LA CYGNE — A pair of familiar thorns in the side of Iola High’s softball season reared their ugly heads again Tuesday.
The first was stranding baserunners.
The Fillies had hits in every inning but one in the opener, but managed to plate only three baserunners in a 10-3 defeat in the opener to Prairie View.
Then fielding misadventures — Iola committed 10 errors — greased the skids for an 18-8 defeat in Game 2.
“I really think it’s a confidence deal,” Fillies head coach Chris Weide said. “We’ve struggled a little bit, obviously, to get a win, but once we get that win, and the kids realize how good they are, we’ll be fine.”
Against Prairie View, Iola opened the game with hits in the first two innings, but no runs.
The Fillies plated a pair of runs in the top of the third, but left the bases loaded. Reece Murry’s RBI single scored Chloe Sell, before Aysha Houk — who went 4-for-4 on the day — scored on a passed ball.
Her run gave Iola a brief 2-1 advantage.
The Buffalos retook the lead 3-2 in the bottom of the inning, then pushed across a fourth run in the fourth.
Iola then pieced together five hits in the top of the fifth, including Kailey Schinstock’s double, but scored only once on Lauryn Holloway’s base hit.
Sell’s line drive was snared by the Prairie View second baseman with the bases loaded to end the rally.
The Buffalos put the game away with five runs in the bottom of the fifth.
Murry pitched the first four innings, giving up three hits and three walks with eight strikeouts.
Maci Miller came on in relief, giving up four hits over two innings with a strikeout.
Iola had 12 hits in the game. In addition to Houk’s four singles, Schinstock singled and doubled. Murry and Holloway singled twice. Maci Miller and Jenna Miller both had singles.
“‘We’re still getting good pitching,” Weide said. “Reece did a good job of keeping the ball down. And we’re hitting the ball. We had 12 hits in both games.”
So while the hitting and pitching phases are in tune, the fielding phase continues to be elusive.
“You need all three phases to be successful,” Weide said. “Doing well in two of the three phases will get you beat against good teams.”
