OTTAWA — The Iola A Indians made quick work of the Ottawa A’s on the road Tuesday night with a four-inning 11-1 victory in Ottawa’s “Strikeout Breast Cancer” game.
Grady Dougherty knocked in a team-high five runs, including a first inning RBI single, and Kyler Isbell and Jacob Harrington each drove in two runs. Isbell earned the win on the mound and tossed three shutout innings while striking out four and allowing only one hit.
Dougherty got the scoring started for Iola (13-6) in the top of the first with a single to right field to score Blake Ellis for the early 1-0 advantage.
“I thought our approaches were really good at the plate and we were aggressive. A lot of kids hit first-pitch fastballs,” Iola head coach Jason Bauer said. “We hit it the other way and that’s not something you see us do a lot. We’re starting to play our best ball when we need to.”
In the third inning Dougherty singled to left to score two runs and give the Indians a 3-0 edge. Ryan Golden then singled to left to score Kade Nilges and take a 4-0 lead.
“When he’s (Dougherty) good, he’s really good because he’ll use all parts of the field which is what I try to preach to him,” Bauer said. “If we can get everyone going and Grady can be the igniter, hitting is contagious. If one guy starts to hit, everyone is going to start to hit.”
Isbell then singled to left field to extend the lead in the third to 5-0. Golden then scored on a passed ball to make it a 6-0 game.
Dougherty drove in two more runs with a single to left field in the top of the fourth to take an 8-0 lead. Isbell shot a sacrifice fly to center field later in the inning for the 9-0 lead before Jacob Harrington sent a two-run double to right field for the 11-0 difference.
“I told them it’s time to bear down now, we’ve got to get ready for zone,” Bauer said. “We have started to look like a complete team in the last three games. We’ve got to keep the train moving and not have one bad inning like we did earlier in the season.”
JT Reese brought in Ottawa’s lone run of the game with a single to left field in the fourth inning, bringing the score to 11-1.
On the mound, Isbell allowed a double in the bottom of the second. Gavin Jones closed the game in the fourth inning, allowing one run and two hits.
“He (Isbell) looked really good,” said Bauer. “I told him he needed to let it go. I told him to go out and throw strikes and to have faith in his defense. He said he felt really good and he looked really good. Hopefully we can use him a lot down the stretch.”
The Indians host Fort Scott’s E3 Freedom on Thursday at 6 p.m.
