BURLINGTON — Iola High’s softball team had a tough day in the field Thursday.
The Mustangs struggled with the glove, which paved the way for host Burlington to score seven unearned runs in a 7-1 setback.
And while Iola’s offense found its groove in the nightcap, Burlington was able to take advantage of 10 walks (and five more unearned runs) in a 12-5 Iola defeat.
The losses drop Iola to 2-3 on the year. The Mustangs were at Chanute Friday, but that game was not complete by press time.
The leaky defense spoiled a dandy pitcher’s duel between Iola’s Elza Clift and Burlington’s Grace Birk.
Clift allowed just three hits and struck out four over six innings.
Meanwhile, Birk limited Iola to three hits while striking out 13.
A leadoff error, followed by a single and a wild pitch pushed Burlington ahead 2-0 in the third inning. Back-to-back errors in the fourth sent two more Wildcat runners home to make it 4-0.
Then, two errors on the same play led to a 6-0 Wildcat lead in the fifth. Another run came in on a ground-out.
Iola’s lone tally came when Harper Desmarteau reached on an error and scored on Kaysin Crusinbery’s two-out single in the top of the seventh. Zoie Hesse had Iola’s other two singles.
THE MUSTANGS took full advantage of some wild Burlington pitching to start the second game.
Three hit batters and a walk gave Iola a 1-0 lead. Desmarteau followed with a sacrifice fly, but Iola’s rally ended with the bases loaded.
Hesse singled and scored on an error in the top of the third, pushing the Mustangs ahead, 3-1, but again Iola left two runners in scoring position when the rally ended.
This time, it was Burlington’s turn to take advantage of some wild pitching. Five walks and a hit batter started the bottom of the third before a two-out single pushed Burlington on top, 5-3.
Reese Curry singled home a run in the top of the fourth, before scoring on Hesse’s RBI double to knot the score at 5-5.
But the Wildcats kept up the pressure, scoring twice in the fourth to take the lead for good. A five-run sixth put the game out of reach.
