Fillies drop heart-breaker in extra innings

CHANUTE — Two-out rallies killed Iola High’s chances to advance in the Class 4A regional softball tournament.
The Fillies twice retired the first two Parsons batters in the inning, only to see the Vikings mount sustained rallies.
The clincher came in the top of the eighth, after Iola scored two runs to force extra innings. Starting pitcher Mackenzie Weseloh retired the first two Viking batters in short order, but a trio of costly errors led to a five-run explosion.
Parsons emerged with an 11-6 victory, ending Iola’s season at 4-12.
“That’s been the story all season,” Iola coach Vince Coons said. “We just couldn’t close out innings.”
Iola rebounded from an early 3-0 deficit, taking its first lead on Katie Thompson’s sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fifth inning.
But Parsons rallied for two in the sixth to retake the lead and one in the seventh to go up 6-4.
Iola’s tying rally in the bottom of the seventh was aided by a catcher’s interference call by the umpire, giving Shelby Reno first base. Ashlie Shields followed with a single. Both players stole a base and came around to score on a Parsons error to tie the score at 6-6.
Iola seemed to have full control when Weseloh quickly retired the first two Viking batters in the top of the eighth.
Things went south in a hurry.
Parsons’ Syvauna Hinman started the rally with a single to left. The next two batters reached base on Iola fielding errors, leading to two runs. Libby Hizey followed with a two-run single to put the game out of reach.
“There were a lot of fielding errors and mental errors on the base paths,” Coons said.
A pair of two-out Parsons singles, sandwiched around three straight walks, gave the Vikings a 2-0 lead after one inning. The lead grew to 3-0 when Bailey Foster singled and scored in the second.
Iola’s comeback began with Katie Thompson’s leadoff double in the bottom of the second. She stole third, then scored on a bad throw.
Halie Cleaver and Katie Shields ripped two-out RBI singles in the bottom of the fourth to tie the score after Reno reached on an error to start the frame.
A controversial umpire’s ruling gave the Fillies a short-lived lead in the fifth.
The umpire ruled Parsons’ pitcher was taking too long to warm up, calling out balls while she continued to throw practice pitches.
As a result, Weseloh came to bat with a 3-0 count. She walked on the next pitch and advanced to third on Hannah Endicott’s blast off the center field wall for a double. Endicott narrowly missed a home run.
Weseloh scored on Thompson’s sacrifice fly to right field, although that play also nearly wound up as a disaster. Weseloh was several feet off the base when the ball was caught, and had to retreat to tag up before reaching home.
She still scored easily.
The time between innings has been an ongoing issue. While Coons benefited from the umpire’s ruling, it’s one that has him concerned.
“They just give you so much time to get your pitchers warmed up,” he said. “It’s not like in baseball, which takes forever.”
Weseloh surrendered 12 hits, while striking out four and walking five.
“Mackenzie fought through it, but she didn’t have her change-up working today,” Coons said.
Endicott led the Fillies offense with a single and double. Thompson also had a double, while Weseloh, Ashlie Shields, Holly Schomaker and Katie Shields all had singles.
The loss marked the end of Thompson’s, Schomaker’s, Caitlyn Callaway’s and Tessa Rowe’s high school careers.
Senior Libby Shay did not suit up after reinjuring her knee in practice last week. Callaway, meanwhile, was sidelined the past two weeks because of a foot injury.
Coons praised Thompson’s progression as a hitter and noted Rowe, Callaway and Schomaker all played pivotal roles for the Fillies at various points of the season.
“‘They’re just a good group of kids,” he said.

PARSONS’ run in the regional playoffs ended later Monday with a 15-0 defeat at the hands of top seed Frontenac. In other action, Baxter Springs thumped Chanute, 10-2, Fort Scott downed Pittsburg, 6-0, and Girard blanked Columbus, 2-0. Frontenac will play Baxter Springs and Fort Scott and Girard will play each other in the semifinal rounds in Chanute Wednesday.