The Iola Hormigas hope to bounce back from a five-game slide on the road Thursday in Blackwell after falling to the Garden City Wind 12-3 Tuesday.
The Hormigas’ defense failed to find its footing as Garden City jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the second inning and poured on the runs. Garden City improved its record to 26-3 while Iola dropped to 7-19.
“Garden City is a great team, and we came out a little flat,” Iola coach Derrick Dominguez said. “We struggled at pitching early on. We couldn’t catch up after that. They got us down, and we stayed down. We need to do a better job as a team of playing to the final out.”
Recently acquired infielder Jorge Carreo continues making an impact for Iola after plating the Hormigas’ only two RBIs of the evening while tying catcher Nicholas Chavez for the team lead in hits with two each. Starter Jacob Slocomb took the loss with a pair of strikeouts over 3 2/3 innings of work. He tied relievers Jacob Strobel and Jacob Bosse for the team lead in strikeouts with three each.
Although last in the Pecos League Mountain North conference, the Hormigas are not out of contention for one of two wild card spots in the August playoffs. They are six games behind the Alpine Cowboys and four games behind the North Platte 80s. Regardless of how the season ends, breaking another attendance record Tuesday thanks to a post-game fireworks show, Dominguez likes the community support and hopes to reciprocate the local generosity with a few wins in the coming weeks. 
Shown here is an image from the free fireworks show by the Iola Jake’s Fireworks Store following Tuesday’s game at Alumni Field, on the campus of Allen Community College.
“These things go to the final week of the season,” Dominguez said. “You have to compete every day and give yourself a chance for when it comes down to that last week. At least you’re there in the last series fighting for a spot. These guys know what it takes. We’re not done. We’ll be back.”
