Iola sweeps Wellsville, chance at Pioneer League title

Iola High’s first batter struck the biggest hit of the day.
The game against Wellsville started in the bottom of the second inning from play suspended from last Tuesday due to bad weather.
Iola’s Drew Faulhaber began in the batter’s box with bases loaded, two outs and a 1-1 count. He came through with a double that went into the left-center field gap and cleared the bases. Just like that, Iola was up 3-0.
“It was nice for that to happen, but it was big for Drew to get that hit,” coach Mark Percy said. “It was huge. I told them that even if we don’t get anything right there, we’re going to play well today. I thought we did. We’re not playing unbelievable yet, but we’re playing as well as we have all year. We’ve been playing with more confidence than all year.”
Iola went on to win the game 4-1. The Mustangs added another run in the fourth inning. After Faulhaber singled, Ethan Scheibmeir hit an RBI-double to give Iola a 4-0 lead. Wellsville’s only run in the game came in the sixth inning.
Scheibmeir tossed five innings for the day (after starting the first two from Tuesday). He threw a gem, striking out 12 batters and giving up only six hits.
The Mustangs’ offense kept things moving in game two. Faulhaber walked to start the bottom of the first inning. He eventually came around to score the game’s first run on a wild-pitch.
Keanen Badders also crossed home plate in the inning. After hitting a base hit, he stole second base. Evan Sigg hit Badders in with a single. Iola took a 2-0 lead after the first.
In the third inning, Iola added another run. Coleson Wiggin walked. He later scored on an error to give the Mustangs a 3-0 lead.
Sigg came through again for Iola in the fourth inning. This time, he came to the plate with the bases loaded. He hit another single and earned two RBIs from it. Iola led 5-0, which would be the perfect amount of runs needed to get the win.
Wellsville got one run back in the fifth inning, but came back with a strong seventh.
Faulhaber got the start in the second game, and up until the seventh inning, he had been flawless. Through the first six innings, he gave up one run, walked none and struck out six.
 In the bottom of the seventh, Wellsville was able to score two runs on Faulhaber. After a leadoff walk and a single, Wellsville got a double into an outfield gap to score two. Iola still led 5-3, but only had one out.
Scheibmeir, who pitched game one, came into the game. After giving up an RBI-single he got a fielder’s choice and a strikeout. Iola won 5-4.
“That’s a really good team,” Percy said. “We had some really good pitching tonight, Drew got a little tired, but he was over 100 pitches. A few of the pitches they hit were down in the strike zone. They reached out and poked it, that was good hitting.”
Iola (12-2) finishes the season at Santa Fe Trail at 4:30 p.m. today. If Iola wins both games, they will win the Pioneer League. But, it will come on short rest, and without Scheibmeir or Faulhaber able to pitch.
“We’ve got at least four guys that have been throwing some varsity and some JV,” Percy said. “So, we’ve got those four and we’ve got some other guys that may come in, too. That should give us enough guys, if someone is struggling.”
Percy said Santa Fe Trail features one of the deepest lineups in the league. But, Iola is up for the challenge.