The Allen Red Devils reshuffled the national softball rankings after handing the Neosho Panthers their first Jayhawk Conference loss Saturday.
After falling in the opener 9-2, the Red Devils bounced back in the finale for a 7-6 victory while fending off a Neosho rally in the seventh inning.
“We had a couple of miscues and defensive errors that cost us big early on,” Iola coach Nicole Peters said. “We had a couple of opportunities to score with some runners on base, but we did a better job in game two.”
A pair of runs in the first inning and three in the third had Allen playing from behind for most of the opener.
The Red Devils pulled back into contention on RBI grounders by freshman third baseman Kaylse Abernathy and sophomore outfielder Kaylee Spreer. The Panthers added four more runs to keep their record perfect in the conference, but the Red Devils soon changed that.
Sophomore pitcher Camrynn Yardley took the loss while racking up eight strikeouts over seven innings with a walk and five earned runs.
Instead of going to Allen’s typical No. 2 in sophomore Abby Marsh, Coach Peters went with rarely utilized starter freshman Kirstin Busby. And instead of powering through batters, Busby used tactful pitch location and strong play from the field to pick up the win.
“It’s just a different look from Cam to her and Abby. We went in with a gameplan,” Peters said. “That’s a nationally ranked team. That’s a big win for us. I think [Yardley] knows her role. She’s owned the starter (position), and the past couple of games we’ve had to go to her in game two.”
Allen jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first with an RBI single from sophomore first baseman Jena Hendrix. Neosho responded with four runs in the third inning. A Hendrix sacrifice fly and an Abernathy line-drive pulled the Red Devils within a run, then Allen took the lead on a two-RBI Yardley triple, followed by an RBI single by sophomore second baseman Paxton Meyer to plate Yardley.
Allen added an insurance run in the fifth on a Campbell RBI triple, leaving the game in the hands of the Red Devil defense. After Neosho rallied within a run of Allen’s lead, Coach Peters opted for Yardley, who initially gave up a walk to put the go-ahead run at the plate but forced a groundout to Campbell and seal the victory.
Yardley wrapped up with a team-leading two RBIs, followed by Hendrix, Campbell and Meyer with one each. Busby picked up the win with six innings pitched with no strikeouts and only allowing three walks on six hits and three earned runs. Iola High School Class of 2023 graduate Aysha Houk, playing center field for Neosho, returned home to hit in 2 of 4 appearances with two runs in the opener, but went 0-2 in the finale.
“We stuck to a plan. We wanted to get a split, and that’s what we came away with,” Peters said.
