CHANUTE Head Coach Jason Bauer only had nine Indians for his away doubleheader in Chanute. The limited numbers posed a challenge, but the AA Iola Indians made the most of it.
The AA Iola Indians ended up with a split, earning a win in an 11-10 high-scoring affair, and 5-6 loss in extra innings.
I knew coming in we were only going to have nine guys, head coach Jason Bauer said. But we are never going to use that as an excuse. These kids just have to come out and play. I know we havent had many practices, but we have to clean it up. Our defense has not been good.
Game 1 saw the Indians start off hot. In the first inning, Derek Bycroft singled to left field to pick up his first of five hits in the two-game series. Kane Rogers followed with an RBI single to put the Indians up 1-0.
Iola added two more runs in the second inning. Casen Barkers patience at the plate earned him a walk, and Hunter Baughn followed with a hard grounder to left field. Isaac Vinks RBI single scored Barker from second, and Zach Beckmon brought home Baughn, making the score 3-0 Indians. Chanute earned a run back in the bottom-half of the inning to close the gap on the Iola lead.
Ethan Tavarez started the fourth inning with a one-hop double off the left field wall to start the Iola hitting spree. Barker bumped Tavarez over to third, and Baughn brought home Tavarez with his first RBI, but the Indians were not done yet. Vink singled to center field, and Beckmon followed with a walk to load the bases. Brycrofts sacrifice fly to deep left field brought home Baughn, and Rogers followed with his second RBI of the game. Zane Whitney capped Iolas scoring for the inning with an RBI single to make the score 8-1 Indians.
Despite Iolas shooting out to a seven-run lead, Chanute closed the gap in the fourth inning to bring the score to 8-6. The next inning, the Indians relinquished the lead after Chanute brought home three runs, putting Iola in one-run hole. At the end of the fifth, that was it for starting pitcher Cal Leonard. After five innings of work, he had struck out seven and allowed nine runs.
The Indians faced an uphill battle following eight unanswered runs, but they battled back in the sixth. Whitney reached off an error from Chanutes second baseman, and Tavarez got the two-out rally going with a double to left field. Barker reached on a walk to load the bases for Baughn, who came through to tie the game 9-9. Big Bird Vink came through with an RBI double to center field, putting Iola back in the lead, 11-9.
Bycroft came in to relieve Leonard and get the final six outs for Iola, but it was not easy. Chanute picked up a run in the final inning to cut Iolas lead to one run and had the bases loaded with one out. But Bycroft prevailed, striking out the next two batters swinging to secure an 11-10 victory.
We hit the ball well, but we still didnt play defense, Bauer said. We should have won the game 11-3 or 11-4, but you cant give up big innings and tax our pitchers. I mean it is what it is, but we have to make plays.
THE SECOND GAME started with less fireworks. Iola got on the board first. Leonard reached base in the second inning with a walk. Tavarez followed with an infield grounder mishandled by Chanutes shortstop to put Indians on first and second. Baughns high fly ball to left-center field was lost in the lights, bringing home Leonard to give Iola a 1-0 lead.
The bottom-half of the inning saw Chanute load the bases with no outs as Tavarez struggled to find the strike zone. Tavarez regrouped himself to get a grounder to roll Rogerss way as the Iola shortstop stepped on second and ripped it over to first for the double play. By the end of the inning, Iola trailed 1-3.
Rogers relieved Tavarez, as the former Mustang made his first mound appearance in six years. He would allow one run as the Indians headed into the final inning trailing 1-4.
Bycroft started the inning with a single and Rogers followed it reaching on a walk. Whitneys fly ball to center field scored Bycroft to bring Iola within striking distance. Rogers was brought home by Leonards RBI to make it a one-run game to bring up Tavarez. The right-handed batter sent one over the wall to hand Iola the 5-4 lead.
Unfortunately for Iola, that two-run blast wasnt enough. Chanute would tie the game to send the originally planned five-inning matchup into extras. After two scoreless extra innings, Chanute walked off in the seventh inning, handing Iola a 5-6 loss.
We were going through the motions, myself included, Bauer said. Nobody likes to lose to Chanute; its the kids rival. Long night for nine kids, but we just have to find a way to get it done like we have been. This was just one of the times we couldnt find a way.
