HUMBOLDT — The 1-2 pitching combination of Shamus Kearney and Luke Meyer of Wellsville weren’t enough to stop the bats of Iola AA Post 15 American Legion’s baseball team. On the opposing side, Indian hurlers Alex Murrow and Aaron Barclay silenced the Wellsville bats with two consecutive no-hitters.
“Our pitching has just been great,” coach Roland Wier said. “Alex Murrow did a great job the first game, Aaron Barclay came in and pitched five great innings in game two. We’re hitting the ball, too, so everything seems to be coming together at the same time.”
Both Kearney and Meyer pitched for Wellsville High School’s 3A State Championship team. Murrow started game one going head to head with Kearney.
Iola pounced in the first inning for five runs. Trent Latta started things off with an RBI-single, knocking in Drew Faulhaber, who had a single of his own. With the bases loaded, Grayson Pearish knocked in two on a single. Both Caleb Vanatta and Pearish would come in to score on wild pitches.
In the second inning, the Indians added another run on an RBI-single from Derrick Weir. After a silent third inning, the fourth innning resulted in four more runs and an Indian win. Weir got things started with a bases-loaded infield single, knocking in a run. With two outs, Jacob Carpenter had an RBI-single. Kason Siemens entered the game as a pinch hitter. His first hit was a single that scored two runs, ending the game with a 10-0 victory.
Alex Murrow pitched all four — hitless and scoreless — innings. He did have three walks, but pitched with ease for the win. Weir, Pearish and Siemens each had two RBIs. Hunter Murrow had two singles, scoring twice in the game.
GREAT PITCHING continued for the Indians in game two’s 4-0 win, with another no-hitter. This time Barclay tossed the gem.
The Indians got started with one run in the first inning. After reaching first base on an error and a steal to second, Murrow proceeded to score on a wild pitch in his attempt to steal third base. Iola added another run in the second inning off an RBI-single by Caleb D’armond.
Vanatta’s first hit of the day came in the third inning, scoring two on his single. That’s all the Indians would need to win 4-0.
Aaron Barclay went the distance, tossing five no-hit innings. He walked three batters and struck out one.
“These guys responded to the challenges,” coach Weir said. “We said Fort Scott was going to be tough, we beat them twice. We said Wellsville was going to be tough, we beat them twice. Now, we’ve got another tough contest on Wednesday against Paola, so now they’ve got to step up again and I think they will.”
The Indians (22-1) play the doubleheader against Paola Wednesday at Humboldt starting at 6 p.m.
