What a difference a week on the softball diamond makes.
Seven days after dropping a pair of tough losses to Humboldt, and falling to 3-7, Iola High capped a resurgent week with a pair of nailbiters over visiting Paola.
The Mustangs scored the tie-breaking runs in the bottom of the sixth inning of Game 1, winning 2-1, before waiting even later, in the bottom of the seventh, to score the decisive run in a 4-3 thriller.
The victories capped a 4-0 week, pulling Iola back to .500 on the season at 7-7.
“That was fun,” Mustang head coach Chris Weide said. “It was a great night.”
Game 2 ended with the bases loaded and freshman Zoie Hesse at the plate.
Hesse ripped a grounder destined for left field, but Paola third baseman Elli Smail backhanded the smash and instinctively stepped on third base for the force play, and the second out of the inning.
The exact sequence proved pivotal as Smail fired the ball into the catcher with the hopes of retiring lead runner Faith Warden.
But because Smail had already stepped on third, it meant catcher Lily Jevne had to tag Warden to record the out instead of just stepping on the plate for another force play.
The ball beat Warden, but she slid across the plate before Jevne could make the tag.
The umpires hesitated before making a call, huddling to discuss the sequence of events.
The subsequent “safe” call sent Iola’s bench into a state of delirium as the jubilant players encircled Warden to celebrate.
“I couldn’t tell what they had called,” Weide said. “I thought she was safe. I’m glad they talked about it and got the call right.
“That’s all we ask out of the umps, whether the call is for us or against us,” he said. “I thought they got it right.”
The sweep capped one of the best weeks of junior Elza Clift’s pitching career.
