HUMBOLDT — Humboldt High’s Lady Cubs won in dramatic fashion Friday while across town the Cubs took charge in the middle innings to beat Iola High’s Mustangs. The result was the same — tournament championships.
The Lady Cubs claimed the Lindsey Friederich Memorial Tournament title with a 3-2 win over Yates Center High’s Wildcats. In the bottom of the seventh inning, senior Kindahl Young doubled and scored on a one-out base hit by freshman Jaci Ross.
In the consolation game of the softball tournament, Iola High’s Fillies rolled to a third-place finish by pounding Neodesha High’s Bluestreaks 17-1 in five innings. The Fillies scored 10 runs in the third.
Iola High’s Mustangs were the defending champions of the Humboldt High Walter Johnson Baseball Tournament. They powered past Neodesha 14-0 in five innings in the opener Friday.
The Cubs had gotten past Yates Center 3-0 in their opening game. The Cubs took third in their own tournament a year go.
Humboldt used a four-run third inning to take a 5-2 lead over the Mustangs in the championship game. The Cubs had five of their 11 hits in the inning.
The Mustangs were able to plate single runs in the fifth and sixth innings to pull within one run. But the Cubs scored three times on three hits in the sixth.
Iola’s Devon Conner led off the seventh with a single and Levi Ashmore worked a one-out walk. The Mustangs’ rally was snuffed out. Humboldt starting pitcher Nathan Whitcomb coaxed two fly-ball outs from the next two Iola batters to end the game.
Whitcomb and the Cubs stayed perfect for the season (12-0). Whitcomb gave up six hits, walked two, hit two batters and struck out seven.
Iola’s Jerrik Sigg started the game and went two innings, giving up one run on two hits and one strikeout. Mason Coons took the loss in relief, pitching two innings and allowing four runs on six hits and one walk. He had one strikeout. Ashmore pitched two innings and gave up three runs on three hits and struck out two.
In the championship game, Hunter Murrow led the Cubs with three singles while Caleb Vanatta and Dustin Prock each hit two singles. Whitcomb, Grayson Pearish, Alex Murrow and Kason Siemens each had a single.
Clint Heffern connected for a single and a triple for the Mustangs. Coons hit two singles. Drew Walden doubled and Conner singled.
In Iola’s opener, the Mustangs sent 15 batters to the plate, got 11 hits and scored 10 runs against Neodesha. The Mustangs got two more runs in the second on a two-run home run by Ashmore. Three hits and a sacrifice fly produced two more runs in the fourth.
Jarred Latta, Aaron Barclay and C. Heffern pitched for Iola. They held the Bluestreaks to two hits.
Iola had 16 hits in the game led by Ashmore’s home run and two singles. Conner had two doubles while C. Heffern and Coons each had two singles. Walden hit a single and a double.
