HUMBOLDT — The first day of the Double-A Zone 4 Tournament in Humboldt was filled with upsets. Iola’s 5-1 win over Fort Scott in the first round put the Indians as the only higher seed to top a lower seed.
The second-seeded Post 15 team filled the bases with base runners the entire game against the third-seeded Fort Scott.
In the first inning, Iola third baseman Derek Bycroft drew a one-out walk and used his speed to put Iola on the board.
Bycroft stole second base with center fielder Isaac Vink at the plate. Vink flew out to center field. Then with catcher Nic Zimmerman at the plate, Bycroft stole third base. A poor throw from Fort Scott catcher DeVonte Robinson had the ball going into left field and Bycroft sliding across home plate and making the score 1-0.
The run game became a theme for Iola as they stole 10 bases in the win.
“If we are not squaring the ball up, we are going to move runners and we are going to manufacture runs,” Iola coach Rick Vink said.
Iola Post 15 struck again in the second inning by using their speed again. With two runners on base, Ethan Tavarez stole third, just beating the throw.
On the next pitch , Justice Pugh took off for second base and slid in safely with Robinson’s throw getting away from him again and going into center field. Tavarez scored on the error to push the lead to 2-0.
Iola doubled its lead with two more runs in the third frame. Tavarez scored his second run of the day on another ill-advised throw from Fort Scott. Pugh added to the lead by scoring two batters later on a Fort Scott wild pitch.
Daylon Splane – a Humboldt senior – was the game’s top performer for Iola with his strong performance on the mound. He threw a complete game and only allowed one run, while striking out five opposing batters.
“I told him, you play on this field all the time, you know this field better than anybody and we are going to give you the ball,” Vink said. “And he sure did respond… He kept a very, very good Fort Scott team off-balance the entire game… Daylon did his part and basically won us that game.”
He he relied on his excellent control to limit the Fort Scott lineup. The right-hander allowed just five hits and one walk in his seven innings.
“I wanted to go out there and throw strikes and when all your pitches are working (the coaches) don’t have to pitch anyone else,” Splane said on the importance of pitching a complete game.
Splane was really pleased with his ability to use his curveball against Fort Scott.
“It just threw the hitters completely off,” Splane said. “It breaks from their heads to their knees.”
Iola added an insurance run in the sixth and cruised into the second round with a convincing win.
