With zone approaching this upcoming weekend, the AA Iola Indians went to Lawrence for a showcase invitational tournament this past weekend.
The Indians won all three games comfortably with scores of 1-0 against Lawrence Green, 5-1 versus Wichita Tribe, and run-ruled Perry-Lecompton 11-1.
Against Lawrence Green, the Indians bats were kept quiet for most of the afternoon. The only bright side was a no-hitter by Iola pitcher Ethan Tavarez. The same could be said versus Wichita. Cal Leonard led the way with a seven-strikeout game, but the Indians were unable to excel in the batters box. Head coach Jason Bauer emphasized the competition was far inferior to their standard.
Maybe it was the 10 days off. We did have some practices, but we didnt square anything up, Bauer said. You never want to play down to your competition, but thats how I feel we did on Saturday. That is just us going through the motions. We had a talk today (Sunday) before the game. We came out and put up 11 runs, and after the first inning, everything we hit today was squared up and looked a lot better.
Iola looked more like itself against Perry-Lecompton. Jackson Aikins started the game reaching on a hit by pitch, and bumped over to second. Isaac Vink followed with a line drive to left field, putting runners on the corners. A double steal scored Aikins, and gave Iola the 1-0 lead heading into the bottom half.
Derek Bycroft featured on the mound for Iola. The future Oklahoma Wesleyan Eagle struck out four, and allowed one run in four innings of work.
The Indians added two more runs in the second inning. Blake Ashmore led off the second with an infield single, and Conor Haviland followed with an inside-the-park home run to give Iola the 3-0 lead.
Perry-Lecompton scored their only run in the third to trim Iolas lead to 3-1, but the Indians replied in the third with a flurry of runs. Bycroft and Kane Rogers started the inning with a walk apiece, and Zach Bechmon loaded the bases with an infield single. Displaying patience at the plate, Leonard picked up two RBIs on his line drive to deep left-center field to double the Iola lead. Ashmore followed with an infield single, and two more Indian runs came home off a throwing error toward first. With Ashmore now on third, Haviland secured his three RBI game with a line drive down the third-base line. The scoring rally saw Iolas lead increase to 8-1.
In the fourth, Bycroft sent a solo shot off the scoreboard to make it 9-1. In the fifth, the Indians added two more runs to their lead. Bechmon came in to close in the fifth, striking out two, as Iola completed the game courtesy of a 10-run rule after five innings.
You never want to run the score up on anybody, and respect the game, Bauer said. We quit running the bases as hard, but we have to hustle. We had a talk after the game and there are still little things that arent being done right. And if you want to win a championship, you have to do the little things right.
The Indian schedule for the rest of the week is still up in the air. Bauer hopes that a game can be scheduled for Tuesday to help Iola apply any needed finishing touches before this weekends zone tournament in Humboldt.
We will be good for zone, Bauer emphasized. We have been here before, and know that we are the favorites, and have to come out and take care of business.
The Indians have a bye in the first round, and are scheduled to play the winner of Fort Scott and Yates Center at 10:20 a.m on Saturday.
