Iola wins Walter Johnson Tournament – Cubs beat Cats for 3rd place

CHANUTE — Iola High’s Mustangs captured their second Humboldt High School Walter Johnson Baseball Tournament championship Thursday.
The Mustangs powered past Neodesha High’s Bluestreaks 11-1 in five innings in the championship contest. Iola’s players seemed to enjoy playing on the artificial turf at Neosho County Community College’s Hudson Field in Chanute
The four-team tournament opened under bright sunshine but a strong, cold breeze.  But as predicted, rain moved in and forced a long delay.
“Our kids came out and played pretty well in the championship game. We left Iola at 7 a.m., played the 9 o’clock game then sat around until this one,” said Mark Percy, Mustang head coach.
Iola used a seven-run third inning to push past host Humboldt High’s Cubs to open the tournament. Iola won 11-3 after building a 9-0 lead through four innings.
That game was played in the sunshine. Neodesha beat Yates Center in the next contest, but no score was available. Calls from the Register to both coaches this morning went unreturned.
Then came the shift in weather conditions. HHS athletic director John Johnson told the Register before the tournament the possibility of wet weather played a role in the decision to move the tournament to NCCC.
“We played our regional games down here last year when it rained. It’s a great facility and gives all the kids an opportunity to play here on the artificial surface,” Johnson said.
“We tried to get a few of our (Humboldt’s) regular doubleheaders played here this season but it never worked out. We were able to move the tournament from our fields here.”
The Walter Johnson Tournament has been played at Humboldt’s Walter Johnson Park since it began.
The Cubs and Wildcats squared off for the third time this week — the played a doubleheader at Humboldt Monday — in the third-place game Thursday. It was halted for a lightning/rain delay.
What were the Mustangs doing?
“The guys ate then went inside the school (Neosho County) and slept for awhile,” Percy said.
Humboldt rolled past Yates Center — no score was available — in five innings to capture third place.
Iola won the tournament in 2009. The tournament was cancelled last year because of rain.
The Mustangs’ run through the tournament began with the 11-3 victory over the Cubs in the morning. Iola’s leadoff hitter Levi Ashmore gave the Cubs a wake-up call quickly.
Ashmore drew a walk then on a sacrifice bunt laid down by Clint Heffern, he caught the Cubs napping. Ashmore never slowed down going to second and turned the corner headed for third. An errant throw by the Cubs allowed Ashmore to score the first run of the game.
The Mustangs took full advantage of Humboldt’s pitchers’ inability to find the strike zone. Seth Nickell issued three straight walks to Iola after an error and a fielder’s choice play put two Mustang runners on in the third.
Two runs were forced in on based-on-balls, then Aaron Barclay cranked out a two-run single. That chased Nickell off the mound and Nathan Whitcomb come on in relief.
Whitcomb retired the first batter he faced then walked Devon Conner. Ashmore came through with an RBI single. Iola scored seven runs in the inning.
The Mustangs produced another run in the fourth. Humboldt made a little noise in the fifth with three of its five hits coming in the inning.
Iola starter Corey Taylor had been cruising along on the mound but hit a little snag in the fifth. Whitcomb reached on an error then Grayson Pearish singled and Taylor Lhuiller reached on a fielder’s choice.
Nickell was hit by a pitch and Iola committed another error. Christian Wiltse and Hunter Murrow had back-to-back singles. The Cubs plated three runs.
Taylor, who went six innings to get the win, came back and pitched a strong sixth. He allowed three runs on five hits and two walks and hit one. He struck out three.
The Mustangs added three more runs in the sixth for the final margin.
Ashmore saw his first duty on the mound and retired the Cubs in order in the seventh. He had two strikeouts.
“Corey pitched better than he has been and he was ahead of most of the hitters. Levi pitched well in the seventh,” Percy said.
“The kids really liked playing on the artificial surface.”
“You slide a lot faster on this,” said Jerrik Sigg, Mustang center fielder. “I thought I was going past the base (at second) so I grabbed it. But it’s fun to run on.”
In the game, Drew Walden tripled and Sigg doubled for the Mustangs. Ashmore, Taylor, Barclay and Conner each had a single.
Humboldt got two singles from Pearish, a double by Whitcomb and singles from Hunter Murrow and Christian Wiltse. Nickell, Whitcomb and Caleb Vanatta pitched for Humboldt.
The Mustangs started out in much the same manner in the championship game against Neodesha. Ashmore’s speed on the bases made an impact.
Ashmore singled, stole second and went to third on a passed ball. Sigg drove in the run on a sacrifice fly.
Iola had a 12-hit attack against Neodesha. Ashmore had two singles and triple. Sigg connected for a single and a triple as he drove in three runs in the game.
Barclay hit two singles and Heffern tripled. Taylor, Braden Larson, Mason Coons and Conner each had a base hit.
Heffern limited the Bluestreaks to five hits — four came in the fourth inning as they scored a run. He struck out three.
The Mustangs produced four runs in the third. They added three in the fourth and finished the game in the fifth with three runs.
Heffern had a two-run triple and scored on Sigg’s triple to end the game via run-rule in five innings.
The Mustangs improved to 9-1 overall.
They get back into Southeast Kansas League play at home Tuesday. In a league showdown, the Mustangs host Pittsburg High’s Purple Dragons.
Iola is 7-1 in SEK play while Pittsburg is 5-1 (7-1). Pittsburg’s SEK doubleheader with Columbus (4-0, 4-2) Thursday was postponed.