A pair of solid pitching performances, coupled with timely hitting, gave Iola High’s baseball team a season-opening doubleheader sweep Thursday. IOLA SCORED in every inning but the first in the nightcap.
The Mustangs spotted visiting Chanute a 5-1 lead going into the fourth inning of the opener before scoring once in the fifth and four times in the bottom of the sixth to capture a 6-5 win.
The Mustangs erased any such dramatics in the second game, racing to a 9-0 lead after four innings of a 12-6 win.
The wins may have lacked the flash and style Mustang fans have come to expect, head coach Mark Percy said, “but we will get better. It was a pretty sloppy game.”
The key, Percy said, may have been a mid-game pep talk in the opener.
Chanute scored twice in the second and three more in the third to take a 5-1 lead, “and you could tell just by our body language that the guys weren’t feeling good about it.”
Aaron Barclay’s one-out double scored Mason Coons in the fifth to start the comeback.
The fun hit high gear in the sixth when Cole Morrison doubled to lead off the frame. He advanced on a wild pitch and scored on Levi Ashmore’s sacrifice fly. Eric Heffern walked, stole a base and scored on a Coons groundout. Derrick Weir’s RBI single tied the score. A hit batsman and walk pushed Weir to third, where he scored on a wild pitch to put Iola in front.
The Mustangs had a chance to score more, but they stranded five runners in the final two innings. The bases were left full when Morrison’s scorching line drive to right was caught for the final out of the sixth.
That mattered little to Coons, who allowed consecutive walks with two outs in the seventh before striking out the final Blue Comet batter.
Ashmore singled to lead off the first for Iola. He came around to score on Weir’s single to give Iola a 1-0 lead.
Coons picked up the win by allowing two hits in 4 1/3 innings of relief work with eight strikeouts. He spelled Barclay, who started and went 2 2/3 innings, giving up two hits with two strikeouts.
Weir went 3-for-3 with 2 RBIs, while Barclay went 2-for-3 with a double. Morrison added a double.
Shae Beasley and Heffern had RBI doubles in the second inning. Heffern’s single in the third scored two more to push Iola’s lead to 5-0.
Four of the first Iola batters reached via walk or hit batsmen to start the fourth inning. A walk to Jacob Rhoads forced in Trent Latta. Two other came in to score on an error. Heffern’s sacrifice fly drove in the final run.
Latta walked and scored in the fifth. Weir singled and scored as well. Ashmore reached on an error with two outs in the sixth. Latta’s RBI single accounted for the final run.
Latta held Chanute without a run through his four innings of work from the mound. He gave up two hits and three walks with six strikeouts.
Drew Faulhaber gave up five walks and a hit in his one inning of relief work. Ashmore pitched the final two innings, giving up one hit. He struck out the side to end the game in the seventh.
“We’ve never played a game this early before and it showed,” Percy said. ‘We’re going to be a lot better. So are they. Our pitchers did very well, but you could tell when they started running out of gas. We just haven’t had an opportunity to build up our stamina yet. Trent had some pop on his fastball.”
Heffern went 2-for-3 with a double. Barclay had two singles. Beasley contributed with a double. Adding one single apiece were Latta, Coons, Weir and Tyler Clubine.
The Mustangs’ junior varsity game scheduled for Friday was canceled, Percy said. The full squad returns to action March 26 at Anderson County.
Mustangs make it a Blue Comet sweep
