitcher Derek Rupp did the rest in a 6-1 vic-tory over Akron-Westfield. Zach Landhuis hit a two-run double to provide the big hit in the opening frame. MOC-Floyd Valley added a run in the second. Akron-Westfield got its run in the third. The Dutch added one more in the fourth. “We got off to a good start. We had three hits in that inning, and they had a couple of errors,” said MOC-Floyd Valley coach Adam Boeve. “We played good defense in that one, and Derek pitched well.” Rupp allowed four hits, walked one and struck out two in the five-inning affair. MOC-Floyd Valley committed just one error in the field. Rupp was 2-for-3 at the plate with a double and a run. Caleb De Haan was 2-for-3.

Western 5, Unity 2 Western Christian didn’t get many hits but made the most of the ones that it did get in a 5-2 win over Unity Christian. The Wolfpack got one run in the top of the first. The Knights, however, tied the game in its half of the inning with an Aaron Van Wyhe RBI single. Two more runs were added on the Western Christian side in the second. The Wolfpack got a run in the fourth, and a Taylor Dorhout RBI single scored Van Wyhe to round out the scoring for Unity Christian in the bot-tom of that inning. Western Christian got its last run in the top of the fifth. “Our defense committed three errors, which resulted in three of Western Christian’s runs,” said Unity Christian coach Marlin Schoonhoven. “Grant Kobza and Alex Dorhout did a decent job on the mound.” Western Christian, on the other hand, played quite well in the field. “We didn’t get many hits, but we got a lot of walks and had a lot of runners on. We put the ball in play a few times and got a couple of key hits,” said Western Christian coach Brent Van Maanen. “Tyler Van Engen pitched a really good game, and we played good defense behind him.”

Van Engen gave up only two hits and a walk. He struck out six. Colton Van Otterloo was 2-for-3 with two runs for the Wolfpack. Kobza tossed the initial two and one-third innings, surrendering three hits and three runs, all earned. Freshman Alex Dorhout threw the remainder of the contest, allowing one hit and striking out one. Van Wyhe and Taylor Dorhout had the only two hits for Unity Christian.

Western 6, MoC-fV 3 Western Christian built a lead quick-ly, and Marcus De Jager made it hold up in a 6-3 win over MOC-Floyd Valley. The Wolfpack scored a run in the first and one in the second. A Ryan Le Loux two-run double keyed a four-run third that made it 6-0. “The key was Marcus. He kept them off balance. They got a couple of unearned runs in the fifth to make it close, but he was in control,” said Western Christian coach Brent Van Maanen. “He got ahead in the count and mixed his pitches. Offensively, we were patient at the plate, and Ryan got the big hit to break it open.” MOC-Floyd Valley got one run in the fourth and two in the fifth. “Their pitcher did a nice job chang-ing speeds, and they made the plays defensively,” said Dutch coach Adam Boeve. “They scored when they had chances to score, and we didn’t.” De Jager gave up three hits, walked five and struck out four. Davis Fenchel and Heath Bonestroo each had a hit, a run and an RBI for the Wolfpack. David De Haan was the first of three Dutch pitchers and took the loss. He led the way offensively with a hit and two runs. Caleb De Haan had a hit and scored once.

Unity 12, A-W 0 Unity Christian erupted for 11 runs in the bottom of the first inning as part

of a 12-0, four-inning, dominating performance over Akron-Westfield. “It was nice to jump on top right away with a combination of hits and walks,” said Unity Christian coach Marlin Schoonhoven. In the big first inning for the Knights, Grant Kobza hit a two-run double, and Taylor Dorhout, Alex Schoonhoven and Alex Dorhout all had RBI singles. Kobza batted again in the first inning and ripped another double, this time a three-run hit. Adding one more in the second inning with a Schoonhoven RBI single put the game in cruise control for the Knights. Schoonhoven spread out three hits over four innings of work. He also struck out five batters. “Alex Schoonhoven did a great job on the mound. It was a nice team win,” coach Schoonhoven said.

Western 6, A-W 5 Western Christian was playing from behind and running out of bodies but somehow managed three runs in the bottom of the fifth to beat Akron-Westfield 6-5 and finish the sweep of its three tournament games. Naturally, at the end of a long day, the Wolfpack was mixing and match-ing with its pitchers. That became particularly true when starter Ryan Le Loux had to leave after two innings with a sore elbow. Another member of the starting lineup, Marcus De Jager, also left the game early due to injury. “Both teams were coming to the end of their pitching staffs. It wasn’t a clean game by any means. There were a lot of walks and hit batters, but we came through at the end,” said Western Christian coach Brent Van Maanen. Akron-Westfield led 2-1 after one inning and 4-3 after three. The West-erners scored once in the top of the fifth.

Western Christian then mounted a one-out rally in the fifth. The Wolfpack used four hits and two walks to score three times. An RBI single by Davis Fenchel tied the game, and an RBI single by Colin Faber won it. Drake Van’t Hul pitched two and one-third innings for the Wolfpack. Jordan Van Maanen got the final two outs and was credited with the win.

Unity 8, MoC-fV 4 Unity Christian executed in all three phases of the game of offense, defense and pitching to pick up an 8-4 win over tournament hosts MOC-Floyd Valley. After a scoreless first inning from both sides, MOC-Floyd Valley got one run in the second. The Knights responded to the Dutch’s runs with a four-run third inning. A few errors and walks from MOC-Floyd Valley, followed up with Grant Kobza and Taylor Dorhout each tally-ing one RBI in the frame accounted for the four runs. “We didn’t take care of the baseball in the third inning. That was a tough inning. We had to keep Zach’s pitch count low, and we had basically run out of pitching,” said MOC-Floyd Val-ley coach Adam Boeve. “We ended up

putting Tanner in during a real tough situation. It was just a rough Saturday as a whole. We didn’t play as well as we had hoped to.” Dutch starting pitcher Zach Land-huis was pulled after two and two-third innings. Tanner Krull finished on the hill. The Dutch got two runs back in the third to make the game a 4-3 affair, but a three-run fourth inning all but put the game away for the Knights. With the bases loaded, Aaron Van Wyhe and Cody Gradert drew back-to-back walks ,and Andrew Louwerse lined an RBI single to gain the runs. “A solid job in all areas,” said Unity Christian coach Marlin Schoonhoven. “Good pitching, defense made some plays, and, offensively, we did a good job of getting runners on, moving them and scoring them.” Trevor Dorhout started and threw the first three innings. He allowed four hits and one earned run. Travis Viet threw two-thirds on an inning and allowed two hits and one earned run. Alex Dorhout threw one and one-third innings, allowing only one hit. Alex Schoonhoven finished 3-for-3 with a double and three runs. Van Wyhe had two hits, two RBIs and a run. Andrew Louwerse had a hit and an RBI.

