PITTSBURG — Iola’s Post 15 Junior Indians saw their bats go cold at the wrong time Friday.
The Indians put runners on base in every inning but one, but were unable to dent the scoreboard in a 5-0 loss to Wellsville.
The defeat, in the KALB Class C Junior Legion 17U State Baseball tournament, puts an end to Iola’s 2026 season.
Iola had opened the double-elimination tournament Thursday evening with a 6-4 loss to Topeka.
A bases-clearing double by Caleb Timken turned a 1-0 Wellsville lead into a 4-0 advantage in the third inning.
Meanwhile, Iola put two runners on base in the first, a single by Andrew Donovan before Austin Campbell was hit by a pitch with two outs. But that rally ended with a pop-up.
That set the tone. Braylon Keithly walked in the second inning, and Jaxen Mueller and Ty Thomas singled in the third and fourth innings, respectively, but all three runners were stranded on base.
A sixth-inning error led to Wellsville’s final run in the contest.
Thomas Allee got the pitching nod for Iola, giving up four hits with a strikeout over two innings. Mueller came on in relief, allowing four hits over four innings with a pair of strikeouts.
Mueller, Donovan, Allee and Thomas all had singles.
Topeka 6, Iola 4
The Indians rallied with three runs in their last at-bat, but came just short vs. Topeka Thursday.
But it was too little after Topeka broke open a scoreless deadlock with a four-run third.
The Indians responded well enough. Mueller walked to lead off the fourth inning, moved to third on Donovan’s second and scored on Cade Curry’s sacrifice fly to center.
An error and two walks paved the way for some insurance for Topeka, however, as the Senators stretched their advantage to 6-1 in the bottom of the fifth.
The Indians came up empty when Mueller and Donovan singled with two outs in the sixth, but that set the tone for a ferocious rally an inning later.
Campbell started things by reaching base on a hit-by-pitch. Will Disbrow singled him to third, and Campbell scored on a wild pitch. Keithly reached with a walk, leading to Kaiden Jones’s two-run single, making it 6-4.
