OLATHE — The Iola Mustangs have a tremendous future on the baseball diamond and part of that promise was on display this weekend in the Kansas USSSA Tournament at Heritage Park in Olathe.
The 14-and-under Mustangs entered the bracket-play as the top seed after going 3-0 in pool-play by beating the Southeast Kansas Outlaws 6-0, Urquhart 9-1 and the Cloud County Choppers 10-2.
Against the Outlaws, Nathan Louk pitched the first three innings and allowed only one hit in the shutout. Bradyn Cole finished the game with two innings of one-hit baseball to seal the victory.
Dillon Bycroft was the team’s top hitter with a 3-for-3 game with a two-run home run in the fourth inning.
Against Urquhart, Bycroft continued his strong play by going 2-for-2 with a double and single. Isaac Badders and Dillon Slaven each went 2-for-2 at the plate as well.
To finish their perfect record in pool-play, Iola knocked off Cloud County with another dominant performance.
Eli Smith pitched the first three innings and held Cloud County to just one run.
While Smith was performing well on the mound, the Mustangs piled on runs.
Iola scored six runs in the first inning on its way to coasting to the win.
“We hit really well in all three pool-play games,” Iola coach Luke Bycroft said.
Louk led the team at the plate by going 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs.
After advancing as the top seed into the 16-team bracket, the Mustangs faced off with the Kansas City Blaze on Saturday.
The Mustangs took the lead early with Badders scoring on a Drake Sellman two-out single in the bottom of the first inning.
Cole got the start for the Mustangs on the mound and began the game with three no-hit innings.
“I started out really good,” Cole said. “It felt pretty good to be able to go out there and start the first game of bracket-play. I’m glad they chose me.”
The Mustangs added two runs with Cole helping himself on a third inning double to score Smith and Badders to push the lead to 3-0.
“I was just waiting for the right pitch,” Cole said. “They gave it to me and it felt good off the bat… I think that made us feel a little better and it gave us a better chance of winning.”
Iola was finally able to break the game open in the fourth inning.
“(Cole’s double) helped us relax,” Bycroft said. “Then our next time up, they all put together good at-bats and hit the ball hard.”
Five-straight batters reached to begin the inning with Kole Rogers, Ryker Curry and Tyson Hermreck all singling and Louk and Bycroft each walking.
Badders broke the game open with a double off center-field wall — just missing a home run.
“I’ve been struggling lately with the bat and have been stressed out a bit,” Badders said. “I waited back, saw the ball and just got a hold of it. It felt great. I thought it was gone actually.”
The Mustangs finished the inning with seven runs to build the lead to 10-0.
The Blaze scored two runs in the fifth inning, but Cole was able to end the game by getting out of the inning with the score at 10-2 to run-rule the Blaze and advance to Sunday’s quarterfinals.
“It looked like he was getting a little tired so I was a little worried, but he battled through it, even though he didn’t have his best command. He saved us from having to use anybody else, so that was great.”
The Mustangs lost in the quarterfinals 11-5 after giving up eight runs in the seventh frame.
A BRIGHT FUTURE: Mustangs get knocked out in 14-U state quarterfinals
