Iola sophomore Zoie Hesse made history Friday night with her seventh-inning home run in the Mustangs’ 23-6 and 5-2 drubbing of Emporia.
Hesse’s hit makes her Iola High School’s record holder for home runs as well as its single-season home run record holder. Hesse has scored 11 home runs during her high school career, including five her freshman year.
Hesse showed she was Iola’s softball equivalent of Los Angeles’ Shohei Otani in more ways than one after pitching a complete-game victory in the opener. She tallied six strikeouts while allowing three walks and three earned runs. Although ultimately a blowout, the opener seemed a dogfight early on as the Mustangs rallied to a 3-3 tie in the fifth inning before scoring 20 runs in the sixth and seventh.
“Emporia is a 5A school with more than 1,000 kids,” said Iola coach Chris Weide. “Some teams can handle it, and some teams can’t. We have a team this year that can. We loaded our schedule with some bigger schools. We’re just trying to get prepared for the most important time of the year — and that’s regionals.”
Hesse picked up the first of her team-leading five RBIs in the opener with an RBI single to put Iola on the scoreboard. Emporia responded with a three-run second inning.
“We came out a bit rusty. We hadn’t been on the field in more than seven days because of the rain and prom and things like that,” said Weide.
The Mustangs chipped away at the Lady Spartans’ lead after scoring on a fielding error, then senior shortstop Elza Clift tied the game with an RBI grounder. Senior outfielder Kyndal Bycroft’s fifth-inning RBI single gave Iola the lead but Hesse’s historic homer seemed to open the floodgates as the Mustangs poured on the runs from there.
While Hesse made history in the opener, she was only one run ahead of senior third baseman Harper Desmarteau and Clift for the team lead in RBIs, who had four to Hesse five RBIs.
“They’re coming in with the right mindset. Our pitchers are throwing strikes and hitting their spots,” Weide said. “Our catchers are doing a great job running the game and defensively it feels like we’re ready every pitch, every play. When they’re at the plate, we’re having really good at-bats.”
After the blowout in the opener, the finale was a much quieter affair thanks to a strong night on the mound from Clift. She racked up nine strikeouts in her complete-game victory while allowing five walks, five hits and just one earned run.
Senior third baseman Reese Curry put Iola on the scoreboard with an RBI single in the opening frame.
Iola senior outfielder Alana Mader hauls in a fly ball during the Mustangs’ doubleheader against Osawatomie in April.
In the third inning, a Hesse RBI triple and an RBI single by sophomore outfielder Brooklyn Holloway gave Iola a 3-1 advantage. Byrcoft wrapped up the evening as the Mustangs RBI leader in one swing with her two-RBI single giving Iola a 5-1. The Mustangs held on from there to improve their overall record to 12-4.
“I feel like we have the best 1-2 pitching combination in the area,” Weide said. “Statewide, in 3A, we could put our one and two up against anybody. We talk about Zoie all of the time, she does a great job, but Elza stepped up too. Every year since her sophomore year she’s pitched the most innings out of everybody. Friday was her best day pitching.”
The Mustangs return to Pioneer League play Tuesday on the road against Wellsville. First pitches for Tuesday’s doubleheader are 4:30 p.m. and 6 p.m.
