The A Iola Indians got their second taste of live action with another intrasquad scrimmage at the Humboldt Sports Complex on Wednesday afternoon.
Iola’s pep in its step was a far cry from Monday, but the week is long, and the Indians were beginning to feel some fatigue by the time the first pitch was thrown. Indians head coach John Taylor admits that Wednesday’s scrimmage lacked energy, but understands his players need time for rest.
“A lot of them are exhausted from summer conditioning, because they have been sitting on their butts for the last couple months,” Taylor said. “They have been waking up early in the morning for conditioning, and are tired, but I think they will be ready to play on Saturday and we will see more of the intensity then.”
Taylor’s main concern from Monday’s scrimmage was the lack of contact at the plate. Most of the players have been away from the ball field since last summer, so Taylor is hopeful it won’t take too long for them to find their swing.
Already, Taylor is seeing improvements.
“I thought the bats were a lot better today, but nowhere where they need to be. Hopefully this weekend, they will be better,” Taylor said. “I feel like we have really good pitching though, so I feel it tends to skew with what we see as far as our at-bats because our pitching is so good right now.”
Taylor believes that when the Indians see different competition this weekend, they will have the upper hand. Iola’s deep pitching staff gives its batters tough looks, preparing them even more for game day.
This year’s A-Legion team is a mesh of four baseball teams from last summer. Taylor says both coaches and players have been working hard to get on the same page, and are looking forward to this weekend’s home tournament in Humboldt.
The Indians will face Urqhart Baseball 16U, Ottawa Junior Legion, and Montgomery County this weekend.
First up are Ottawa and Urqhart on Saturday, with the first pitch of the doubleheader coming at 9 a.m.
On Sunday, Iola faces Montgomery County at 9 a.m. to finish up pool play. After that game, the four teams will be seeded in a single-elimination tournament.
Taylor is excited for baseball to be officially back, and see the Indians perform at home.
“As far as the junior Legion team, we haven’t played a home tournament here in a long time,” Taylor said. “So it is exciting to have that, and I think fans are excited to watch some baseball with everything going on. I think we will have a lot of people here to support them. Had it been in Ottawa we’d get the parents out, but with it being at home maybe we will see some more people out.”
With the Kansas American Legion State tournament being canceled, Iola’s hopes of a first A-Legion title are out of the picture. Still, Taylor has high goals for the Indians this season, and expects to see improvement they can carry into the future.
“The goal right now is to get these kids ready for high school ball next year, and that is always the goal because we are trying to win a state championship,” Taylor said. “I want to face all the teams that are at the top of the state so we know where we are. That is kind of how I built our schedule, to go toe to toe with the best of the best. Hopefully we get to see everybody, and show everybody that we would have been back in that state tournament.”
