The Islanders sit at 6-8 and have had some big wins (handing No. 2 Papillion-LaVista South its first loss) and some ugly losses (12-0 to Lincoln Southeast, being swept by Creighton Prep a combined 38-12).

That's not unexpected from a team that only had two position players returning.

But two key players got their first action of the season in over the past week after recovering from injuries.

Pitcher Eric Schwieger returned from a shoulder injury that he suffered during last summer's Legion season in the win over Papillion-LaVista South. He threw three innings of relief to earn the win.

On Tuesday, second baseman Pete Kropp made his season debut after coming back from a broken foot suffered in the final regular season basketball game of the season.

While the additions of Schwieger and Kropp are a nice boost, it also may mean some more inconsistent play as the lineup is shuffled around.

"We'll go through another little growing stage," G.I. coach Rick Kissack said. "We have a young guy behind the plate (freshman catcher Max Ayoub). We moved Casey (Griffin) to third.

"It'll take some time to get our chemistry going."

The Islanders feel that the potential to become a dangerous team is there.

"Things are going pretty good," said Kropp, who returned a week earlier than expected.

"We just need to get our pitching down and make more plays. We need to cut down on our errors."

A good test along with a chance to pick up some momentum should present itself the rest of this week, weather permitting.

The annual Heartland Athletic Conference Tournament takes place in Lincoln with Grand Island sitting as the second seed. The Islanders are scheduled to open play against Lincoln High Thursday at 7 p.m. at Sherman Field.

"It's a good draw for us," Kissack said. "This is the fifth year of the tournament, and we've won the title twice and got second. We've done well."

Another strong HAC Tournament performance might speed up the team's development.

"We hope to get on a roll and get momentum going into districts and state," Kropp said.

The return of Schwieger bolsters the starting rotation. Kissack plans to start him against Lincoln High. Kash Kalkowski is slated to pitch the Islanders' second game of the tournament and Kirby Wells will go on Saturday.

"I like our pitching," Kissack said.

HAC Tournament

Thursday, April 10

At Den Hartog Field, Lincoln

Game 1Lincoln Southwest (No. 4 seed) vs. Lincoln East (No. 5), 5 p.m.

At Sherman Field, Lincoln

Game 2Lincoln Southeast (No. 3) vs. Lincoln Northeast (No. 6), 5 p.m.

Game 3Grand Island (No. 2) vs. Lincoln High (No. 7), 7 p.m.

Friday, April 11

At Den Hartog Field, Lincoln

Game 4Loser Game 2 vs. Loser Game 3, 5 p.m.

At Sherman Field, Lincoln

Game 5Lincoln North Star (No. 1) vs. Winner Game 1, 5 p.m.

Game 6Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 3, 7 p.m.

Saturday, April 12

At Sherman Field, Lincoln

Fifth Place

Game 7Loser Game 1 vs. Winner Game 4, 1 p.m.

Third Place

Loser Game 5 vs. Loser Game 6, 3 p.m.

Championship

Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 5 p.m.

Tourney time

Baseball isn't the only spring sport going into conference tournament mode.

The Central 10 Conference soccer tournaments are also schedule to start up Thursday.

The Grand Island Northwest boys and girls teams both earned home matches in the first round.

The Class B No. 10-rated (Omaha World-Herald) Vikings boys earned the second seed and take on seventh-seeded Holdrege (2-5) at 5 p.m.

It's been a roller coaster ride of a season for Northwest so far. The team opened the year with three straight losses, then reeled off five straight wins before suffering a disappointing shootout loss to Lexington on Saturday.

GINW beat Holdrege 4-1 on April 1.

The Northwest girls also face a rematch in their 5 p.m. game against fifth-seeded Columbus Lakeview.

The fourth-seeded Vikings (3-6) look to snap a three-game losing streak during which they've only scored one goal.

Northwest beat the ViQueens (2-5) on the road 5-3 on March 20.

The winners of Thursday's first-round games advance to Saturday's semifinals in Seward.

Central 10 Tournament

BOYS

First Round, Thursday

Crete at York

Holdrege at Grand Island Northwest, 5 p.m.

Seward at Columbus Lakeview

Semifinals, Saturday

At Seward Elementary

South FieldSchuyler vs. York/Crete winner, 10 a.m.

North FieldNorthwest/Holdrege winner vs. Lakeview/Seward winner, 10 a.m.

Consolation, Saturday

North Field, 4 p.m.

Championship, Saturday

South Field, 2 p.m.

GIRLS

First Round, Thursday

Columbus Lakeview at Grand Island Northwest, 5 p.m.

Crete at Holdrege, 5 p.m.

Seward at York

Semifinals, Saturday

At Seward Elementary

South FieldSchuyler vs. Northwest/Lakeview winner, noon

North FieldCrete/Holdrege winner vs. York/Seward winner, noon

Consolation, Saturday

North Field, 2 p.m.

Championship, Saturday

South Field, 4 p.m.