With a win against Chanute Saturday, the A Iola Indians inched closer in their quest to qualify for the Junior American Legion state tournament.
The Indians rode past Chanute comfortably, 8-4, to advance to tonights zone championship game.
With head coach Troy Smith out of town, Saturdays decision-making was left to assistant coach Heath Curry. The two have stayed in communication, keeping their plan was simple. Jump on Chanute from the start and keep the bats firing.
Chanute broke the deadlock in the second inning to take a 1-0 lead, but the Indians rallied back in the bottom half. Bradyn Cole led off with a single to third base, and Dillon Slaven came in to pinch run. Dillon Bycroft followed reaching first on a walk to put Indians on first and second. Drake Sellman,who has been cold as of late, turned things around in this one. Sellman belted a drive through the infield gap to bring home Slaven from second and tie the game back up.
Instead of being content, the Iola offense seemed to only get hotter. The Indians loaded the bases after Tyson Hermreck reached on an error, and took the lead 2-1 after Kole Rogers was hit by a pitch. Back at the top of the order, Nathan Louk brought home another run with a sacrifice fly to deep right field. Ryker Curry capped the Indian scoring in the second with an RBI double to score Hermreck and Rogers. The Indian rally was good for five runs of three hits, making the score 5-1.
We came out with a purpose and swung the bats really well, Curry said. We faced two pretty good pitchers who threw the ball really hard, and we jumped on them. Every time they started to make a little rally, we answered them.
Bradyn Cole battled his way on the mound for Iola, collecting six strikeouts and allowing only one earned run in the complete seven-inning game. The Indians ace allowed eight hits, but never let Chanute run around the bases freely.
Chanute made it closer when they got within two runs in the fourth, but Iola punched right back. Kole Rogers started the bottom half with a walk, and eventually made his way around after a series of careless mistakes from Chanute, including a balk and a few wild pitches. After a Louk ground out, and Eli Smith left standing, Curry kept the inning alive with a hard grounder to center field. Cole picked up his second hit of the afternoon with a well hit ball over the center fielders head to score Curry. Bycroft repeated Coles act, except this time to right field to bring another Indian home, making the score 8-3.
Chanute added one more run, ending the game 8-4. With this win, the Indians are in the zone championship game against Topeka Washburn Rural. A win there, and the Indians are through to the state tournament. A loss, and the Indians will face the winner of the consolation bracket immediately after the game against Topeka.
They seemed laser-focussed tonight, Cutty said. They wanted this game, and didnt take Chanute lightly. We played baseball the way we can know we can, hit the way we know we can hit, pitched the way we know we can hit, but just have to clean up the defense.
The challenge for tonight will be the Iolas unfamiliarity with the side from Topeka. Nicknamed the Senators, this is the only team at this years zone tournament the Indians did not have the luxury of playing in the regular season. Not to worry, Iola has been in this situation before.
It looks like they throw the ball OK. We have heard that they have some pretty good arms, but so do we. If we come out with the focus and hit the ball like we did today, we should be in good shape, Cutty said. Not knowing anything about them (Topeka), it is a little bit harder to know what pitcher to go with. I think either way we will be set up pretty good.
Tonights first pitch is at 5 p.m. from Emporia. Follow the game on Twitter @IolaSports.