Hawks looking at nice numbers in score book

Western Christian captures crown in Orange City by winning three games

Hit totals still rising,Flynn efficient on hill HARTLEY—Hartley-Melvin-San-born did the bulk of its damage in one inning, scoring 10 times in the third frame on its way to a 12-0 five-inning win over West Sioux in War Eagle Con-ference baseball Monday. Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn scored twice in the first frame, then rapped out eight hits during a third-stanza surge. The Hawks had 14 hits in the contest. “That was a nice total for us. We played well,” said Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn coach Scott Metzler. “West Sioux is a lot better than they were last year. You can tell they are improving every game.” Metzler said Ryan Flynn put together a strong game on the mound despite having pitched in relief twice at the Clay Central-Everly Tournament over the weekend. “Ryan put up some nice numbers, absolutely. He got ahead of hitters. He was throwing strikes,” Metzler said. Flynn walked one and struck out 13. The West Sioux bats could only get two base hits. “We just had way too many strike-outs,” said West Sioux coach Brian Engleman. “We couldn’t put the ball in play and we didn’t put any pressure on the defense.” The two hits were recorded by Domi-nic Hirsch and Kezden Blankenship. Porter Hummel got the start on the mound for the Falcons. In two and one-third innings he struck out five batters and allowed seven runs off of six hits. Dominic Hirsch finished the game off and had one strikeout in one and two-thirds innings. “Porter threw well,” Engleman said. “Almost every out was a strikeout. But we didn’t score runs, and to score runs you have to put the ball in play.” Jordan Japinga was 3-for-3 with two RBIs and a run for the Hawks. Brett Flynn went 2-for-2 with two RBIs and two runs. Casey Dorhout had a single,

a triple, an RBI and three runs. Matt Queck had two hits and stole three bases.

Wolverines workmanlikein dispatching of Rockets PAULLINA—South O’Brien scored at least one run in each of the first six innings, outpacing Remsen-Union in an 8-3 War Eagle Conference baseball win Monday. “This was a pretty big win for us against a pretty good Remsen-Union team. We have a game every night Monday through Thursday and two

more on Saturday. We talked a lot about going out and setting the tone for the entire week, and I feel like we did a pretty good job of that after the third inning,” said South O’Brien coach Heath Reichle. The Wolverines scored one run in each of the first five innings. Remsen-Union got one in the second and one in the third. The Rockets cut the lead to 5-3 with a run in the sixth, but South O’Brien brought around three more runs in the bottom of the inning. “Cam Kuchel did a pretty good job of keeping us off balance all night, but

Michael Callahan was locked in on his last at-bat and he really got into one. He hit a two-run home run to break the game wide open,” Reichle said. “Zane Roberts had some good at-bats and a couple of big two-strike hits. Sam Weber swung the bat well as well.” Bret Puhrmann got the pitching win. “He had a solid night. His command wasn’t quite what it’s been so far, but that’s what made the outing all that much more impressive,” Reichle said. “I was happy with how he sucked it up and got the job done. He wanted the ball late in the game and you could tell

he was going to slam the door.” Puhrmann allowed three hits, walked three and struck out five. Roberts was 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs. Weber had two hits and drove in one run.

Spartans save best forsixth-inning comeback GRANVILLE—Spalding Catholic struggled to get hits for much of the night, but was at its best during crunch time in a 4-2 War Eagle Con-ference baseball win over Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn on Monday. “This was another good confer-ence win for us. There were two good pitchers on the mound. We played solid defense,” said Spalding Catholic co-coach Dave Heying. “As with most times when we play at Marcus, it was a strange night, so it was good to get out of there with the win.” Michael Grady was on the hill for the Spartans and Dylan Speiler was the starting pitcher for the Eagles. Spalding Catholic got a run with-out the benefit of a hit in the second inning. An error, a walk and another error loaded the bases for Tyler Konz, who was hit by a pitch to push in the run. Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn scored twice in the third inning. The score remained that way until the top of the sixth. Tommy Stoll walked with one out to start a Spartan rally. Konz followed with a single, then Austin Schmit had an RBI single to tie the game. That chased Speiler, who was replaced by Tanner Utesch. Grady drew a walk on Utesch, then Brady Heying ripped a two-run single to give Spalding Catholic the lead. “We had runners on base in every inning and found a way to get the rally going in the sixth,” coach Heying said. “Michael worked out of trouble in the fifth and finished strong in the last two innings.” Grady scattered eight hits, walked two and struck out six. Schmit had two hits for the Spartans.

Sophomore second baseman Cody Gradert calls off senior short-stop Trevor Dorhout on a popup Tuesday during Unity Christian’s 4-3 victory over visiting Hinton in Orange City. The Knights won two of three games at the MOC-Floyd Valley Invitational last Saturday.

South O’Brien sophomore Bret Puhrmann steps onto second base in front of West Sioux sophomore Jesus Rivera on Thursday. Both teams played conference contests on Monday. (Photo by Rylan Howe)

Western Christian junior second baseman Tyler Van Engen collects the ball as Cherokee freshman Connor Voge slides in safely on a sto-len base attempt Monday in Hull. The Wolfpack won that game, and also won three times last Saturday. (Photos by Scott Byers)


SPORTS

SATURDAY SofTbAll AT SHelDon

Sioux Center hasbiggest day of all REGIONAL—The hosts teams got to finish out on a win at the Sheldon/George-Little Rock/Central Lyon Invitational softball tournament, which finished play last Saturday. George-Little Rock/Central Lyon picked up two wins in George on the final day, while Sheldon split games on its home field. Sioux Center was the busiest team in George on the last day, playing three games. It also was the most successful squad, as it won all three. South O’Brien played twice in George, and Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley had a pair of games in Sheldon.

Sioux Center 8, SoS 7 Sioux Center scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to win in walk-off fash-ion with an 8-7 win over South O’Brien . Madison Beaver was instru-mental in the final frame for the Warriors, first driving in Lexi Van Zee for the tying run and scoring the game-winner. “It was a great way to start out the day,” said Sioux Center coach Kari Schmalbeck. Sioux Center scored first in the opening frame with two runs. South O’Brien took two innings to respond but did so by taking the lead with three runs in the fourth. South O’Brien added another run in the sixth, but Sioux Cen-ter retook the lead with three runs in the bottom half of the sixth to make it 5-4. Down by one heading into the top of the seventh inning, South O’Brien rose to the chal-lenge and scored two runs to take the lead. “I was proud of the girls for staying competitive and giving themselves a chance to win a tight ball game,” said South O’Brien coach Heather Struve. South O’Brien loaded the bases and scored a run on an Erin Brasser single. In the next at-bat, Sioux Center’s defense made the force out at home, and the throw to first place for the potential double play sailed over the first baseman’s head, allowing the Wolverines to take the late lead, 6-5. Carrigan Cleveringa led off the bottom of the inning with a single for the Warriors. She then stole second and third. After an out was recorded, Shalee Gesink hit a deep fly ball to cen-ter field, deep enough to score Cleveringa from third base to tie the game. In the top of the eighth inning, South O’Brien got one run off a Taylor Paulsen sacrifice fly that scored Erin Brasser from third, but the Wolverines still needed a few more. Sioux Center’s Jillian Estes singled, and Van Zee came as a courtesy runner. After a fielder’s choice that allowed Van Zee to advanced to second, Beaver ripped her single to score Van Zee. Beaver advanced on a fielder’s choice to second and eventually scored the game winner on a wild pitch. “We should’ve got this one,” Struve said. “We gave it to them with our costly errors when it mattered most.” Julia Erdman pitched threw the entire game for Sioux Center, surrendering nine hits and five earned runs. At the plate, Erdman had two hits and scored twice. Cleveringa had two hits and two runs. For South O’Brien, Paulsen saw all the action from the cen-ter circle, allowing seven hits and eight runs, none earned. Kendra Rolfson finished 3-for-3 with two RBIs and a run. Paulsen had two hits, two RBIs and a run. Erin Brasser regis-tered two hits and scored twice.

