GREAT BEND — Iola’s Junior American Legion baseball team ended the 2022 campaign in much the same manner it played the rest of the season — by giving everything it had.
The Iola A Indians wrapped up its State Tournament action Friday evening in winning a 13-10 slugfest over Pittsburg.
The victory came in the third and final round of pool play. Iola did not advance to Saturday’s championship bracket.
But the Indians made sure to go out with a bang, racking up 13 hits and scoring multiple runs in the first six innings.
Payton Houk was a key protagonist for the victors, including a bases-clearing double to give Iola a quick 3-0 lead in the top of the first. He tacked on RBI singles in the third and fourth innings as part of his five-RBI day.
Pittsburg tried to keep things cluse but fell short after knotting the score at 3-3 in the first.
Iola scored two runs each of the next five innings, opening a 10-3 lead after 3 ⅓ innings.
Pittsburg erupted for four in its half of the fourth, but the Indians responded again and again.
Iola’s Cole Mathes ended things by pitching the final three-plus innings in relief of Ryan Golden.
Golden allowed two hits with three strikeouts. Mathes scattered seven hits with three strikeouts.
Blake Ellis and Noah Gleue each singled twice to aid the cause. Golden, Grady Dougherty, Ben Kerr, Hayden Johnson, Sy Snow and Korbyn Fountain also singled.
