ERIE — Iola’s AA American Legion baseball club had little trouble dispatching Erie Tuesday evening, winning 19-1 and 12-1.
The Indians improved to 4-1 with the sweep. They’re back in action Thursday evening with a doubleheader against Parsons at the Humboldt Sports Complex.
The fun started in the second inning of Tuesday’s opener. Sam Hull doubled and TJ Taylor walked. Evan Lucke’s RBI grounder brought Hull home. Taylor scored on a passed ball for a 2-0 lead.
Iola sent 15 batters to the plate in an 11-run third inning. Hull, Ashton Hesse and Drake DeLaTorre all had two-run singles. Taylor drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. Eli Smith and Kaiden Barnett also had RBI singles during the rally.
Smith tacked on another RBI single as Iola put the game away with a six-run fourth. Two more runs came in errors, and DeLaTorre’s RBI single capped the scoring.
Iola racked up 12 hits in the victory. Hull singled twice and doubled, while driving in two. DeLaTorre drove in four with his two singles. Barnett singled twice, as did Smith. Lucke chipped in with a double. Hesse and Gavin Page each singled.
Taylor pitched into the third inning, holding Erie hitless and striking out six. Page came on in relief, striking out four and allowing a hit.
Erie didn’t offer much more resistance in the finale. Iola plated three in the second, five in the third and four in the fourth.
Smith’s RBI got things started in the second. Lucke followed with a run-scoring single and Hesse followed with a sac fly for a 3-0 lead.
Cooper Riley’s leadoff double started the third inning. Page drove him in with a single. He came around to score on Hull’s RB:I single. Taylor’s sac fly made it 6-0. Another run came across on a wild pitch before Louk made it 8-0 with a run-scoring double.
Erie walked the bases loaded with nobody out in the fourth. An error brought home DeLaTorre. Taylor drew a walk to drive in another run. Lucke followed with a two-run single.
DeLaTorre, Hesse and Hull shared pitching duties. They combined to allow two hits with four strikeouts.
Meanwhile, Louk, Riley and Smith all had a single and double. Lucke chipped in with two singles. Page, Hull and Taylor also singled.