A-W 10, bHRV 1 Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley played Class 1A top-ranked Akron-Westfield tough for five innings before surrendering a seven-run sixth inning that pulled the Westerners away in a 10-1 decision. Each team traded one run apiece in the first inning. Akron-Westfield pulled ahead slowly with one run in the third and fourth innings before put-ting the game away in the sixth. “ We played a ver y solid Akron-Westfield team to a 3-1 game through five innings and then couldn’t make plays defensively,” said Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley coach Sara Fried-richsen. “If we tighten up our defense, we give ourselves a chance to win.” Joanna Heemstra pitched six innings, allowing three earned

runs off seven hits. She walked two and struck out four. Nicole Ewoldt and Monserrat Figueroa each went 2-for-3. Figueroa had a double and an RBI. Kensy Vande Hoef had a double.

Sioux Center 7, SC north 0 Fre s h m a n Me g a n C l e v -eringa threw an effective seven innings, and the offense put together enough timely hitting to gain a 7-0 win for Sioux Cen-ter against Sioux City North. This was the second game of the day for the Warriors. The Warrior defense shined, turning three double plays. “I think this was our best game defensively,” said Sioux Center coach Kari Schmalbeck. “We took their runners out of the game with our defense.” Sioux Center got one in the first and three in the third before capping off the contest with a four-run seventh inning. Carrigan Cleveringa did all she could to help her sister out with her performance at the plate. She ripped a three-run double in the seventh inning. “Our bats came alive there in the seventh, so that was good to see,” Schmalbeck said. “This was a big win for us because it really got the girls confidence up, and they were excited to keep playing.” Carrigan Cleveringa finished with two hits and four RBIs. Jillian Estes had a double and scored twice. Madison Beaver had a hit and two runs.

Spirit lake 11, bHRV 8 Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley’s C.J. Van Der Zwaag tossed eight solid innings with nine strike-outs, but the defense made too many costly errors in extra innings in a 11-8 loss to Spirit Lake. Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley got two in the second, one in the third, two in the fourth and one in the fifth. Spirit Lake got one in the first and five in the third. Tied 6-6 heading into the seventh inning, Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley and Spirit Lake traded runs to send the game into extra innings, where the international tie-breaker rule came into effect and allowed the last out of the previous inning start on second base. Spirit Lake got four runs in its half of the eighth. Boyden-

Hull/Rock Valley only could push one across in the bottom of the frame. “We had 11 hits in the game, and with the pitching numbers and offensive numbers like that, we should be the team that comes up with the vic-tory, but we were hurt by a large number of errors on defense,” said Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley coach Sara Friedrichsen. Ni c o l e Ew o l d t f i n i s h e d with three hits, three stolen bases and one run. Monserrat Figueroa had two hits and an RBI. Whitney Vander Maten had a two-run home run in the fourth inning, her only hit of the contest.

glRCl 11, SoS 2 George-Little Rock/Central Lyon had a steady flow of offense throughout an 11-2, six-inning win over South O’Brien. The hosts scored in every inning but one, and in that inning, the Mustangs left the bases loaded. “We had lots of base runners. It was a solid game for us,” said George-Little Rock/Central Lyon coach Jeff Jager. The Mustangs also had a solid day defensively. George-Little Rock/Central Lyon scored a run in the first, two in the second and three in the third to go up 6-0. Pitcher Abigail Eben had not allowed a base runner until South O’Brien scored twice in the fifth. George-Little Rock/Central Lyon then scored one in the fifth and four in the sixth before the game ended due to a time limit. “Abigail threw well again, and we played good defense behind her,” Jager said. “She struck out five of the first nine batters she faced, so that always helps.” Eben gave up four hits, walked one and struck out eight. Lexi Ackerman was 3-for-3 at the dish with a double, two RBIs and four stolen bases. Morgan Herda had a single, a double, three runs and two RBIs. Kelsey Ackerman had a single, a double and two RBIs. “They had good pitching, and we were not making contact with the ball really at all,” said South O’Brien coach Heather Struve. “For the most part, I think we are improving; the girls just have to realize that we can win.” South O’Brien’s Emily Riede-

mann threw six innings, allow-ing seven earned runs on eight hits. She walked 10 and struck out two. Kendra Rolfson and Riede-mann had each had one hit and one RBI for the Wolverines.

A-W 11, Sheldon 1 Class 1A top-ranked Akron-Westfield scored nine times in an error-plagued first inning by Sheldon and went on to win 11-1 in five frames. The Orabs walked two batters, hit one and committed five errors in the opening stanza. “That was not good. I think we just got shell-shocked with the pressure they put on us. They are very good,” said Sheldon coach Mike Niece. “They don’t make mistakes, and they force you into them.” Sheldon got a run back in the second, but the Westerners scored twice in the third. “Really, after the first inning, we played pretty well,” Niece said. “We hit the ball pretty well.” The Orabs gained some base runners but had trouble bringing them around. Shel-don’s seven hits came from seven different batters. Krista Bousema had a double. Audrey Gustafson singled and drove in a run. Allie Jongewaard got the start on the mound and gave up 11 runs in four innings, but only one was earned. She sur-rendered seven hits, walked four and struck out three. Sami Kleinwolterink was perfect in the final frame, striking out one.

S. Center 7, Ridge View 2 Sioux Center used its momen-tum gained from the previous two wins on the day and used a five-run second inning to cruise to a 7-2 win over Class 1A 14th-ranked Ridge View. Jillian Estes led off the bottom of the first inning with a solo home run — her first career

round-tripper. Sioux Center used three hits and took advantage of three errors by the Raptor defense in the five-run second inning. “Once we got that big lead the girls knew that they were going to win this game,” said Sioux Center coach Kari Schmalbeck. The Warriors got one more run in the sixth. Ridge View got both of its runs in the second. Only one was earned. Megan Cleveringa pitched the seven innings, allowing five hits and striking out four. Estes was the top hitter for Sioux Center, going 3-for-4 with a home run, a double, four RBIs and two runs.

glRCl 8, Ridge View 6 Class 1A 14th-ranked Ridge View appeared to be cruising through the final game on the George diamond, but George-Little Rock/Central Lyon had different ideas. The Mustangs scored all of their runs in a massive rally in the top of the seventh, coming back for an 8-6 win. The Raptors scored two runs in each of the first three innings and appeared to be motoring along in the contest. “Other than that last inning, we didn’t have much success,” said Mustangs coach Jeff Jager. “I can’t say we were making terrible contact, but we weren’t getting many base runners. In the first two innings our defense wasn’t great either, but we settled down after that.” Keely Kruse started the sev-enth inning with a single for the Mustangs. Later in the inning, she doubled in the tying and go-ahead runs. Mikayla Miller capped the scoring with an RBI double. George-Little Rock/Central Lyon had nine hits and two walks in the seventh inning. Kruse had two hits, two runs and two RBIs for the Mustangs. Miller and Taylor Carstensen

had RBI doubles. Kori Schulte had a two-run single. Jessica Hilbrands did the pitching. She gave up six runs, two earned, on six hits and four walks. She struck out two.

