The A Iola Indians picked up their 20th win of the season against Ottawa on Thursday at the Humboldt Sports Complex. Iola easily won the doubleheader by 12-6 and 14-0.
Ottawa opened game 1 with three runs in the first, but the Indians quickly responded. Iola opened the scoring with a run off a wild pitch from Gavin Page. Later in the inning with two outs, Avery Blaufuss connected on a line drive to centerfield to sntach his first RBI of the day. Trey Sommer tied the game with a sharply-hit infield ground ball that was mishandled, allowing a run to score.
The Indians took the lead in the second with an RBI from TJ Taylor, and added to their lead in the third. Four straight walks allowed a run to come across, and a passed ball gave Sommer the chance to extend Iola’s lead to 6-3.
Trevor Church pitched the first four innings for the Indians, allowing one hit, three walks, four unearned runs and a pair of strikeouts. Ottawa tallied three runs in the fourth to tie the game, but the Indians quickly regained their three-run advantage in the bottom-half of the inning.
Blaufuss added two more RBIs to his stat line in the fourth with a deep fly ball to right field, and later scored off a wild pitch to make the score 9-6 entering the sixth.
Blaufuss relieved Church in the fifth and let the Indians defense go to work behind him. Iola shut out Ottawa in the fifth, and picked up three more runs in the bottom half of the inning to run away with the 12-6 victory.
Game 2 was a prelude to the Independence Day fireworks as the Indians tallied 14 runs in three innings. The hot start began in the first with a two-RBI single from Summer to give Iola the 3-0 lead. Three batters later, Maddox Johsnon added another two-RBI blast, putting Iola in the driver’s seat with a six-run advantage.
The scoring didn’t stop there. After using his arm in game 1, Church showcased his ability with the bat by earning an RBI single to further extend Iola’s lead. Carter Hutton capped the first-inning scoring with a two-RBI single.
Sommer earned the start for the Indians on the mound, keeping Ottawa’s offense in check. In four innings pitched, Sommer allowed only one hit while earning up two strikeouts.
The Indians added a run in the second and four in the third, finishing with seven hits that turned into 14 runs to earn the 10-run lead after four innings played run-rule victory.
The Indians (20-7) will be off until the weekend, where they will travel to Ottawa for a wood bat tournament.
