GARNETT — Iola High School’s bus sat parked behind the outfield wall of Garnett High School’s softball field after the Fillies lost 9-1 to Burlington in the Class 4A Regional tournament. None of the Fillies’ players wanted to walk to it, knowing that their season was over.
“We just had one bad inning, one bad inning and everything just kind of fell apart,” coach Vince Coons said. “It’s kind of like the typical things that we’ve done. We just give too many outs, leave our pitcher out there hanging too much.”
That bad inning came in the fourth. Down only 1-0, the game was still close, but the bats of the Wildcats came to life like it was a Disney movie. There weren’t any singing animals though, so this can’t be confirmed.
Burlington had back-to-back RBI-doubles to score two runs. With the bases loaded, pitcher MacKenzie Weseloh walked in a run. The next batter came up to bat with the bases still loaded and made it count with an RBI-single that knocked in two more runs. Another RBI-single knocked in both runners on base, and an error allowed the batter to make it to second and another runner moved to third base. The next batter got to first on an error that allowed another run. The bleeding stopped after catcher Halie Cleaver threw out a runner attempting to steal second.
The damage of the eight run fourth innning turned the game into a clear 9-0 advantage for Burlington. The Fillies wouldn’t overcome that lead.
The sixth inning belonged to Iola senior Hannah Endicott who had her last as a Fillie. She ended up on second with a stand-up double after surviving a long at bat. Then, she came into relief in the bottom of the inning, giving up no runs and only a bunt single in her final frame as a pitcher.
“Hannah battled hard, she had a great at bat in this game,” Coons said. “She’s a battler, and that’s what I want the girls to be because it’s going to carry through in life.”
The Fillies showed life in their final inning of the game. Katie Shields drew a lead-off walk. Emily McKarnin then had an RBI-double. Baylea Thompson then hit a dribbler to the pitcher, looking like it would be scooped up for the for sure out. Instead, the Wildcat pitcher threw the ball to third, where McKarnin slid under the tag, leaving runners on first and third with no outs.
That potential fire was put out with two consecutive strikeouts. With runners on second and third, Cleaver came up to bat for her final time. She hit a bullet toward second that looked like it would get through and score two runs. Instead, the diving second baseman stretched out her glove, got to her knees and threw Cleaver out at first on a call that could have gone either way.
The Fillies’ season ended seniors Cleaver, Endicott and Weseloh’s careers.
“The seniors are our nucleus, it’s going to be a very difficult job replacing those three,” Coons said. “We’re talking about two pitchers and a catcher.”
For most games, Weseloh was the starting pitcher, Cleaver the starting catcher and Endicott the starting shortstop.
Coons said that Thompson, the junior varsity pitcher this season, would be the main pitcher for varsity next season. He also hopes to work on pitching with Ashlie Shields and Shelby Reno during the summer. He predicts that Taylor Sell will step in as the starting catcher next season.
The team was young and this season should be a stepping stone for next year’s team. There are going to be three seniors next season as well.
“I thought we had a good season, I mean we got all of our games in,” Coons said. “The girls played 21 varsity games, we got 14 JV games in, so we had a full season. It’s not often we have that.”
The Fillies ended the season at 8-13.
