The second-seeded Harlan Cyclones took care of business Tuesday night at Principal Park, rolling over the seventh-seeded Oskaloosa Indians 6-0 in the final Class 3A state quarterfinal game.

The Cyclones needed just seven hits, as Indian pitchers waked or hit eight Harlan batters in the contest.

Harlan starter Brett Sears finished the night with an impressive line in his 5 2/3 innings of work. He allowed just three hits and struck out two batters while walking three. He didn’t allow a hit until the fifth inning in the victory.

Oskaloosa starter Rian Yates only went 1 1/3 innings before being taken out of the game. He allowed five runs on five hits in one inning and hit two opposing batters in the loss.

The Cyclones wasted no time asserting their dominance, putting up three runs in the first inning. Dillon Sears got things started for Harlan, singling and stealing second base. Ryan Doran knocked him in with an RBI single. Josh Cheek followed it up with a double, putting Harlan runners at second and third. Another run scored on a passed ball, and a third tally crossed home plate via a single from Sears.

Harlan’s successful first inning rolled over into the second. Yates hit the first two Harlan batters and was pulled from the game in favor of Nick Harrington. The Cyclones capitalized, and Doran was right in the middle of it again. With the bases loaded and nobody out, Doran cleared the bases by blasting a double off the right-center field wall, giving Harlan a 6-0 advantage — a score that held up for the last five innings.

It took until the fifth inning, but Tyler Miller picked up the first hit for the Indians, dumping a single into left field. But, like the four previous innings, Oskaloosa hardly threatened to score.

The bats in general went quiet. Miller’s hit was just one of two knocks between both teams in the third, fourth, and fifth innings.

Oskaloosa broke the lull with two hits in the sixth inning, but it couldn’t plate a run and break the goose egg after Sears, who moved to second base for Harlan, started and completed a double play to end the inning and the Indians’ best chance in the game to rally.

Before this season, unranked Oskaloosa (28-14) had only made it to the state tournament one other time, in 1998, when it fell in its first game. The Indians came to Des Moines winning six-straight games.

No. 1-ranked Harlan (35-2) has had much more success. The Cyclones are in the midst of their seven-straight state tournament and 17th overall. They won it all in Class 3A in 2016.

Harlan will play Bishop Heelen Catholic, which beat Saydel earlier Tuesday evening, at 11 a.m. Friday in the Class 3A semifinal.

(from IHSAA)