Sheldon 8, Spirit lake 7 Krista Bousema pounded a three-run homer during a four-run fourth inning, and Sheldon hung on to beat Spirit Lake 8-7 in its last game of the tourney. The Orabs were down 5-1 after two innings but got a run in the third and took the lead for good in the fourth. Sheldon notched a couple of insurance runs in the sixth. Bousema drew a one-out walk and was replaced on the bags by Caitlin Cain, who stole sec-ond. Katie Jongewaard hit a ball that looked like it was going to be extra bases, but it hit the umpire, and she had to hold with a single. Jessica Van Beek then hit an RBI single, and Allie Jongewaard drove in a run with a groundout. “Those were two huge runs for us, because in the bottom of the inning, it seemed like it was going to be one of those Mur-phy’s Law deals,” said Sheldon coach Mike Niece. “We had a couple of outs, and all of the sudden we caught a bad hop and misplayed a popup on a play that wasn’t an error, but we misplayed it. The kids dug deep and got the force out. That was a good win.” Mackenzie Radke had two hits and scored twice for the Orabs. Katie Jongewaard had two hits, a run and an RBI. Jes-sica Van Beek had two hits and drove in a run. Tori Meendering was 2-for-3. Besides the homer, Bousema drew two walks and scored twice during the con-test. Michelle Fischer had a double, a run and an RBI. Allie Jongewaard threw all six innings. She gave up seven hits, walked six and struck out three. The Orabs committed just one error in the field.

Reasons to smile for tournament hosts in last games

SOFTBALL STATE RANKINGS

Source: Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union

Class 3A 1. Solon 2. Mid-Prairie 3. WB/Burlington ND 4. Bondurant-Farrar 5. East Marshall 6. Crestwood 7. Center Point-Urbana 8. Estherville LC 9. Clarke 10. Iowa Falls-Alden 11. Monticello 12. MOC-Floyd Valley 13. Wilton 14. Humboldt 15. Ballard

Class 2A 1. NSK-AR 2. Durant 3. Iowa City Regina 4. Sumner-Fredericksburg 5. Des Moines Christian 6. Jesup 7. Van Meter 8. North Mahaska 9. Wayne 10. MV-A-O 11. Central Springs 12. Treynor 13. Emmetsburg 14. Madrid 15. BCLUW

Class 1A 1. Akron-Westfield 2. Earlham 3. Martensdale St. Mary’s 4. Newell-Fonda 5. Lisbon 6. Mason City Newman 7. Don Bosco 8. Charter Oak-Ute 9. Coon Rapids-Bayard 10. West Bend-Mallard 11. Sigourney 12. Lynnville-Sully 13. Clarksville 14. Remsen St. Mary’s 15. Remsen-Union

George-Little Rock/Central Lyon sophomore Jessica Sandbulte smiles after teammates in the dugout congratulate her on a catch against West Lyon on Wednesday in Larchwood. The Mustangs finished their tournament with two wins last Saturday. (Photo by Josh Harrell)

Sheldon sophomore hurler Allie Jongewaard lets go of a pitch in the opening inning of a game against Class 1A top-ranked Akron-Westfield last Saturday at the Sheldon/George-Little Rock/Central Lyon Tournament. She took the loss in that outing, but picked up a win later in the day against Spirit Lake. (Photo by Scott Byers)


SPORTS

Senior goes yardfour times on day ORANGE CITY—Tarah Hunt had a day to remember, crush-ing a pair of grand slam home runs to help the host Dutch win three times at the MOC-Floyd Valley Invitational softball tour-nament last Saturday. Hunt was smashing pitches all day for MOC-Floyd Valley. The senior left fielder went 6-for-12 at the plate with four home runs, 13 RBIs and six runs. Western Christian won twice at the tournament, while Trin-ity Christian got on the board with one victory.

MoC-fV 11, Trinity 2 MOC-Floyd Valley cranked out three straight two-out hits in the second inning, produc-ing five runs as the hosts gained a sizable cushion on the way to an 11-2 win over Trinity Chris-tian. The Tigers scored the game’s first run in the top of the first. Karina Heynen hit a double and was brought home by her sister, Kalista Heynen, with a double. MOC-Floyd Valley got two in the second on RBI singles by Tarah Hunt and Brook Jacob-sma. Trinity Christian got one more in the second to even it up again. Jessica Kooima hit a single and eventually crossed home plate on wild pitches and passed balls. “It was fun to hit the ball well against a good team like MOC-Floyd Valley,” said Trinity Chris-tian coach Kassandra Heynen. “We left eight on base, which was a good sign because of our recent struggles at the plate.” The Dutch then started roll-ing. A two-run single by Lauren McDonald, followed by a two-run double by Bri Vander Ploeg and an RBI single by Amanda Edwards put the hosts up 7-2. MOC-Floyd Valley added two runs in the third and two more in the fourth. “This was a great way to start the day for us,” said MOC-Floyd Valley coach Jade Niemyer. “The girls were disciplined at the plate and stayed off pitches that were not strikes. Defen-sively, we played a pretty solid game.” Caitlyn Van Es had two hits, three runs and one RBI for the Dutch. Jacobsma had two hits, two RBIs and a run. Edwards had two hits and one RBI. Emily McDonald pitched the first four innings and got the win. Larkin De Haan faced the minimum in two innings of relief work. Kayla Kooima pitched the five innings and surrendered 10 hits and seven earned runs. Kalista and Karina Heynen each had two hits for Trinity Christian.

Western 6, Unity 0 Western Christian played as about as good defense as a team can play in its 6-0 win over rival Unity Christian as part of the MOC-Floyd Valley tournament. The Wolfpack’s Jasmine Vander Zwaag was nearly flaw-less from the center circle, sur-rendering only three hits and striking out six. “We played a great game defensively,” said Western Christian coach Travis Kooima. “We made all the routine plays look easy, and Jasmine did a great job throwing strikes and mixing up her pitches.” In the third, Western Chris-tian’s Kenzie Bousema reached on an error and allowed Abby Pollema and Alissa Pollema to tap home plate. After adding one more run in the fourth with an Abby Veld-man two-out single that scored Elissa Jansma, the Wolfpack secured two more runs in the fifth. Jasmine Vander Zwaag led off with a triple, and Bousema knocked her in with a single. Bousema stole second and third and eventually was allowed to cross home plate on a single by Tairin Van Tol. “It took us a few innings to get the bats going, but once we got comfortable at the plate, we really did a good job swing-ing at strikes and just getting a few runs in a lot of innings,” Kooima said. For the Knights, Brianna Kroeze, Erica Noteboom and Chantelle De Haan had the three hits. “We had a great start to the game,” said Unity Christian coach Shirley Kaemingk. “We let down and had a couple errors to let them score a few runs. Our hits didn’t find the gaps this game, and we left too many on base.” Bousema finished with one hit, two RBIs, one run and three stolen bases. Vander Zwaag and Jansma each had one hit and one run. Abby Veldman had an RBI. Heather Kaemingk threw all six innings for Unity Christian. She allowed seven hits, three earned runs and struck out five.

