OSAWATOMIE — Ethan Scheibmeir knew he had a tough matchup in front of him on Tuesday when he squared off with Osawatomie ace and Emporia State commit Derek Manes.
Scheibmeir and his offense rose to the occasion and knocked off the Trojan star. Iola took game one 4-2 and followed that up with a 9-4 win in the second game.
“He pitched against us last year and shut us down,” Scheibmeir said. “I knew I had to throw one of my best games.”
Scheibmeir got his team on the board in the first frame. After Derek Bycroft led-off with a double, the Iola ace knocked in his teammate with a single to give the Mustangs a 1-0 lead.
From there, Scheibmeir took over on the mound. The junior allowed only two hits over the first six innings against the Trojans.
“My off-speed (pitches) were great,” Scheibmeir said. “My change-up really kept them off balance.”
Iola tacked on another run in the third inning as Scheibmeir came around to score the team’s second run.
Scheibmeir benefited from strong defensive plays around him all evening. The biggest one came in the bottom of the fifth.
Osawatomie No. 2 hitter Cody Hazlett was at the plate with two outs and got ahold of a Scheibmeir delivery, sending the ball into the gap in right-center field.
Senior Brett Taylor got a good jump from his position in center field. As the ball started to fall toward the ground, Taylor jumped into the air, stretching his glove up toward the ball.
Taylor crashed to the earth and the ball sank into the leather of his glove.
Right fielder Garrett Wade looked down at his teammate and confirmed to the crowd the senior had caught the ball.
With Ben Cooper back at shortstop after returning from an illness, the Mustang defense is much more set than it had been in recent weeks.
“Hopefully we can stay healthy and we got all the sickness out of the way,” Iola coach Mark Percy said.
Cooper manned shortstop in both games with Isaac Vink at second and Ethan Sigg at first base.
Bycroft and Scheibmeir each had a start at pitcher and third base.
