HARLAN – Atlantic’s baseball team still has a chance to assure itself a 10-win season.

In what’s been a turnaround year for the Trojans, the team has the chance to secure the double-digit win mark with Friday’s Iowa Class 3A substate opener vs. Harlan.

The game is at JJ Jensen Sports Complex in Harlan, with a 7 p.m. start time. (Note: Due to the weather, this start time may be adjusted.)

The Trojans finished a 6-14 year in the Hawkeye Ten, and that includes a sweep of Shenandoah, and splits with Carroll Kuemper Catholic, Clarinda, Council Bluffs St. Albert, Red Oak. The Trojans were 3-1 against non-conference competition, including victories over Mount Pleasant, Panorama and Griswold.

Offensive production at the plate has improved, with the team averaging .262 at the plate, up appreciatively from .177 a year ago and when none of the regular starters were above .300. This year, Kale Jensen is .444 with an on-base percentage of .571, and Gavin McLaren is at .377 at the plate and .522 on-base. Three others – Sawyer Tarrell, Hudson McLaren and Kalvin Hayes – have .400 or better on-base percentages.

Jensen, a transfer student to Atlantic, has been a big boost for the Trojans on all sides of the ball. At the plate, he has a team-best 32 hits, 19 of them for extra bases including four home runs, the most out of anybody in several years. His doubles alone are just one short of the team’s total extra-base output from a year ago, and Jensen’s 26 RBIs and 18 drawn walks are also team highs. Gavin McLaren has 26 base hits, including nine for extra bases, and 21 RBIs.

The Trojans are much more aggressive this year on the basepaths, with 61 stolen bases in 71 attempts, and that’s 20 more thefts than a year ago. Jensen has 10, while Tarrell has nine and Hudson McLaren seven. The team has just 30 errors for a 95.6% success rate.

Jack Muller (1-3) is statistically the best pitcher, with a 1.73 ERA in 36-1/3 innings, with 34 strikeouts against 27 walks. Hudson McLaren (3-3) has a 6.00 ERA with 32 strikeouts against 14 walks in 25-2/3 innings, while Keston Schmitt (1-3) has a 6.56 ERA, with 17 strikeouts against 13 walks in 21-1/3 innings.

Harlan comes into the game with a 23-10 record has two wins over the Trojans this year en route to a Hawkeye Ten runner-up finish at 18-2, including 11-8 and 4-3 wins over the Trojans. Non-conference wins include Emmetsburg, LeMars, Sioux City North and Sioux City Heelan.

Hayden Soma is the offensive leader for the Cyclones. He has a batting average of .406 with an on-base percentge of .515, and has 41 hit, 13 for extra bases including five home runs, and 38 RBIs. Cade Nelson (.378, 37 hits including five doubles, 26 RBI) and Colton Schneider (.368, 39 hits including 15 extra base hits, 35 RBI) also have had strong seasons at the plate.

The Cyclones are successful on the basepaths, with 81 steal attempts successful out of 83. Landen Kaufman is 16-for-16, while Brett Heese (14 steals for 100%), Foxx Argotsinger (12-for-13) and Cade Nelson (perfect in 11 tries) are also ones to watch. The team has 65 errors for a 93.2% success rate.

Top options on the mound for the Cyclones include Weston Reisz (2-3, 1.60 ERA, with 39 strikeouts against 23 walks in 35 innings of work) Gavin Eck (6-2, 1.89 ERA, 22 strikeouts against 19 walks in 40-2/3 innings), Gavin Sisson (5-0, 3.20 ERA, 24 strikeouts against 22 walks in 30-2/3 innings) and Jonas Reynolds (3-4, 3.24 ERA, 31 strikeouts vs. 11 walks in 41 innings).

COMING UP

Friday is the day when all Class 3A and 4A teams begin their post-season, and Substate 1 is one of them. Semifinals are set for Monday, July 14, and the substate championship is Wednesday, July 16, on the home field of the top remaining-seeded team

The Atlantic-Harlan winner will face either Creston (16-16) or Clarke of Osceola (10-22) in the semifinal.

The top seed in the substate is Sioux City Heelan (26-10), and they’ll face Greene County (7-14). Denison-Schleswig (16-13) hosts Glenwood (11-20) in the other substate quarterfinal. The two winners will meet on Monday.

The state tournament is Monday through Friday, July 21-25 at Lewis & Clark Park, Sioux City. This is the only year where the state tournament will be in Sioux City, with the event moving back to Cedar Rapids’ Veterans Memorial Stadium in 2026.