MoC-fV 17, Western 9 We s t e r n C h r i s t i a n h a d MOC-Floyd Valley right where it wanted it until the Dutch unleashed a torrent of runs in the final two innings of a 17-9 victory. Western Christian scored two runs in the first and four runs in the second to hold a 6-3 lead early in the contest. Tacking on to that lead with two runs in the fourth, things were looking good for the Wolf-pack. “This was a momentum game for both teams,” said Western Christian coach Travis Kooima. “We grabbed the momentum early and had a good lead, but MOC-Floyd Valley really hits

the ball well, and we had a lot of mental errors and fundamental mistakes that gave them extra outs, and when you give teams extra outs, it is going to hurt you, and it did.” M O C - Fl oyd Va l l e y t h e n scored eight times in the fifth inning. Sam Wielenga started it with a single, and Tarah Hunt followed with a two-run homer. The Dutch had four more hits in the frame but also took advantage of several Wolfpack errors. The Dutch then got the flow started again in the top of the sixth, scoring six times. Hunt capped the scoring with her second round-tripper of the contest, this one a grand slam. “This was a great comeback for us against a quality oppo-nent. Western Christian has a real athletic team,” Niemyer said. “I was real proud of the way we were focused and really bared down at the plate after getting down early. I thought even our outs were tough outs.” The Wolfpack got one run back in the top of the sixth, but nothing more the rest of the way. “Our youth again showed in the field, and they put some pressure on us, and we just didn’t make the plays we need-ed to enabling us to get outs. We are getting better, though, and we will hopefully learn from the mistakes and try not to make them again,” Kooima said. Hunt had a monster game, going 3-for-5 with the two homers, six RBIs and two runs. Caitlyn Van Es had two hits, three runs and one RBI. Rachel Reints had a single, a double, two runs and two RBIs. Bri Vander Ploeg had two hits, two runs and one RBI. Emily McDonald pitched the first four innings. Larkin De Haan got the win. She gave up one run on two hits in two innings. She struck out one. Jasmine Vander Zwaag went the distance for Western Chris-tian at the rubber, giving up nine earned runs off 12 hits. She also was 2-for-4 at the plate with three RBIs and three runs. Abby Pollema went 3-for-3 with four runs and three stolen

bases. Kenzie Bousema didn’t have a hit, but still managed to tally five RBIs.

Trinity 9, Unity 8 Trinity Christian’s Jessica Kooima plated the game-win-ning run in the bottom of the seventh to give the team its first win of the year — a 9-8 decision over Unity Christian as part of the MOC-Floyd Valley tourna-ment last Saturday. “It was a fun game and a hard-earned victory for the girls,” said Trinity Christian coach Kassandra Heynen. “It was fun for the girls to experience the win.” A six-run third inning pro-vided the Knights with, at the time, a comfortable 6-1 lead. Jenna Zevenbergen and Chantelle De Haan both had two-run singles in the inning. “It was a good game,” said Unity Christian coach Shirley Kaemingk. “Our girls played tough. We let down defensively to let them get back into the game.” Trinity Christian got three runs in the third to make the contest a 6-4 affair. The Knights got one more run in the fourth, but Trinity Chris-tian exploded for four runs in its half of the fourth to pull ahead 8-7. “We finally strung some hits together, and that led to a great inning for us,” Heynen said. In the sixth inning, Unity Christian’s Zevenbergen came up with a clutch double that scored Erica Noteboom to tie the game 8-8. Trinity Christian then plated the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh to earn the win. Chantelle De Haan pitched all seven innings for the Knights. She gave up 11 hits and four earned runs and struck out four batters. Zevenbergen led all Knights batters with two hits and three RBIs. Erica Noteboom had two hits, two runs and an RBI. De Haan tallied one RBI. Kal ista Heynen pitched seven effective innings for Trin-ity Christian. She walked three and struck out 11. Louise Van Maanen and

Kooima had three hits each. Van Maanen accounted for two RBIs.

Western 9, Trinity 8 Down 8-3 heading into its last chance to tie the game, Western Christian answered the call and scored five runs to send the contest into extras, eventually winning 9-8 with the go-ahead run in the eighth inning. Jasmine Vander Zwaag started the dramatics in the seventh with a single. Kenzie Bousema singled to score Vander Zwaag on throwing errors made by the Trinity Christian defense. Bousema scored when Sum-mer Jansen reached on an error. Jansen eventually scored on a passed ball. Elissa Jansma and Abby Pollema each drew walks, and Abby Veldman capped off the inning with a two-run single. “This was a fun game to end the tournament; we really didn’t hit the ball well until a sense of urgency set in during the later innings, and we were able to put a rally together,” said Western Christian coach Travis Kooima. After shutting down Trinity Christian in the bottom of the seventh, Vander Zwaag was placed on second to start the inning because of the extra-inning rule and advanced to third on a passed ball. Bousema drove her in on an infield grounder to the third baseman for the go-ahead run. “Being up by five runs and losing it was frustrating, and I could tell it got to the girls, but it was good because we’ll build from this,” said Trinity Chris-tian coach Kassandra Heynen. Summer Jansen threw her first varsity game from the cen-ter circle and did so valiantly. She threw all eight innings, giv-ing up five earned runs off six hits. She walked five and struck out six. She also helped out her own cause from the plate, hit-ting a double and scoring twice. “Summer threw a very sound game for her first appearance in a varsity game in her career,” Kooima said. “She threw strikes for the most part and kept us in the game to get the win late.” Bousema finished with two

hits, four RBIs and a run. Vander Zwaag had two hits and three runs. Abby Veldman had three RBIs and a stolen base. Rebecca Gritters and Karina Heynen each had three hits for Trinity Christian. Kayla Kooima pitched the first six innings and struck out sev-en. Kalista Heynen came in on relief and pitched one inning.

MoC-fV 12, Unity 0 The offense just kept coming for the hosts as MOC-Floyd Valley scored in double digits again, ending a 12-0 win over Unity Christian after four innings. “This was a great day of soft-ball for our team. We made some nice defensive plays and hit the ball real well in all three games,” said MOC-Floyd Val-ley coach Jade Niemyer. “We have to shore some things up defensively, but we are getting there. I trust we will be a very solid defensive team by the end of the season. We just need to work together, communicate and get some quality practice reps as a team.” The Dutch got a run in the first and three more in the third. MOC-Floyd Valley then bom-barded the Knights with eight runs in the fourth. The inning was capped by the second grand slam of the day by Tarah Hunt. Unity Christian was just ready for the day to be over. “It was a long day, and we had a long break,” said Unity Chris-tian coach Shirley Kaemingk. “MOC-Floyd Valley is a good team that hits the ball well.” Hunt was 2-for-3 with two home runs and six RBIs. Caitlyn Van Es had two hits, two runs and one RBI. Erica Johnson doubled, scored twice and drove in a run. Sam Wielenga had a hit and an RBI. Larkin De Haan did the pitching. She gave up just one hit and one walk in four innings, striking out three. Heather Kaemingk pitched the first three innings, allowing eight runs, seven earned, off four hits. Jenna Zevenbergen had one hit and drew a walk for Unity.

