Fillies come up short vs. Eagles

Two-out hitting was a pivotal difference in Iola High’s softball opener Tuesday.
The Fillies twice left runners stranded on third base in the first three innings against visiting Westphalia on a cold, blustery afternoon.
The Eagles, meanwhile, scored six of their first seven runs with two outs in the first three innings.
The Fillies rallied late, closing to within 7-4 in the bottom of the sixth, before Wellsville closed the game with a kick, winning 10-4.
The troubles continued for Iola in the nightcap. Wellsville overcame an early 2-1 deficit by scoring once in the fourth and three in the fifth to win 5-2.
“We’d get two outs, then they’d get a hit or a walk, and the next thing you know, three or four batters in a row reached base,” Iola coach Vince Coons said. “Our big troubles continue to be with giving up too many walks. We’re a good hitting team, but we can’t make up big deficits like that.”
The losses drop Iola to 2-8 on the season. The Fillies travel to Yates Center Friday to play in the Lindsey Friederich Memorial Tournament, taking on host Yates Center at noon in the opener. Iola then will play either Humboldt or Neodesha in the second game, depending on who wins.

A TWO-OUT error in the first, a leadoff walk in the second and four straight hits with two outs in the third gave Wellsville an early 5-0 lead.
Iola’s Hannah Endicott led off the bottom of the first with a triple, where she was stranded. Taylor Heslop walked with one out in the third. She advanced to third on a Holly Schomaker single, but also was stranded.
The Fillies didn’t dent the scoreboard until Mackenzie Weseloh tripled with one out in the fourth and scored on Halie Cleaver’s follow-up single, closing the gap to 7-1.
Katie Shields led off the fifth with a single, advanced on a  walk and scored on a Wellsville error for Iola’s second run.
Things got even closer when the first four Iola batters in the sixth reached base. Weseloh singled, Cleaver was hit by a pitch and Emily McKarnin and Shields followed with singles, cutting the gap to 7-4 with nobody out.
But the bases were left loaded when Heslop, Endicott and Schomaker were retired.
Iola rallied one last time in the bottom of the seventh. Shelby Reno and Weseloh both singled before the final two batters of the game were retired.
Weseloh gave up eight hits and six walks with three strikeouts. She aided her own cause with three hits, including a triple. Shields had two singles. Endicott had a triple. Schomaker, Reno, Cleaver and McKarnin also had singles.

THINGS LOOKED brighter for Iola in the second game, even after Wellsville took an early 1-0 lead.
Endicott again led  off the first with a triple, and looked like she might be stranded, before Katie Thompson delivered a clutch, two-out double.
Cleaver reached on a one-out walk in the second and scored on a wild pitch to push the lead to 2-1.
But that was it for the Fillies’ offense. Iola failed to put another runner in scoring position for the balance of the game.
A two-out walk led Wellsville’s tying run in the top of the fourth.
Two Iola errors were part of the Eagles’ three-run fifth.
Endicott had the pitching assignment, striking out four with eight walks.
Thompson had two hits, including a double. Endicott had a triple and Weseloh had a single.
“It was like night and day against their pitcher from the first game,” Coons said.
Iola was able to get good swings in the first game against Wellsville starter Raegan Beckley before Beckley settled down nicely in the nightcap. She struck out 10 in the second game.
“I was proud of how we battled, especially in such miserable weather,” Coons said. “Our spirits were high all the way to the end of both games. I think the cold bothered Wellsville more than us.”