CHANUTE — The Iola AA Indians swept Chanute Post 170 on the road Thursday.
The Indians (14-4) got shut down pitching performances from their aces, Trevor Church and Trey Sommer, while Tre Wilson and Sommer drove in two runs apiece across 5-1 and 7-1 victories.
“It definitely feels amazing to take four from Chanute,” Iola head coach Ethan Tavarez said, referring to last week’s wins against Chanute’s Legion team. “Our guys did a good job of keeping their heads up. We were hitting the ball a lot better. We’re hoping to keep this momentum going until we hopefully win the super-state.”
Game one — 5-1 win
Church allowed his only run to score in the first inning, an error on Iola’s third baseman. The Indians responded with timely hitting in the third and seventh innings to grab the four-run win, 5-1.
Chanute’s Nathan Meisch walked in the first inning and later scored on a Cohwen Wheeler ground ball to third which was mishandled by Iola’s Sam Hull. The run was Chanute’s only one of the game.
Wilson struck for Iola in the top of the third when he drilled a triple to center field to score Logan Page and knot the game at 1-1. Two at bats later, Sommer singled to center to score Wilson and grab the 2-1 advantage.
“It’s a lot of fun to see Tre (Wilson) stroking the ball, getting on base with a smile on his face,” Tavarez said. “He had them beat and was having fun while doing it.”
Wilson was hot again in the fourth inning, when the freshman doubled to left field to score Jack White for the 3-1 score.
Brandon McKarnin delivered the final two runs for Iola in the top of the seventh when he reached on a fly ball error to left field allowing Gavin Page and Sommer to score for the 5-1 final score.
Logan Page tossed the final two outs for the save in the bottom of the seventh and struck out one while not allowing a hit.
“When he’s not battling something in his head, he throws a lot of strikes and that’s what we want,” Tavarez said. “He throws it well from the left side. Having a couple of lefties that can throw decently hard, those are good weapons to have. It’s nice to have that in our pocket.”
Wilson had a team-high three hits and two RBI’s while Sommer drove in one run. Logan Page also recorded two hits and scored a run.
Game two — 7-1 win
The Indians never trailed in a 7-1 win in game two Thursday.
