TOPEKA Bradyn Coles no-hitter against Marysville Wednesday night propelled the A Iola Indians to a 5-0 win to start the Junior Kansas State Tournament in Topeka.
The win over Marysville has the Indians sitting pretty atop their pool.
Both teams started slowly on the scoreboard. Even Cole struggled to find his pitches in the first inning. Indians head coach Troy Smith said the walks came from the umpires inconsistent strike zone at the start, but once the umpire started calling with consistency, Cole took off.
Cole picked up seven strikeouts along with 92 pitches. It would be Coles last chance on the mound. Even if Iola advances to the final four on Saturday, hell be away on a family vacation.
Along with Coles pitching, the Iola defense transformed into a brick wall. The Indians committed only one error during the complete seven-inning affair.
This was the best defen
sive game we had all season, Smith said. Bradyn threw the ball exceptionally well. He spotted his fastball really well, and most of his strikeouts came on his offspeed pitches. He was in control for us all night long.
With the Indians pitching and defense in fourth gear, all Iola needed were its bats. The Indians struggled to make any noise early on, but opened up the game after a series of Marysville misfortune in the fifth.
TJ Taylor started the inning with a hard grounder toward first to earn his first of three hits on the day, and Nathan Louk reached after an error from Marysviles first baseman. Runners were on the corners for Eli Smith, and his fly ball to right field was misjudged by Marysvilles right fielder, allowing Taylor to come home. Ryker Curry followed with an RBI single to score Louk, and make the score 2-0 Indians. Cole grounded into a fielders choice to put him on first, Drake Sellman reached on catchers interference, and Dillon Bycrofts ground ball to left field loaded the bases. Next batter, Dillon Slaven, was hit by a pitch to force the runner home to close the inning.
Although a big inning for Iola, it could have seen more runs, and the Indians need to capitalize on bases- loaded opportunities when the chances present themselves, according to Smith.
We came out of the gates pretty sluggish offensively, Smith said. We had the bases loaded in the second inning, and didnt capitalize. When we did score three runs, they were due to pretty poor defensive play. But we did put the ball in play, had good at bats, and made the pitcher work and raise his pitch count early on.
To start the sixth, the Indians loaded the bases courtesy of singles from Taylor, Louk, and Smith. Cole brought home the final two runs on a line-drive to center field, to give himself insurance runs on the mound and complete the 5-0 victory.
The win to start the tournament puts Iola in a great position moving forward.
This was huge, Smith emphasized. Not only does it give us a win, but a zero in the runs allowed column. For example, say two other teams record in pool play are 2-1, we hold the tiebreaker due to the fewer amount of runs allowed.
More than likely, two wins should carry Iola to the final four on Saturday with a shot at the state title.
TODAY, the Indians face Great Bend at 12:15 p.m., with score updates available on Twitter @IolaSports.