OTTAWA — A furious comeback attempt from Iola’s A Indians wasn’t enough in a 6-5 loss against Garnett in the American Legion Zone A Tournament Tuesday.
The Indians were blanked at the plate up until the sixth inning when they scored three runs and two more runs in the seventh. Early defensive struggles, including four errors, couldn’t be overlooked in the loss.
“We took too long to get going,” Iola head coach Jason Bauer said. “We’ve just got to start piecing things together earlier. We come back all the time but tonight we just didn’t have enough to finish it off.”
Kyler Isbell looked solid starting on the mound but wasn’t helped by the defense behind him who committed four errors. Isbell gave up six runs on 10 hits through 4.2 innings. Gavin Jones threw shutout ball through the final 2.1 frames while striking out four Muddogs. 
Garnett struck in the top of the first when Ayden Owen grounded a ball to shortstop that was muffed and allowed a Muddog to come home from third for the 1-0 lead.
The Muddogs added one more run in the third, a Michael Mains RBI single to third base for the 2-0 lead.
Two innings later, Jack Dykes singled to left field to plate Mains for the 3-0 advantage. Aiden Steele came through one at bat later when he singled to center field to score Dykes for the 4-0 lead.
Zach Schaffer scored on a passed ball to make it 5-0 before Schaffer singled to shortstop to drive home Steele for the 6-0 lead.
The Indians bit into their deficit in the bottom of the sixth when Ryan Golden doubled to left field to score Blake Ellis to make it 6-1. Easton Weseloh then singled to center field to bring home Kade Nilges and bring it within 6-2.
“He’s (Weseloh) down 0-2 and he’s not giving up, he’s still fouling off pitches and staying with that curveball,” Bauer said. “He’s throwing his hands at it and hitting it past the edge of the infield. That’s what you’ve got to do with two strikes, just battle.”
Two batters later, Jacob Harrington grounded out to third base to bring home Golden for the 6-3 score.
Weseloh got into another pitch in the seventh when he drilled a ground ball to second base that was misplayed at first base and allowed two runs by Drake Weir and Ellis to make it a 6-5 game.
That’s where the Indians’ rally came to a screeching halt and a 6-5 loss.
“We’ve just got to bounce back and be ready for Thursday,” said Bauer.
Garnett’s Owen earned the win on the mound, working 5.2 innings and allowing three runs on six hits while striking out five. Schaffer cleaned up in the final 1.1 innings and allowed two runs on one hit with two strikeouts.
