State-bound Indians

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Sports

July 16, 2019 - 10:36 AM

EMPORIA — A place at state was on the line Monday night for the A Iola Indians in Emporia. After being thumped by Topeka Washburn Rural in the zone championship game to start the night, the Indians had a second, and last, chance against Chanute. 

Iola put the recent past behind them, and came on strong with a 6-3 victory to punch their ticket to Topeka for the state tournament. 

Against Topeka, Iola appeared to have no business in the zone championship game. After the first inning, Iola trailed Topeka 0-5. The bats that popped on Saturday against Chanute were nonexistent. The Indians were able to muster only three hits courtesy of Nathan Louk, Eli Smith and Dillon Bycroft. 

Head coach Troy Smith relayed the message to assistant Heath Curry to go with his son, Eli Smith. But Eli was unable to find a rhythm. Smith allowed six runs off seven hits without a strikeout, but the pitching was only a fraction of Iola’s problem. Four Indian errors led to four Topeka runs, and Iola was unable to overcome the 0-10 deficit. 

“It was bad,” Curry said. “We just came out kind of flat, and I honestly don’t know what to say about that first game. That game does not show how we play baseball, but that happens sometimes. Topeka is a good team, and their pitcher threw the ball well, but it just didn’t seem like we were ready to play. ” 

With a short memory, the Indians were able to put the winning formula together for a rematch against Chanute. The Indians took care of Chanute 8-4 in their first game of this year’s zone tournament, and Monday night was no different. 

The Indians took an early lead in the first. Louk led off for Iola with a hard-driven ground ball to center field, and Smith followed with a grounder to Chantute’s shortstop allowing the Indian run to come across after a throwing error. Three consecutive outs led to a short rally, but Iola went into the second leading 1-0. 

Chanute took the lead in the third, but Iola replied and didn’t look back. Smith and Ryker Curry led the bottom half with a hit apiece to put runners on first and second for Bradyn Cole. Cole’s RBI single brought home Smith to put Iola on level terms. After Bycroft got caught swinging, Drake Sellman’s hard grounder was mishandled in the field, bringing home Curry and Cole off the poor throw, giving Iola the 4-2 lead. 

All season long Louk had been deemed the go-to guy in crunch time, and Monday required the same recipe on the mound. Pitching with passion, Louk battled his way, allowing three runs and picking up four strikeouts —  a very gutsy performance considering Louk hadn’t throw in nearly two weeks after being on a church retreat in Colorado. 

“It was scary, seriously scary… because I hadn’t pitched for nearly two weeks,” Louk said. “But it was cool! It was my first really amazing win as a pitcher, and a very meaningful win for us.” 

The Indians added two insurance runs in the fourth. After Tyson Hermreck reached on a walk, TJ Taylor earned his only single of the evening to put two Indians on base. Louk scored Hermreck with an RBI single, pitching in his fair share from the batter’s box to go along with his strong showing on the mound. Iola added their final run with Curry grounding out to second which allowed Taylor to make it 6-2. 

Monday night showcased Iola’s inconstancies, but ultimately clinched a berth at this year’s Junior American Legion Kansas State Tournament with the 6-3 victory over Chanute. 

“It helped that we saw the same Chanute pitcher from Saturday, and we had some confidence against him after we had hit against him well the other day,” Curry said. “I think that played a huge part knowing that we had already seen him, along with success against him.” 

If the Iola Indians hope to win state, they will have to find consistency and level-headedness. Time is on the Indians’ side, they have until July  24, to straighten any wrinkles.

“We have to trust in ourselves,” Louk said. “Against Chanute, we committed zero errors. If we take this to the state tournament, we can win that thing. We just have to carry that mindset if you make an error, just make the next play.”

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