GARNETT — Iola High’s softball season came to an end at the Class 4A-II Softball Regional at Garnett on Tuesday. There were signs of optimism scattered throughout the game, but not enough consistency in the 13-3 loss to Prairie View.
“They were finding some gaps, but we had a few errors that got us down,” coach Melissa Stiffler said. “I think we thought we were in it at that point, then thought we didn’t have a chance. We had some great plays and some great hits. We almost had a few girls put it out of the park.”
After the first inning, Iola was down 3-0. Prairie View’s first four batters reached base. With no outs and a runner on second base, shortstop Ashlie Shields limited the damage.
She fielded a hard hit ball, tagged the runner out heading for third base and rifled a throw to get the out at first. The next batter grounded it back up to Shields, who again fielded it cleanly and threw out the runner at first base to get out of the inning.
Iola’s bats answered back in the top of the second inning. Righty Jadyn Sigg started it off with an opposite-field ground rule double, only about two feet from leaving the yard. After an out, Taylor Sell knocked Sigg in with a hard hit that Prairie View’s short stop didn’t play cleanly. It was the only run Iola scored in the inning.
The bottom of the second is where momentum really started to shift toward the Buffalos. In the first inning, Prairie View’s three runs were earned off of good hitting. They added three more in the second, mostly due to fielding miscues by Iola — a problem the Fillies have suffered from all season. Still, the lead was only single digits at 6-1.
In the third inning, Wade smacked a double to left-center field with only one out. It was her second hit of the game; she hit a single in the first inning. Unfortunately Wade was left stranded at second at the end of the inning.
That situation was a common theme throughout the game.
“We left too many runners on base, and when you can’t score those girls, you know you’re going to be in trouble,” Stiffler said.
In the third inning, the Buffalos added four more runs. The ball honed in on a gap between Sigg at third base and Ashlie Shields at shortstop. Three identical singles in a row found that sweet spot. Shields moved closer to Sigg, only to have the next batter hit the ball on a shallow pop fly about 10 feet past second base. Shields dove for it, but came up empty. If she had stayed put, it probably would have been caught. That’s just the way things seemed to be going for the Fillies.
Although they gave up four runs that inning, there were a couple of standout plays in the field. Katie Shields made a nice, diving catch in center field. On a wild pitch, catcher Taylor Sell got to the ball quickly and tagged out a runner going for home plate.
The lead for the Buffalos grew to 10-1.
The Fillies got one back in the fourth inning. Sigg started the inning off with a hit by pitch. She then made it to second base on a wild pitch. Katie Shields moved Sigg to third base on a fielder’s choice back to the pitcher. After Sell walked, a pinch runner came in for her. On a double steal, the runner at second was out, but Sigg came into score.
Still, for every one run Iola scored, the Buffalos scored three. In the fourth inning, Prairie View added three runs to take a 13-2 advantage. Iola needed two more runs to keep the game going past the fifth inning. They scored one instead.
Ashlie Shields got a base hit — her first of the game — to start the inning. Wade followed with her third hit, a single. It pushed Shields to third base with no one out. Chloe Gardner came to the plate. She nailed a ball to left field. Instead of finding a gap, it was hit right at the left fielder. Riley Murry came through with an RBI-single. It was the last hit and run scored for the Fillies on the season.
Iola lost 13-3.
Though there were flashes of great play for Iola throughout the game, nothing consistent was put together. For every great hit Iola had, there would be a quick out to follow. In the field, there were as many errors as their were noteworthy plays.
As for who will coach the Fillies next season, that remains to be seen. Stiffler took the reins on short notice this year after coach Vince Coons was suspended due to an altercation. Neither coach will be back next season.
Stiffler agreed to fill in for only this season. She had coached before and played in high school.
“I have a daughter that is into sports and she’s in Yates Center. She’s going to be in high school and plays softball,” Stiffler said. “If I kept doing it, I would miss a lot of her games. So, I made it clear that I would do it for one year. I enjoy it, I’ve just been out of it too long and am pretty rusty.”
Stiffler thinks the team has the potential to grow into something more.
“They’re young,” Stiffler said. “We had two freshmen start, four sophomores I think. At the end of the game I only had one senior playing. So, they have a lot of potential.”
Prairie View ended up beating Anderson County in the championship game 19-4 to advance to state.
Stampeding Buffalos too much for Fillies, 13-3