Long trip wears onPioneers near end


HUXLEY—Okoboji started its day in fine fashion but quickly lost its spark on the second day of the Ballard Festival softball tournament last Saturday. The Pioneers earned a split last Saturday after losing in Fri-day’s 8-1 first-round matchup against Boone.

okoboji 4, bClUW 3 O k o b o j i c o a c h D e n n i s Baschke got a pleasant surprise in the Pioneers’ first consola-tion game as his squad upset Class 2A 11th-ranked BCLUW of Conrad 4-3. “After it kind of all fell in on us Friday against Boone, I thought it was going to be a long week-end,” Baschke said. “The girls came out Saturday morning and played an outstanding game. It was one of our better games of the year so far.” The Pioneers trailed 1-0

before scoring twice in the fourth inning. Each team scored two runs in the sixth stanza. “We did all right on defense, and Mikkinzie Peschong threw well,” Baschke said. “Everybody contributed in that one.” Peschong allowed seven hits, walked none and struck out five in the outing. Sydney Boeckholt was 2-for-2 at the plate for Okoboji. Kiley Wermersen had a hit, two runs and one RBI. Peschong doubled and scored

a run. Cheyanne Kopera was 1-for-2 with an RBI. Abby Taylor had a hit and scored a run.

Woodbury 12, okoboji 3 As well as Saturday’s first game went, the opposite was true in Okoboji’s game for fifth place, a 12-3 loss to Woodbury Central. “That team has a lot of speed,” Baschke said. “They came out and controlled the tempo of that one.” Woodbury Central scored

twice in the first inning. Oko-boji scored two in the second stanza to tie the game. The Wildcats then broke it open with three in the third and three more in the fourth. “We made a few errors, and they had a couple of good hits. I think our girls were just ready to go home,” Baschke said. The Wildcats added three in the sixth stanza and one in the seventh inning. Okoboji got one run in the bottom of the seventh. “We couldn’t shut them down,

and we weren’t able to do a lot against them offensively,” Baschke said. Savannah Heithus pitched the first four innings, allowing eight runs, four earned. Peschong threw the final three frames. Abby Taylor had a single, a double and an RBI for the Pio-neers. Sydney Boekholt had two hits and scored a run. Maddie Bates was 1-for-1 with two runs. Olivia Rohlk and Clare Eckard both had one hit and one RBI.

Spartans struggleat start of games CARROLL —Spalding Catholic dropped a pair of contests at the CYO Softball Tournament last Saturday in Carroll. Although the scoreboard did not indicate it, Spalding Catho-lic coach Kami Kuhlmann said her unit picked up some valu-able experience and examples of how some veteran teams play the game.

St. edmond 8, Spalding 3 Spalding Catholic struggled defensively against Fort Dodge St. Edmond in an 8-3 loss in the Catholic Youth Organization tournament. The Spartans committed six errors that resulted in four of the Gaels’ eight runs. “We just were not ready to play,” said Spalding Catholic coach Kami Kuhlmann. “It took us too long to settle in and start playing the way we are capable of playing.”

After Fort Dodge St. Edmond got one in the second, Spalding Catholic put together a scoring round, tallying all three of its runs in the top of the third. The Gaels responded with a three-run inning of its own, fol-lowed by a four-run fifth inning to seal the win. Paris Schnepf threw six innings, allowing eight runs, four earned, off eight hits. She walked two and struck out three. Becca Feller, Alex Willman,

Sarah Konz and Madison Potte-baum all had one hit. Fellar had two RBIs. Konz and Pottebaum each scored once. “The girls faced a pretty good pitcher. I mean, I didn’t think she was great, but we see pitch-ers like that quite a bit, and we’ve had success,” Kuhlmann said.

RSM 13, Spalding 3 Remsen St. Mary’s scored eight runs in the first and never looked back in a 13-3

four-inning win over Spalding Catholic. The Hawks added two in the second and three in the third. Spalding Catholic was able to generate some offense along the way, picking up one in the first, second and fourth innings. “I think the girls were pretty bummed to play them (Rem-sen St. Mary’s) again,” said Spalding Catholic coach Kami Kuhlmann, referring to Spar-tans 9-1 loss on Friday night.

“The girls responded well to Remsen St. Mary’s big first inning, they stayed competi-tive, and we’ll continue to get better with these tough games.” Sarah Konz, who had been struggling as of late, went 2-for-2 with two stolen bases and an RBI. Maggie Schroeder had a hit and an RBI. Paris Schnepf hit a triple. Madison Pottebaum allowed five hits and three earned runs. She walked four and struck out four in four innings of work.

SATURDAY SofTbAll AT CYo

SATURDAY SofTbAll AT bAllARD

SATURDAY SofTbAll AT oRAnge CiTY

Spalding Catholic springs leaks defensively at tournament

Okoboji takes down ranked foe in second round of event

Hunt slams foes for host Dutch

Unity Christian junior Chantelle De Haan cruises toward home during a 12-6 win over Hinton on Tuesday. The Knights dropped three contests at the MOC-Floyd Valley Invitational last Saturday. (Photo by Scott Byers)


SPORTS

Hatting powersoffensive attack


SHELDON—The home team displayed a potent offense but settled for a split of two games at the Sheldon Invitational baseball tourna-ment last Saturday. Senior Cody Hatting went 6-for-7 with two home runs and two doubles to help power that offensive produc-tion for the Orabs. “Cody had quite a day,” said Sheldon coach Brad Zeuten-horst. The Orabs gave up the big inning late in a 12-6 loss to a Sergeant Bluff-Luton squad that entered the Class 3A rankings at fifth when the new poll came out Monday. Sheldon recovered for a dra-matic 9-8, eight-inning win over Spirit Lake in its second contest. Sergeant Bluff-Luton defeated Spirit Lake 9-3 in their meeting.

Sb-l 12, Sheldon 6 Sheldon hung in against Sergeant Bluff-Luton until the Warriors scored seven times in the sixth inning of a 12-6 decision. O r a b s t a r t i n g p i t c h e r Mitchell Jensen was betrayed by the defense in the early innings, and that led to more trouble late. Jensen pitched

five innings and gave up five runs, but none of them were earned. He walked none and struck out four. “Mitchell’s pitch count got a little high, partially due to the miscues. With four con-ference games coming this week, we wanted to keep it down, so we had to pull him a little sooner than we would have liked,” Zeutenhorst said. “In the sixth inning, they hit the ball pretty well.” The Orabs trailed 1-0 after one inning, but Hatting hit a two-run homer in the third to give Sheldon the lead. Sergeant Bluff-Luton scored three times in the fourth. The Orabs got one back in the bottom of the inning on a solo homer by Graden Nor-dahl. The Warriors got one more in the fifth before their big sixth inning. Sheldon added three runs in the seventh, one coming on another Hatting round-tripper. “ We pretty much gave them those first five runs,” Zeutenhorst said. “We put some runs on the board in the seventh, but it was too little, too late. We still struck out too much, but we did hit three home runs and two doubles in the game, so that was good.” Hatting was 3-for-3 with the two homers, one double and four RBIs. Trevor Johnson had a hit and an RBI. Brandon Frick, Chad Den Hartog and

Grant Weaver each had one hit. Frick took the mound in the sixth and lasted two-thirds of an inning. Joe Kuiper gave up only one hit over the final inning and one-third.

