RICHMOND — Iola’s A American Legion baseball squad was clicking in both phases Wednesday.
The Indians steamrolled host Central Heights, 18-2 and 6-2, to improve to 6-2 on the season.
“Central Heights had a hard time throwing strikes, which can make it hard to get into a rhythm. And our guys did a good job,” Iola head coach Bob Johnson said.
Iola wasted little time in taking control in the opener with a two-out rally in the top of the first.
Holden Barker doubled in a run and Korbin Cloud took advantage of a bases-loaded walk .
Two walks and a hit-by-pitch set the table for Carter Hutton in the second, whose single drove in Sam Hull, before Barker’s one-out double drove in a pair for a 5-0 lead.
The fun continued in the third, when Cloud scored on a passed ball and Trevor Church on a wild pitch. Hutton and Brandon McKarnin followed with RBI singles. Hutton then scored on a Central Heights error to make it 10-0.
Central Heights picked up a run in the third, but it only delayed the inevitable.
A pair of walks led to Trevor Church’s RBI single in the fourth, before Ashton Hesse walked with the bases loaded. Briggs Michael got into the act with a two-run double, before McKarnin doubled in two more.
Trey Sommer walked to bring around another run and Mac Leonard, in his first game with the Indians, drove in the final run with an RBI single.
Of the 134 pitches thrown by Central Heights hurlers, only 58 were for strikes. Iola batters worked 12 walks in the contest with two batters hit by pitches.
Iola’s pitchers, Cloud and Leonard, had no such issues.
Cloud started, and pitched two hitless innings, with three strikeouts. Leonard came on in relief, and allowed two hits over two innings.
“Korbin and Mac are both younger and threw well,” Johnson said.
Meanwhile, Barker doubled twice and drove in four, Mc-Karnin singled and doubled with three RBIs and Hutton and Church both had a pair of singles. Hesse and Michael both had doubles. Gavin Page also singled, as did Leonard.
SOMMER took the mound duties in Game 2, and had things well in control from the outset. He pitched all five innings, allowing four hits, one earned run and one walk, while striking out nine.
