TOPEKA — Despite a strong opening AT the American Legion State Baseball Tournament, the second day of the event was not kind to Iola Post 15 Indians 17U after they made an earlier than anticipated exit with a pair of losses — 16-1 to Garnett and 10-9 to Marysville.
After falling in the championship bracket semifinals, the American Legion Post 15 Indians looked to remain alive against Marysville but could not hold on after posting six runs in the third inning.
Despite strong performances from starter Easton Weseloh and Kale Pratt, who combined for six strikeouts, the Indians could not get their bats going at the right time. Trailing 2-0 after the opening frame, catcher Ty Shaughnessy put Iola on the scoreboard with an RBI single. Marysville put up another two-run inning, but Iola responded with an RBI double from first baseman Roy Gordon, and pulled within a run after Pratt scored on a wild pitch.
Outfielder Ruger Boren picked up all three of his team-leading RBIs with one swing with a bases-loaded triple to give Iola a 6-4 lead. Boren scored later that inning on a passed ball.
Post 15 added another pair of runs over the fourth and fifth innings after second baseman Franklin Kerr scored on a passed ball and a Pratt RBI, but they could not hold off Marysville, who went on a 4-1 run to take the game 10-9. Along with a team-leading four strikeouts, Weseloh also had a team-leading three hits, followed by Pratt and Gordon, who had two each.
In Friday’s opener, the Garnett Muddogs had 10-unanswered runs in the first three frames, then added six more in the fourth inning to secure a 16-1 mercy-rule victory over Iola.
The Indians scored their only run when starting pitcher Thomas Allee’s hard chopper forced an infield error, plating catcher Kale Pratt. Weseloh registered Post 15’s only hit of the day.
Allee took the loss after allowing seven runs on five hits and two walks. Iola’s relievers showed only a modest improvement. Ruger Boren posted Iola’s only strikeout while allowing five runs on one hit and two walks. Reliever Landon Shelton came on in the third inning allowing four runs on one hit and two walks.
With the losses, the Indians end the season 10-13 overall. Friday’s contests snapped a three-game win streak, including Thursday’s 2-1 victory over Pittsburg.