Sheldon 9, Spirit lake 8 S h e l d o n l e t t h e l e a d slip away, then needed a rally in the extra frame to outlast Spirit Lake 9-8 in eight innings. The game was tied 1-1 after one. Spirit Lake was up 3-2 after three and scored anoth-er run in the top of the fourth. Sheldon then started to connect in the bottom of that inning, scoring five times in its half of the fourth. Frick had a key two-run double, Jensen had an RBI single and Jake Rosburg earned an RBI with a squeeze bunt during that outburst. “We executed well in that inning as far as moving guys around,” Zeutenhorst said.

Relief pitcher Logan Otis got himself in trouble at times, but more often than not was able to get out of it with minimal damage. Hatting threw the first three innings and gave up three runs on three hits and three walks. He struck out one. Otis threw the next three, allowing one hit, walking seven and striking out two. “Other than the walks, Logan, for a sophomore, threw really well. They didn’t hit him hard at all,” Zeuten-horst said. Spirit Lake scored one in the fifth, then tied it with two in the seventh. The Indians scored one run in the eighth before Brennan Vote, the fifth Sheldon hurler of the contest, came in to sit the next three batters down in order. Jensen started the eighth-inning push for Sheldon with a single. Rosburg then drew a walk. Hatting followed with an RBI double to tie the

game. Frick loaded the bases by coaxing a walk; then John-son hit the game-winning single. “I really liked how after losing that first one and not playing particularly well, the guys did a nice job coming back,” Zeutenhorst said. “Even when we were down in the second game, the guys responded well.” Johnson had three hits and drove in three runs for Shel-don in the contest. Hatting was 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Weaver went 3-for-3. “We played a little better defensively, and our bats were pretty lively up and down the order. We did a bet-ter job of being disciplined at the plate and executing with runners on,” Zeutenhorst said. “In the eighth inning, we had some really good at-bats where we really worked the count.” Seven of the nine Orab start-ers had hits.

Warriors hang on inbattle for third place


STORM LAKE—Andrew O’Donnell made a diving catch in center field to end the game as Sioux Center hung on for a consolation contest win over East Sac County at the Storm Lake Invitational last Saturday. The Warriors had opened the base-ball tournament with a loss to host Storm Lake.

Storm lake 13, Sioux Center 3 Storm Lake was impressive with the sticks in its hands, connecting for 14 hits in a 13-3 five-inning win over Sioux Center in the opening round. “You have to give those guys credit. They hit the ball as hard as anyone we’ve seen,” said Sioux Center coach

Ryan Bomgaars. “They are tough 1 through 9 in the order.” The Tornadoes scored at least one run in every inning. Sioux Center got a run in the second, one in the third and one in the fifth. “Our guys had some really good at-bats, too. We had one situation where Kamden Glade hit one with the bases loaded that looked like it was going to clear them, but the wind blew it just foul. Then they came up in their half of the inning and had one just like it that landed fair by about a foot,” Bomgaars said. “We did a lot of good things in that game. We were just on the bad end of a few breaks, and Storm Lake really hit the ball hard.” Glade had a double and scored a run for the Warriors. Ty Brink had a hit and an RBI. Christian Rozeboom also hit a double. Kyle Heemstra pitched three and two-thirds innings and took the loss. Zach Regnerus finished up on the hill.

Sioux Center 10, east Sac 8 Sioux Center did most of its work in two big bursts offensively and did just enough to maintain the upper hand in a 10-8 win over East Sac County. The consolation game was short-ened to six innings due to a time limit. Sioux Center scored four runs in the opening inning. The Warriors’ lead was down to 5-4 after four frames, and the game was tied 5-5 going into the top of the sixth. Sioux Center then exploded again, scoring five runs. “I was really pleased. It was one of the better hitting efforts we’ve had. Even our outs were hit hard,” said Sioux Center coach Ryan Bomgaars. “It’s been a few years since we’ve won a game in this tournament. There are always tough teams here.” The blast of offense turned out to be just enough. East Sac County had three runs home and another in scoring position

when Andrew O’Donnell made the big play defensively. “He went full extension on a diving catch to end it. That probably would have been a double and for sure would have gave them another run,” Bomgaars said. “That is a huge play by a young kid who got his opportu-nity filling in during the tournament.” Ty Brink and Christian Rozeboom each had two hits, two runs and an RBI for the Warriors. Rozeboom hit a triple. Reed Koedam and Kyle Heemstra both were 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI. Trev Pieper doubled and drove in three runs. Koedam pitched the first three and two-thirds innings for the Warriors. He gave up two hits, walked six and struck out none. Zach Regnerus got the win, allowing five hits and one walk in two and two-thirds innings. He struck out two.

Hawks make most outof men on base paths EVERLY—Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn left little doubt on its way to the championship of the Clay Central-Everly Baseball Tournament last Saturday, leaving a pair of opposing pitching staffs battered and bruised. The Hawks scored 25 runs in two games to win the event. “It was nice to get the win,” said Hawks coach Scott Metzler. “I don’t think Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn has been too successful at this tourna-ment in the past.” Okoboji rebounded from an open-ing loss to win the consolation game.

H-M-S 14, CC-e 4 The bats got started early for Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn and never stopped ringing out hits in a 14-4, five-inning win over the tournament hosts in the first round. The Hawks scored four times in the opening inning. The Mavericks scored twice in the bottom of the first. Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn got those two back in the second, then broke it open with a seven-run third. Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn scored once in the top of the fifth. The Mav-ericks got two in the bottom of that inning. “Everybody had a hit in that game. Getting four runs right away in the first inning isn’t too bad. It was a nice way to start,” said Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn coach Scott Metzler. The Hawks stole nine bases in the contest. “We were able to move some run-

ners. That’s the way we like to play,” Metzler said. Brett Flynn went 3-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs in the contest. Evan Metzler was 2-for-3 with a dou-ble and three RBIs. Travis Enger had a single, a double and a run. Heath Nagel had two hits, a run and an RBI. Casey Dorhout got the pitching win, going four innings. He allowed four hits, walked one and struck out four. Ryan Flynn threw the final frame.

