Tre Wilson’s inside-the-park home run was reason for celebration and the Iola’s AA Indians lone win over Pittsburg Post 64 at home Thursday in the regular season finale.
The Indians (22-6) got behind Wilson’s double, which turned into a four-run inside-the-park homer thanks to some Pittsburg throwing errors. Logan Page also mashed a solo home run to claim a 5-4 victory.
Iola dropped the opener, 8-6, after a comeback attempt fell short.
“I told him we wanted that real Tre (Wilson) back and he’s stroking the baseball right now,” Iola head coach Ethan Tavarez said. “He roped it and got that swing, that clutchness back and getting guys scoring was big.”
Iola finished their regular season winning 10 of their last 12 games.
Game one — 8-6 loss
Iola fell behind early when Pittsburg brought two runs home in the top of the second. The Indians took a 6-4 lead in the sixth after a four-run rally, but lost the lead late when the Patriots scored four in the seventh to claim the win.
Pittsburg’s Jonah Sparks smacked an RBI double before he scored on an error to give Pittsburg the early 2-0 advantage.
The Indians got on the board in the bottom of the fourth when Sam Hull singled to center field to bring Brandon McKarnin home. Jack White then reached on an error to shortstop which brought another run home and squared things up at 2-2.
Pittsburg responded with one in the fifth on an RBI grounder by Ethan Rhodes, and an RBI double by Rocco Bazzano in the sixth put Iola in arrears, 4-2.
“We had a couple errors and blooper deals that got us down but it was important to pick each other up because they’re all teammates,” Tavarez said. “The second game we did a much better job of doing that and being better teammates for each other.”
Iola took the lead in the next half inning when Ashton Hesse was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Korbyn Fountain then singled to right field to score Page and White for the go-ahead run. Hesse then scored on a wild pitch for a 6-4 lead.
But Pittsburg’s rally in the seventh proved too much to overcome.
Trevor Church started on the mound for the Indians and went 5.2 innings, allowing four runs on one hit with eight strikeouts. Hesse took the loss in relief after tossing the final 1.1 innings and allowing four runs on three hits.
Game two — 5-4 win
