CHANUTE — The Iola Mustangs opened the 2025 season with a few fireworks after sweeping the Chanute Comets Tuesday night, 7-4, in both contests.
“It’s been a long time since we beat Chanute,” said senior pitcher Grady Dougherty, who tallied three strikeouts as the starter in the opener and also drove in a pair of runs while hitting 2 of 4. “We might have split with them my sophomore year, but I think we’ve been swept by them the last two years.”
Iola jumped out to an early lead with sophomore outfielder Kale Pratt’s second-inning RBI grounder, followed by Dougherty’s RBI double to put the Mustangs up 2-1.
Iola senior pitcher Grady Dougherty drives in a run during the season-opener against Chanute.
But a three-run third inning by the Comets seemed to put them in control 4-1 with the former rivals going scoreless into Iola’s final at-bat.
“It didn’t go exactly the way we wanted it to, but I told the guys I’ll live with a team that fights all day long,” Iola coach Levi Ashmore said. “We’re excited to have a group that didn’t quit. They were down in the seventh and found a way to win.”
In the fifth, the Mustangs scored with workmanlike efficiency as they piece-mealed together five runs. Outfielder Jace Herrmann got the rally started with an RBI grounder, then another Dougherty grounder drove in another runner and put two Mustangs in scoring position. A two-RBI double byjunior shortstop Nic Bauer gave Iola a 6-4 lead, then senior outfielder Lucas Maier’s RBI single added a cushion to the lead.
With closer Gavin Jones on the mound, an early walk turned into a double-play after Dougherty — now at first base — snagged a line drive and then stepped on the base to leave Chanute with one man left.
Jones took over from there with a five-pitch strikeout for Iola’s first victory of the season.
While Dougherty shined by tying Bauer for the team lead in RBIs with two each, Herrmann made the most of his plate appearances after hitting 4 of 4 while also scoring a pair of runs.
While benefiting from some late-inning heroics in the opener, Iola made its impact in the middle innings in the finale and relied on defense to carry them to victory.
“We play Chanute every year, and it’s always a good battle,” Ashmore said. “When you see that powder blue, it turns a light on in your head.”
A two-RBI line drive by senior third baseman Austin Crooks in the second inning put Iola up 2-0. In the third, a couple of hard choppers by Dougherty and junior catcher Tre Wilson forced a pair of infield errors and plated a pair of Iola runners — taking the Mustangs’ lead to 4-1. In the fourth, another hard grounder forced another error, and scored another runner.
“We had four innings in the second game where we scored at least one (run),” Dougherty said. “That’s huge. To be able to just scratch runs across and manufacture them, it’s not always going to happen in one inning.”
In the fifth, Iola scored a pair of earned runs on a Pratt grounder and a Crooks double to take the lead to 7-1, but Chanute was not ready to give up. Switching from catcher to closer, during Chanute’s final at-bat Wilson opened the inning by forcing a grounder, then tallied his only strikeout and clinched the victory with a flyball to Maier in left field.
Crooks finished the night hitting in 3 of 4 plate appearances with a team-leading three RBIs. Dougherty, junior right fielder Easton Weseloh and Pratt each had one.
After closing the opener, Jones returned to the mound as starter. Picking up the victory, he struck out five batters over four innings allowing four hits and a walk. Herrmann tallied a pair of strikeouts in two innings of relief, allowing two runs and a walk while Wilson got the save.
