Iola High’s softball team started 2013 on a rough note Thursday. THE BLUE Comets took early control in the second game with an eight-run first inning.
After having only a handful of outdoor practices this week — attributable to recent cold, wet spells — the Fillies were greeted with pristine weather conditions for their season-opener.
But the lack of practice time hurt as visiting Chanute High took advantage of walks, hit batsmen and errors.
The Blue Comets erupted for 13 third-inning runs in the opener to win 19-3. Chanute then got the early jump in the nightcap for a 14-8 victory.
The Fillies get to regroup through spring break before returning to action March 26 at Anderson County. A junior varsity game at Chanute planned for Friday was canceled, coach Vince Coons said.
“There were a lot of little things we did defensively that hurt us,” he said. “That left our pitchers out there for way too long. They had to throw way too many pitches, and that led to some big innings.”
The Blue Comets scored four in the second inning of the opener to take a 6-1 lead. Iola responded with a run in the bottom of the inning before Chanute exploded in the third, as the first 10 Blue Comet batters reached base. They wound up taking advantage of nine hits, four errors, one hit batter and one walk in the frame.
Iola accounted for its first-inning run when Halie Cleaver led off with a single. She came around to score on Hannah Endicott’s hit. Shelby Reno tripled to lead off the second. She was tagged out at home on a fielder’s choice, but Amanda Thompson reached on the play. Thompson came around to score on an error. Caitlyn Callaway reached on an error and scored on an Endicott ground-out in the third.
Mackenzie Weseloh and Endicott combined to give up 13 hits and a walk. They were victimized by eight errors. Weseloh also recorded a strikeout.
The Fillies responded with two in the first and one in the fourth before erupting for five over the final two innings. But by then it was too late. The Blue Comets scored in every inning but the fourth.
Cleaver and Callaway reached in the first, then both came around to score on Chanute errors. A one-out double by Katie Shields scored Thompson in the fourth.
Emily Schomaker and Endicott led off the fifth with singles, followed by a walk to Weseloh. Reno drove in a run with a single, as did Thompson on a fielder’s choice. Another run scored on an error.
Reno’s triple scored Endicott and Weseloh, who led off the seventh with walks. But a strikeout followed by Shields’ fly-out ended the game when Reno was caught trying to score.
Reno went 2-for-3 with a triple, Endicott singled twice, Shields had a double, and Thompson and Callaway each had a single.
Endicott went the distance for Iola, giving up five hits and six walks, while hitting seven Blue Comet batters — five in the first inning. She struck out two.
The game featured a 30-minute delay in the sixth inning because the city had not thrown a switch to provide power to the lights, a routine matter done every spring.
“I saw a lot of positives,” Coons said. “We started making defensive plays in the second game, and our bats started coming around. We started having fun. We will get better, especially once we start getting in regular practices.”
Fillies drop pair to open 2013 season
