HUMBOLDT — There was no sign of a full moon, and Friday the 13th is nearly three weeks past.
But on a surreal evening at Humboldt’s new sports complex, Iola’s and Paola’s AA American Legion powerhouses put forth one of the craziest doubleheaders in recent memory.
The two-time defending state champion Post 15 Indians hosted Paola, which featured several players from its state runner-up high school baseball team, in a key late-season doubleheader Wednesday.
The drama started in the bottom of the seventh of the opener, when Paola outfielders misplayed not one, but two, routine fly balls.
The miscues allowed the Post 15 Indians to storm back from a 4-2 deficit to win, 5-4.
The fans were put back on the edge of their seats near the conclusion of the nightcap.
Iola’s Trent Latta pitched brilliantly in the second game, striking out 14 in six innings, but exited one inning shy of a complete game.
Paola nearly came all the way back from a 7-1 deficit in its half of the seventh, scoring five and putting the tying run on third base before Indian reliever C.J. D’Armond struck out the Panthers’ Jace Trumbly to secure the 7-6 victory.
“We had some excitement there at the end,” Indians head coach Roland Weir said. “Paola’s a great club.”
Paola looked to have the upper hand in the opener after its No. 3 hitter Nick Sloan blasted a two-run home run off Iola starter Grayson Pearish in the top of the fourth to break a 1-1 deadlock.
Derrick Weir’s RBI single drove in Latta in the bottom of the fifth to cut the deficit to 3-2, before Paola tacked on an insurance run in the top of the seventh.
That’s when it got crazy.
Drew Faulhaber smacked a one-out single before Latta lofted a seemingly routine fly ball to Trumbly, the Panther left-fielder.
But a gusty north wind kept pushing the ball farther and farther to the wall. Trumbly was still stepping back when the ball bounced off his glove for a two-base error, pushing Faulhaber to third.
Derrick Weir followed with a line drive smash to center that Paola’s Mitchell Sloan caught at the wall for a very loud sacrifice fly, to cut the gap to 4-3.
“I thought it was gone,” Roland Weir said. “He hit it hard.”
Little matter. Caleb Vanatta followed with an RBI single to center, scoring Latta and tying the score.
Lady Luck wasn’t finished smiling on Iola.
Jacob Carpenter lofted another seemingly routine fly ball to left center that the Panther outfielder misplayed. The ball dropped untouched for a single. Vanatta, who was running on contact, scored ahead of the throw for the game-winner.
Nick Sloan’s RBI single put Paola on top, 1-0, in the top of the first. Hunter Murrow scored the equalizer for Post 15 on a walk and error in the bottom half.
Faulhaber picked up the win in relief of starter Grayson Pearish, striking out one in a hitless inning. Pearish, meanwhile, struck out eight in six innings. He also walked five and hit two batters, while allowing six hits.
Vanatta went 2-for-4 with a double. Weir had a pair of singles. Latta doubled, while Murrow, Faulhaber, Carpenter and Pearish all had singles.
THE DRAMA wasn’t over quite yet, even though Iola plated three in the first. Weir drove in two more with a double before stealing home when Paola tossed a wild pitch on a potential squeeze play. Faulhaber pushed the lead to 4-0 in the second when he walked to lead off the inning, stole second and moved to third on a ground ball before scoring on a wild pitch.
Latta took it from there. He struck out the side in each of the first four innings, scattering three hits in the process, before wobbling a bit in the fifth.
Paola strung together two hits and a pair of walks — further damage was curbed by a nifty double play on a failed bunt attempt — to cut Iola’s lead to 4-1.
But Iola’s Aaron Barclay capped a two-out rally for the Indians in the bottom of the inning. His bases-loaded single plated two, before he induced a wild throw from the catcher on a double steal, allowing Faulhaber to score, pushing the lead to 7-1.
They didn’t realize at the time how crucial the play was, Coach Weir noted.
“It was huge,” he said. “That was our game-winning hit.”
Latta exited the mound, having thrown 111 pitches through his six innings of work.
“Trent threw a fantastic game,” Weir said. “He’d been a little off his last couple of starts, but this was the best he’s thrown in a while. I would have liked to have seen him get a complete game, but his pitch count was getting up there.”
Paola greeted Faulhaber with five straight hits to start the top of the seventh, including a bases-loaded triple by Trey Taylor and an RBI single by Dustin Rojohn, cutting the deficit to 7-5.
D’Armond came on in relief, retiring the next two batters, before Sloan blasted an RBI triple to center, putting the fans back on the edges of their seats.
D’Armond zipped a 2-2 fastball by Trumbly for strike three, ending the game.
“C.J. came in and did a fantastic job,” Weir said. “We hadn’t been able to get him a lot of work lately, but he stepped up for us.”
Weir added two more hits with another double. Kason Siemens also smacked two singles. Hunter Murrow, Vanatta, Carpenter, Barclay and Alex Murrow all had singles.
Latta surrendered five hits and two walks with his 14 strikeouts. D’Armond added a strikeout.
THE SWEEP was hardly a work of beauty, Weir acknowledged, but he’ll take it.
“We stole the first game,” Weir said. “I told the guys we wanted to earn the win in the second game, and we did that. We made it a little interesting, but the guys kept at it.
“The kids have really come together,” he continued. “They didn’t hang their heads when they got down to Fort Scott and Paola, and they came back to win. I really like how we’re playing. I’m really looking forward to the next two or three weeks.”
The Indians play Monday at Burlington and Tuesday at Chanute in makeup doubleheaders before the KABA League Tournament opens play July 12 at the Humboldt sports complex.
