RICHMOND — Despite a tiring tournament title run over the weekend in Ottawa, the A Iola Indians didn’t seem to let it faze them on Monday against Garnett at Central Heights High.
After a sluggish start in the first inning that saw Iola trail 5-0, the Indians rallied the rest of the way in style. Iola collected 18 hits in the nine-inning game, earning the high-scoring victory, 18-13.
“The difference between this team and a lot of teams I have coached is, if they get down, they just keep playing,” head coach John Taylor said. “We were short players tonight, had guys that were tired from the tournament, but I knew that with their character they were going to stay in the game.”
Iola and Garnett each played four games in Ottawa’s wood bat tournament over the weekend, leaving both teams short of their usual arms. Instead of playing the usual doubleheader, the two teams settled on one complete nine-inning game.
With Garnett scoring five in the first, the Indians needed to find a way to get back in the game. Iola did just that in the second. After an RBI from Mac Leonard and two runs off errors, Avery Blaufuss evened the score with a two-RBI single.
Leonard was given the game ball to start. After a sub-par first inning, he locked in. He finished with one strike out while allowing four hits in three innings of work. Leonard’s highlight of the evening came in the third with three consecutive assists, a rarity for a pitcher.
“When Mac is on, Mac is good,” Taylor said. “He is a good pitcher even though he is young, and he can compete with these guys with no issue.”
Garnett took an 8-6 lead in the fourth, but that would be the host’s last lead of the game. The Indians outpaced Garnett 12-5 the rest of the way, with their biggest scoring party coming in the sixth.
The Indians took their first lead of the game with Leonard and Carter Hutton reaching first free of charge, which forced two runners home. Iola added three more runs in the sixth off wild pitches. Ryker Curry capped the sixth-inning scoring with an RBI single, giving Iola a 14-8 edge heading into the seventh.
Garnett never threatened the Indians’ lead the rest of the way. Blaufuss finished off Garnett on the mound in relief for Leonard. In his six-inning appearance Blaufuss picked up nine strikeouts, allowing nine hits and giving up five runs.
The 18-13 win brings Iola’s record to 24-8 on the season. In the beginning of the year, Taylor said this season would be decided at the plate. With an exceptional performance in the batter’s box on Monday, clearly the Indians have taken their offense to heart.
“Anytime you score 18 runs, you’ve hit pretty well,” Taylor said. “We had timely hitting when guys were on base, which is always good. When you have guys that are willing to sacrifice for your team to score runs, you are going to win games.”
The Indians will host Pittsburg tonight in a doubleheader at 6 p.m. at the Humboldt Sports Complex. The last time Iola faced Pittsburg they were swept, giving them hope for redemption.
“Pittsburg is a very good team and I expect us to win,” Taylor said. “The boys will have to be ready, and can’t come out like they did last time to that good of a team. We have to be ready to go from the get-go.”