High School Baseball: Mustangs 11, Buffalos 1; Mustangs 11, Buffalos 4
In a series where the Iola baseball team run-ruled a team in the first game and won by seven in the second, head coach Mark Percy remained nonplussed.
He was happy for the wins, dont get him wrong, but for a team that up with the top of Kansas 4A-II rankings, he knows that they can do better against a team thats struggled so far this season like Prairie View.
We hit the ball hard a lot tonight, but other times we didnt have very good at-bats with guys on base against a team we should hit well against, Percy said. We were looking for two wins and we did that but I didnt think we played great baseball tonight by any means.
The Mustangs won game one 11-1 and game two 11-4. After the two road wins on Thursday, Iola moves to 7-1 overall and are winners of seven straight.
Game 1
The Mustangs scored seven runs in the first two innings and added two more in both the fourth and fifth innings to take an 11-0 lead. The Buffalos tacked on a run in the bottom of the fifth but couldnt stop the Mustangs from getting the win.
Senior Isaac Vink got his first start of the season after only getting a couple of relief appearances earlier in the season and performed well, going the full five innings, allowing a run on three hits with no walks. Vink struck out five.
He did real well and I was really pleased with him, Percy said. Kane Rogers (in game two) too. That was his first varsity experience on the mound in his career. I thought they did a good job, I really did.
Sophomore first baseman Brady Wiggin was on fire in both games, recording six total hits (three in both games) and driving home two runs.
I feel real good about him, Percy said. Hes made consistent contact. We need to get him in a position where hes driving more runs in because hes getting the hits but not scoring runs because the guys right in front of him arent getting on enough. Hes done a great job.
Senior Ethan Tavarez and sophomore Casen Barker also each got two hits in game one.
Game 2
Prairie View managed to tie it up at one after the first inning but the Mustangs put up eight runs in the next two innings for what seemed destined to be another run-rule ending.
However thats when the momentum slowed. Prairie View scored runs in the bottom of the fourth and fifth innings and while Iola countered with runs of their own in the top of the fifth and sixth, the Mustangs could not get the final push to end the game.
The Mustangs had the bases loaded in the top of sixth but only managed to score a single run. The Buffalos scored a run in the bottom of the seventh but couldnt get closer as Iola won the day.
In my eyes, were better than that team right there, Percy said. It shouldnt have been 11-4. In the sixth inning, we had a chance to knock some more runs in with the bases loaded to end the game and we didnt do it against a pitcher that was struggling. Thats disappointing. But weve got high expectations.
As mentioned earlier, junior Kane Rogers got his first start of the season, going five innings while allowing three runs (two earned) on two hits with three walks. He struck out two.
In addition to Wiggin, Vink had a stellar game two, recording three runs on three hits.
