Derek Bycroft led the AA Iola Indians past Rose Hill in Iolas American Legion zone championship game. The Indians are through to state for the eighth time in the last nine years.
The Indians rode past Yates Center 11-1 and Rose Hill 7-0 on Saturday, and again defeated Rose Hill 3-0 in Sundays championship rematch.
Throughout the zone tournament, Iolas pitching was impeccable. Against Yates Center, Ethan Tavarez threw the complete game for Iola, allowing one run to go along with five strikeouts.
Along with solid pitching, the bats were firing for the Indians against Yates Center. Humboldts Jackson Aikens let the way from behind the plate for the Indians. The Iola shortstop went 3-4 along with two RBIs. Bycroft and Conor Haviland both collected two hits apiece, and Kane Rogers chipped in with an RBI to propel the Indians to an 11-1 run-rule victory.
The Indians faced Rose Hill in the tournaments semi-final, with the winner advancing to Sundays championship game. The loser would have to play Yates Center for a second chance to earn a spot in the championship match.
Isaac Vink led the way on the mound against Rose Hill. The current KU scholar only needed 83 pitches for the complete game shutout.
After a scoreless first, Rogers broke the deadlock with a delayed steal to give Iola the 1-0 lead. The Indians added two more runs in the fourth inning after two Rose Hill mistakes, and blew the game open in the sixth. Havilands two-RBI double brought home Rogers and Zane Whitney to make the score 5-0 Iola. Two more insurance runs in the seventh helped make the final score 7-0, sending Iola through to the championship game.
The Indians needed another win against Rose Hill to be crowned zone champions. Rose Hill easily dispatched Yates Center, but the odds were not in their favor against Iola. Head coach Jason Bauer saved his best for last in Bycroft.
Byroft went the distance for Iola, tallying 14 strikeouts and allowed no runners across home plate. All the Indians needed was one run.
I saw Rose Hill was a good contact hitting team. After the first couple of batters, I knew they were going to put it in play more often, Bycroft said. So, I changed up from the fastball and started throwing more curveballs. They couldnt seem to catch on to it, so I kept throwing it all game.
Bauer complimented the Rose Hill players on their defensive play, and took the blame for costing Iola a run early on. But the Indians got the run they needed and more in the sixth inning.
Bycroft started the inning with a single to give Iola its first runner on base with no outs on the board since the first inning. The bases were loaded after Rogers was walked and Whitney was hit by a pitch. Cal Leonards RBI single, and Blake Ashmores two-RBI double gave the Indians the 3-0 lead they needed heading into the final inning.
An easy one-two-three in the seventh, and the Indians were zone champions and through to the Senior American Legion State Tournament. Despite the accomplishment, Bauer emphasized the Indians still have some work to do before heading to state.
We get over-anxious at the plate, Bauer said. We try to do too much sometimes, and we just need to lay off and try to find our pitch. And when we get our pitch, we need to take advantage and do something with it.
This years state tournament will take place in Hays on July 31 through Aug. 3. The tournament will be combination of both AA and AAA teams due to the reduction in Legion teams.
