BALDWIN — Iola American Legion Post 15’s A Indians tapped the comeback tactic in their first two games of the 2012 KABA Junior League tournament.
That set up a No. 2 (Iola) versus No. 1 (Ottawa) scenario for the winners bracket final on Saturday. It didn’t go Iola’s way.
The Indians dropped an 11-1 run-rule decision to Ottawa. In doing so, they went down to the losers bracket final against Spring Hill Sunday.
Under the intense heat of the early afternoon sun, Iola saw a 3-2 lead evaporate.
Spring Hill scored two runs in the fifth and one more in the seventh for a 5-3 win.
Iola, which won the preseason KABA Junior League tournament in June, finished third to end the regular season. The Indians went 2-2 in tournament play.
Now, the Indians turn their focus to the Kansas American Legion A Zone 3 tournament this week. Iola is the No. 1 seed at 15-6 and plays No. 4 seeded Emporia (6-23) at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
The Zone 3 tournament is hosted by Burlington Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. All games will be played on Burlington High’s Wildcat Field.
Eureka (17-11) is second seeded and Burlington (5-21) is third seeded.
There will be an admission charge for the zone tournament, $4 for adults, $2 for students. Children 5 and under and veterans with identification will be admitted free.
In the KABA tournament, Iola’s A team was in danger of losing its opener Friday afternoon. Baldwin jumped out to a 7-2 lead after three innings.
Trent Latta and Derrick Weir had back-to-back singles to begin the fifth. Two Baldwin errors kept the Indian rally alive. Eric Heffern hit an RBI single.
Cole Morrison drew a walk and Thealvin Minor delivered a two-run triple. Kohl Endicott singled in a run. Iola added two more runs in the sixth on its way to a 10-7 victory.
Barclay got the win in relief of Morrison, who started on the mound for Iola. Morrison was charged with six runs on two hits and five walks. Barclay gave up one run on two hits and three walks. He struck out 11.
Latta had two singles and a double and Weir had two doubles and a single. Shae Beasley, Heffern and Endicott hit two singles each. Minor tripled and Morrison singled.
The Indians had to work overtime to win in come-from-behind fashion in a second game Friday evening. They scored a run in the first inning but trailed 2-1 heading into the bottom of the seventh against Paola.
With one gone, Drew Faulhaber tripled and scored on a two-out single by Weir. Tied 2-2, the teams went into extra innings.
In the ninth, Faulhaber walked and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Latta. Weir drove in the winning run with a base hit.
