Iola High School’s softball team took care of business, sweeping Neodesha in a doubleheader Thursday night.
“We looked a little rough in the first game,” coach Vince Coons said. “We were giving some players some playing time and our defense wasn’t as good as anticipated. But, we did what we had to do.”
The Fillies got off to a hot start taking a 9-0 lead against the Bluestreaks in the first inning. Iola reached on four walks and two errors. MacKenzie Weseloh, Emily McKarnin and Shelby Reno had base hits. Hannah Endicott had a triple and a single.
After a scoreless second inning, controversy arose in the third. With two runners on, the Bluestreaks were in scoring position for the first time during the game.
The umpire then awarded the runner on third base to score after a ball was pitched and somehow squeezed through the backstop out of play.
Coons believed the ball to be hit foul, so no one should have scored. The umpires met and decided that it was a wild pitch.
Neodesha would score one more in the inning, giving Iola a 9-2 lead.
The Fillies bounced back with three runs in the bottom of the frame. Endicott had a sac fly and Reno had an RBI-double.
Neodesha scored one in the top of the fourth. Iola now led 12-3 going into the bottom of the inning, where they scored two more runs. Halie Cleaver had a base hit and Weseloh had a double. Errors allowed them to score.
The Bluestreaks scored two runs in the fifth. Iola scored one more run, which won the game 15-5.
GAME TWO ended in a 15-0 Fillies win.
“The second game was much better, we took care of business then,” Coons said. “The regulars were back in and we got to do some things at the plate we are normally not able to do.”
Iola scored 12 runs in the first. Riley Murray and Endicott had singles. Katie Shields, Jadyn Sigg and Cleaver all had two singles. Reno had a triple and a single. Ashlie Shields had a double. Taylor Heslop had a triple.
The Mustangs scored three more times in the second. Weseloh had an RBI-double, while walks and errors helped Iola get its other base runners.
