It didn’t take long for Iola High’s softball team to hit high gear Tuesday.
The Mustangs opened the season in fine fashion Tuesday, rolling past visiting Crest 21-6 and 15-0.
“It was a fun way to start,” IHS head coach Chris Weide said. “I’m pretty excited about what we have.”
As could be expected, Iola received contributions from several sources.
Freshman Zoie Hesse, who missed practice Monday because of illness, overcame some early jitters, and wound up shutting down the Lady Lancer offense, allowing one hit over four innings in the opener.
And junior Elza Clift, Iola’s primary pitcher a season ago, picked up where she left off in Game 2, allowing nary a baserunner in three perfect innings.
“Elza has been working hard over the winter to be ready for the season,” Weide said. “She and Reese (Curry, Iola’s catcher) work really well together and Elza was hitting her spots.”
“We didn’t get our batting going the way we should have,” Crest head coach Kelly Ball said. “We reached a point where we weren’t hitting the ball, especially after the second game. And we had too many errors.”
The Lady Lancers took advantage of an early opportunity after an infield single, hit batters and a walk loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the first. Kaelyn Nilges ripped a line drive single to right to make it 2-0. Delaney Ramsey scored on a passed ball and Nilges came in on a wild pitch, and suddenly Crest held a 4-0 lead.
Iola’s Clift reached on a bunt single, freshman Brooklyn Holloway singled to the opposite field and Curry was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Hesse’s line drive to center turned into a two-run error before Harper Desmarteau singled in a pair to knot the score at 4-4. Two more errors brought Desmarteau home, before Kyndal Bycroft scored on a ground ball to push Iola ahead by two.
Crest again responded quickly. Allison Weatherman was hit by a pitch, Kaylee Allen walked and Kinley Edgerton singled to load the bases with nobody out in the second. Jones hit an RBI single and Ramsey’s grounder to second knotted the score at 6-6.
But Hesse found her groove from there. She struck out the final two batters of the inning, and then worked around a hit batter and a pair of walks in the third. She was aided by a nice double play, when Clift snared a line drive at short and threw to second to double off the retreating baserunner.
By then, Iola’s offense was humming in high gear. Alana Mader had the big blow in the second inning, a bases-clearing triple to push the Mustangs ahead 10-6. Two walks and an error, followed by a two-run single from Kinsey Schinstock pushed the lead to seven runs. Clift bunted for another single, and an errant throw brought Schinstock home from first base on the play. Holloway tripled in a run, Curry followed with an RBI single and another fielding error capped the seven-run inning.
Hesse retired Crest in the top of the fourth. In Iola’s half, a hit batter and two walks preceded Curry’s two-run double. Hesse followed with another two-run double to end the game, via the 15-run mercy rule.
She struck out six batters and went 1-for-4 with a double and three runs scored. Desmarteau had three singles and three RBIs. Curry singled and doubled. Holloway had two hits, three RBIs and a triple. Harper Desmarteau singled three times with three RBIs and two runs. Clift had two singles. Mader had a triple. Schinstock chipped in with a single.