g-T 11, okoboji 8 Okoboji was productive on offense, but not productive enough to keep up with Graettinger-Terril in an 11-8 first round loss. The Pioneers put runs on the board in five different innings, but a four-run fourth inning and five-run sixth inning by Graettinger/Terril was too much to overcome. “The game was at 10 A.M. and it just didn’t seem like we showed up to play,” head coach Rory Marra said. “We got down too far and we couldn’t catch up. There were opportunities for more runs, but we couldn’t get the big hits.” Okoboji had 12 hits in the game and had four players with multiple hits. Alex Koepp was the standout Pioneer going 3-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored. Zach Jones went 2-for-4 with a couple RBIs and two runs scored. James Halbur added two hits and an RBI. Dalton Syverson also col-lected two hits and two RBIs. Marra felt that his team was out-hit in the game and that their offense could have done a lot more. “They just hit the ball really well,” he said. “We’ve been struggling to

string hits together. It seems like we only get one hit an inning. We need to go out and make things happen. But we fought in there until the end and didn’t quit. It just didn’t happen.” James Halbur took the loss on the mound for the Pioneers. He threw all seven innings and struck out 10 bat-ters.

okoboji 10, CC-e 1 Okoboji turned things around in their second game of the Clay Central-Everly tournament in a 10-1 victory over the host team. The Pioneers only recorded six hits and scored all of their runs in the fifth and sixth innings of the consola-tion game, but a dominant pitching performance from Weston Burgeson stood out in the blowout. Burgeson struck out 13 batters in seven innings and only allowed four hits and one walk. The only run scored was an unearned one in the first inning. “Weston did a nice job after the first inning,” head coach Rory Marra said. “He found his rhythm and kept his pitch count down. He kept the other hitters off balance all game.” Okoboji had more walks than hits in the game. Alex Koepp went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Keaton Jones drove in three runs with one hit in three at-bats. Zach Jones drove a run in while scoring one himself in a 1-for-3 performance. Ben DeMuth also went 2-for-2 with two runs scored. Marra said he would have liked more hits from his offense. “We’re inconsistent at the plate,” He said. “We have to hit better. there were too many strikeouts looking.

We forced the pitcher to throw a lot of pitches. Because of that we got a lot of walks in the last couple of innings. But there are still things we need to work on.”

H-M-S 11, g-T 2 Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn displayed great patience and again caused chaos with aggressive base running in thumping Graettinger-Terril 11-2 in the championship game. Each team had four hits in the game and Graettinger-Terril had the most impressive looking one, a long home run in the fifth inning. However, that shot made little differ-ence in the big picture. Hartley-Mel-vin-Sanborn scored a run in the first, five in the fourth, four in the sixth and one in the seventh. The Hawks drew eight walks in the contest. “We scattered some hits in there, but there were a lot of passed balls and walks. We had a few sacrifices in there. It was really our base running and their walks that killed them,” said Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn coach Scott Metzler. “It was one of those games where you are at the end of a long week and don’t have many pitchers left. When you get into that situation, the key is to just throw strikes and try to field it. You just want to stay out of trouble. The Hawks did just that. Brett Flynn gave up three hits, walked two and struck out six in five innings. Ryan Flynn threw two frames and gave up one hit, walked none and struck out two. Matt Queck had a hit, two walks and two RBIs for the Hawks. Casey Dorhout doubled and scored a run.

Rematch does not go aswell for Spalding boys

b y J o R d a n H a R m e l i n kS t a ff W ri t e r

CARROLL—After ousting War Eagle Conference rival Remsen St. Mary’s in walk-off fashion Friday night, Spald-ing Catholic dropped two of three contests, including a rematch with the Hawks, as part of the CYO Baseball Tournament last Saturday in Carroll.

Algona garrigan 9, Spalding 2 Spalding Catholic’s defense strug-gled to slow the bats that Class 1A 10th-ranked Algona Garrigan brought with them in a 9-2 loss. The Spartans got one run in the first inning off a Jarod Steffes single that scored Tanner Christoffel. Algona Gar-rigan responded with two in the sec-ond stanza to take the early 2-1 lead. A Michael Grady RBI single tied it up in the third at 2-2, but the Golden Bears went on to score one in the third, four in the fourth and two in the sixth. “Garrigan is a very good team,” said Spalding Catholic co-coach Dave Hey-ing. Cody Sunkten started on the hill for the Spartans and went five and two-thirds innings, allowing nine earned runs on nine hits. “Cody threw well but ran into some trouble with some fielding mistakes from the mound,” Heying said. “We have confidence in Cody to be one of our top pitchers the remainder of the season.” Thomas Stoll surrendered two hits in relief. Steffes finished with two hits and an RBI. Austin Schmit, Tommy Stoll and Grady each tallied one hit.

Spalding 16, Sl St. Mary’s 5 A pair of four-run innings to start the game propelled Spalding Catholic over Storm Lake St. Mary’s 16-5 in the Spartans’ second game of the tourna-ment. Back-to-back doubles from Michael Grady and Brady Heying sparked the hitting for Spalding Catholic in the first inning. “Our guys are more confident and starting to swing the bats as they are being more aggressive at the plate,” said Spartan co-coach Dave Heying. A Tyler Konz RBI triple, another Brady Heying double and a Tanner Christoffel double was evidence of Spalding Catholic’s aggressiveness at the plate displayed in the second inning. Storm Lake St. Mary’s got on the board with two in the second, one in the third and two in the fourth. The Spartans added one in the sixth and three in the seventh to round out its scoring. Erik Willman tossed the first three innings, allowing five runs, none earned, on three hits. He struck out three. Tyler Konz threw four innings of shutout ball, allowing only one hit and striking out six. “We struggled a little defensively but had some situations to learn from,” coach Heying said. “Erik needed a little more defensive support, but Tyler came in and did an excellent job in relief.” Heying finished with two hits, both doubles, and two RBIs. Konz smoked a triple and tallied three RBIs. Grady and Christoffel had a double and an RBI.

Rem. St. Mary’s 8, Spalding 6 There is an old saying that it’s hard to beat a rival twice. That was the case in a rematch between Spalding Catho-lic and Remsen St. Mary’s who had played the previous night. The Hawks outlasted the Spartans for an 8-6 win. Remsen St. Mary’s got two runs in the first. RBI singles from Lucas Hunt and Erik Willman sparked a three-run second inning for Spalding Catholic. After the Hawks put up three addi-tional runs in the bottom half of the second inning to make it 4-3, Spalding Catholic got three in the top of the fourth. Willman led off with a double and came across home on a Tommy Stoll single. Austin Schmit smacked a triple to score Stoll, and Schmitt tapped home plate on a Michael Grady single. The Spartans threatened to score again in the seventh with the bases loaded but could not plate any runs. “Overall, we played a good game,” said Spalding Catholic co-coach Dave Heying. “Our offense carried over from the Storm Lake St. Mary’s game, and our defense improved.” Jarod Steffes got the start on the hill and pitched three innings, surrender-ing six runs off eight hits. Ryan Stoll came in as relief. “Ryan Stoll did a solid job in relief,” Heying said. “Those guys will have a lot of baseball ahead of them. It was a good weekend of baseball.”

SATURDAY bASebAll AT CYo SATURDAY bASebAll AT SHelDon

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SATURDAY bASebAll AT CC-e

SATURDAY bASebAll AT SToRM lAke

Sheldon senior Cody Hatting takes a lead off first in the opening stanza of a 9-8 eight-inning win victory Spirit Lake in the Sheldon Invitational last Saturday. He powered the Orabs all day, going 6-for-7 at the plate with two home runs and two doubles in the two games. (Photo by Scott Byers)

RV 06-09-12

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