Visiting Wellsville swept the Mustangs, 16-6 and 7-4, to send Iola into the Class 3A postseason with a 10-15 record.
Iola holds the eighth seed in the regional playoffs, and will host Cherryvale at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at Allen Community College.
The winner will advance to the semifinals against either top-seeded Frontenac or 16th seed Anderson County on Thursday, with the championship game to follow later that day for a berth in the state playoffs.
Iola erupted for six runs in the bottom of the first of the opener against the Eagles. Harper Desmarteau reached on an error, then moved to third on a second error, and scored on a ground-out from Addi Wacker. A series of passed balls brought Camryn Wille, Hannah Thompson and Brooklyn Holloway in to score before Kashyn Curry knocked in Kinzley Fountain with an RBI single. Curry, in turn, scored on another fielding error.
But Iola’s momentum came to halt from there, as Wellsville put together five runs in both the second and fourth innings to take control. Iola committed seven errors, and Wellsville four.
Fountain had a double, Iola’s only extra-base hit. Wacker, Rutherford, Kaelin Rodriguez and Curry had the other hits.
WELLSVILLE broke open a 4-4 deadlock in the nightcap with a three-run eighth inning.
Desmarteau kicked off Iola’s scoring when she drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the first and scored when Wellsville misplayed a line drive from Rodriguez.
Desmarteau contributed to Iola’s second run as well, when she was hit by a pitch, advanced to second on a grounder and scored on Breighlynn Rutherfor’s single, giving Iola a 2-1 lead.
Then, after Wellsville rallied to take a 3-2 lead in the fifth, Harper again got on base, courtesy of a Wellsville error. Rutherford’s double chased her home to knot the score.
The Eagles scored again to take a 4-3 lead into the bottom of the seventh, where Wacker led off with a double, and moved to third on an infield single from Rutherford. Rodriguez followed with an RBI grounder. Wellsville took full advantage of an error, wild pitch, passed ball and a walk to take a 5-4 lead.
Rutherford went 3-for-4, with a double and a pair of RBIs to pace Iola’s offense.
Fountain allowed seven hits with a strikeout.
