Mustangs blank Burlington 1-0, 2-0

Just four games into the regular season and Pioneer League play is already underway for the Iola Mustangs, who shutout rival Burlington in both games of Tuesday's doubleheader at Riverside Park.

April 2, 2025 - 4:47 PM

Iola High School senior pitcher Gavin Jones throws a strike while assisting in a 2-0 shutout of Pioneer League rival Burlington during Monday’s home opener. Photo by Jimmy Potts / Iola Register

The Iola Mustangs remain undefeated after sweeping Pioneer League rival Burlington 1-0 and 2-0 in their home opener Tuesday night.

The Mustangs took advantage of the windy conditions with strong pitching and stronger fielding as they blanked the Wildcats in the conference opener.

“It’s huge,” said senior pitcher Grady Dougherty. “Last year, they tied with us in the league with Anderson County. It was a three-way split. They kept us from being the soul league champion. It was great to sweep them. They’re a good ball team and really, really scrappy.”

In the opener, Dougherty provided the Mustangs with all of the offensive production they needed, thanks in part to multiple double plays by the defense. A Dougherty sacrifice fly ball plated sophomore outfielder Jase Herrmann — and that was it for the game. Dougherty went on to pitch seven shutout innings, allowing only four hits while requiring just five strikeouts due to his team behind him.

“I had a good day today, and maybe an extra fire lit under me because it was Burlington,” Dougherty said. “They beat us by a field goal in football, kicked the snot out of us in basketball, so I wanted to get them today in baseball.”

**Sophomore outfielder Jace Herrmann gets a hit while connecting in 1 of 3 appearances at the plate in game two.**

In the finale, now acclimated to the windy conditions, the Mustangs significantly improved offensively despite only manufacturing a pair of runs. A first-inning Dougherty double and an RBI grounder by junior shortstop Nick Bauer was all Iola needed. Once again, strong fielding and pitching factored into the outcome with senior pitcher Gavin Jones striking out three batters over six innings before giving way to closer Herrmann, who forced a pair of groundouts and a pop-out to seal the victory.

“Today was a bad day to get the ball in the strike zone,” Jones said. “Honestly, I got carried by my defense. Grady, Nick, the outfielders, I got carried by everybody. I was thinking the entire time my job is to put the ball over the plate and let the defense go to work.”

With the win, the Mustangs remain undefeated at 4-0 and 2-0 in conference play. They will face non-conference foe Baldwin for a Friday doubleheader, then face another non-conference, Santa Fe Trail, next Friday for another double header.

“[Burlington] swept us (last year) and we felt like we really didn’t have a chance,” Iola coach Levi Ashmore said. “They got better and we got younger (this year). We love our group this year. We got two great pitching performances and great play from shortstop in [Bauer]. It was a good day at the plate. When you piece everything together and play good baseball, and get good pitching performances on a windy day like this, you’re going to have a great chance to win.”

First pitches for Friday’s games are 4:30 and 6:30 p.m.