SALINA — The little things made a big difference Thursday.
Iola High’s Mustangs, who had swept through regionals a week ago with some of their best baseball of the season, saw the tables turned in the first round of the Class 4A State Baseball Tournament.
The Ottawa Cyclones took advantage of a number of breaks, and in so doing, pulled out a 5-3 victory, ending Iola’s 2022 season in the process.
The Mustangs finish with a 16-5 mark.
“When you make little mistakes in the state tournament against a team like that, it makes it hard to come back from,” Iola head coach Ryan Latta said.
To wit, the Cyclones:
— Converted a pair of early walks into a first-inning run;
— Scored twice more in the third to break a 1-1 tie, while aided by a pair of Mustang fielding miscues;
— Played perfect “small ball” with a single, two stolen bases and an RBI grounder for its fourth run;
— And, finally, pushed across a crucial fifth run in the top of the seventh with a wild pitch.
“They’re a good team,” Latta said.
Still, Iola proved to be anything but a pushover.
Sophomore pitcher Kobin Cloud continued his late-season surge against a potent Cyclone lineup.
Ottawa finally dinged him for a base hit with an infield single in the top of the second — the first hit off of Cloud since May 3 — a span of four games and 10 ⅓ innings.
“Korbin pitched his butt off,” Latta said. “He may have had some early jitters, getting used to the mound. But he settled in, throwing his changeup against these guys, getting his slider over and getting his fastball over. He kept us in the game and gave us an opportunity.”
After Ottawa took the 1-0 lead in the top of the first, without the aid of a hit, Iola scored the equalizer in the second.
