CHANUTE — The Iola American Legion Post 15 Indians 19U have one tune-up Tuesday against Pittsburg before heading into next weekend’s zone tournament.
The Indians extended their win streak to seven games after picking up four wins while en route to the Chanute Wood Bat Tournament championship, which Coach T.J. Taylor considered a novelty tournament just for fun but will get back to business Tuesday.
“It felt pretty good. Wood bat tournaments are always fun for these guys,” Taylor said. “It just makes everything fun with zone and state coming up. We’re into more serious things now.”
After splitting with the Garnett American Legion Post 48 earlier this season, the Indians trounced the Muddogs in both games over the weekend 5-2 and 14-4 with their last appearance taking place in the championship game. Starter Easton Weseloh picked up the win in the title game with a trio of strikeouts over four innings. However, with wooden bats reducing the velocity of every hit and simultaneously adding a bit of English to every hit, solid a little further up the interior of the infield seemed a requirement for every win.
“Our pitchers were throwing pretty hard,” Post 15 shortstop Blake Ellis said. “We cheated a little up the middle. We just had to turn on the ball and we’re expected to make the play.”
Second baseman Ty Lord picked up the first of his team-leading three RBIs while putting Iola on the scoreboard in the opening frame with a sacrifice fly. In the second inning, RBIs by outfielder Kale Pratt, Weseloah and outfielder Henry White extended Iola’s advantage to 5-0.
The Indians further extended their lead with runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth inning on a slew of pitching miscues. Lord busted a six-run sixth inning wide open with a two-RBI single, followed by RBI singles from third baseman Ryan Golden and first baseman Cole Mathes.
“I just went out there and had fun,” Lord said. “That was the main thing — having fun and being confident.”
In the tournament opener Saturday, the Indians were not as dominant during their first encounter with the Muddogs. Trailing 2-0 after the first two innings, Post 15 leapfrogged the Muddogs 3-2 with a three-run third inning on a two-run, base-clearing triple by catcher Dominic Smith, who later scored on a throw to first after a dropped third strike. Outfielder Ty Shaughnessy and Ellis extended Iola’s lead in the sixth inning with a pair of RBI singles.
Starter Cole Mathis picked up the win with a strikeout over 3 1/3 innings while allowing four walks and four hits. Pratt picked up the save while coming on in the fourth inning with a strikeout while keeping Garnett hitless through the Muddogs’ final at-bat. Smith had a team-leading two RBIs, followed by Shaughnessy, Ellis and first baseman Grady Dougherty, who had one each.
The Indians benefitted from another strong pitching performance in round two against the Thayer Flyers 16U. Starter Grady Dougherty allowed just two hits while tallying 11 strikouts over 4 2/3 innings pitched while relievers Gavin Jones and Lord held up their end of victory with a pair of strikeouts during their innings on the mound.
Mathes busted a scoreless fourth-inning stalemate with an RBI grounder, then Ellis gave Iola a 2-0 advantage with another RBI grounder. Iola secured the victory after a catching error resulted in a pair of runs in the seventh inning.
In the semifinal game, the Indians proved their previous sweep of the Fort Scott Elite was not fluke. Lord picked up his first RBI Sunday with a sacrifice fly, but later added a pair of hits to tie Dougherty for the team lead in hits with a pair for each and gave Iola a 2-0 advantage after scoring on a pitching error moments later.
An infield error on a Shaughnessy hard chopper gave Iola the lead again 3-2 after Fort Scott plated a pair of runners in their first at-bat. Iola went on a 5-1 run from there with Lord scoring on a dropped third strike and a two-RBI single by Ellis, who later scored on a pitching miscue and a bases-loaded walk. Smith picked up the win with three strikeouts over three innings with three runs and nine walks.
“Those teams were pretty good, and when we’re firing on all cylinders we know we’re better than those teams,” Taylor said.
outfielder Ryan Golden connects with a pitch during the wood bat tournament Sunday at Santa Fe Park in Chanute.
With the wins, the Indians improved to 18-5 ahead of Tuesday’s regular season finale against Pittsburg. First pitch for Tuesday’s doubleheader is 6 p.m.
