The American Legion Post 15 Junior Indians head into this weekend’s Junior Legion Tournament in Marysville looking to bounce back from Wednesday’s 17-0 loss to the Fort Scott Freedom.
The Freedom seemed undeterred by cascades of rain throughout the contest as they quickly took command with five runs in the opening frame, then six more in the fourth inning as they cruised to victory.
“They were solid and it was a good test,” Iola coach Ryker Curry said. “I wish we would have done better at making some plays, but our at-bats are getting better. We’re putting the ball in play more, but we have to make better plays on defense.”
Iola starting pitcher Braylon Keithly took the loss after giving up five runs on five hits. He tied Iola reliever Cade Curry for the team lead in strikeouts with two each. Iola outfielder Jaxen Mueller, Colony catcher Andrew Donovan and Iola outfielder Kaiden Jones tied for the team lead in hits with one each.
“Every time we get out on the field, it’s an opportunity to get better,” Coach Curry said. “We’ve had a couple of teams cancel on us recently, so it’s been a while since we played. I think that’s why we struggled so much tonight (Wednesday), but this will set us up good for the weekend.”
With the loss, the Junior Indians record is 3-3. Getting on the right side of .500 this weekend will be no easy task. They open the tournament Saturday at 1:30 p.m. against Marysville Post 163 then face Hiawatha Post 66 at 6:30 p.m. They wrap up pool play against the Topeka-based Kansas Senators at 11 a.m. Sunday.
“It will be good to stay in a hotel, get to know each other more and become buddies,” Curry said. “Even if we don’t play as well as we want, if we play as well as we can and compete, then it will be worth it to go out there.”
