Chloe Gardner and the Iola Fillies were in need of a confidence boost. And a game one win against Parsons gave the the team a reason to smile.
Finally. The Fillies have had a rough stretch of games to open the season.
Going into the bottom of the seventh inning trailing the Vikings 5-2, the Fillies were set to have the bottom of the order up.
The girls came through in a big way.
“It can’t be just the top of the order that keeps the team up and going, it has to be the whole team,” Gardner said. “I am really proud of my team.”
With one out, sophomore Mia Aronson reached on an error by the second baseman.
The Fillies’ eight and nine hitters Kendra Sprague and Madisyn Holloway had back-to-back singles to load the bases with one out and bring the game-winning run in the form of lead-off hitter Sydney Wade.
“It was one of those deals where if one girl hits, it is just contagious,” Iola coach Chris Weide said. “We struggled all throughout the game against a girl that is a really good pitcher. She is signed at Labette (Community College) already and she is solid, but we finally got to her.”
Wade kept the line moving with a single of her own to score Aronson and bring Chloe Gardner to the plate with the bases loaded.
“I was just looking for a base-hit and something I could put into play,” Gardner said.
Gardner has been in a slump since early on this season when she clubbed a pair of home runs in Burlington to start the season.
Despite her recent struggles, there is no player whom Weide has more confidence in than Gardner in a big situation.
“The first game against Burlington, she started off super hot, but then tailed off a little bit and it got to her confidence,” Weide said. “We always know that she can hit and it just needs to get into her head. She needs to be a confident hitter.”
Gardner came through with a double — the team’s only extra-base hit of the game — to right-center field and with the speedy Wade on first base, she was able to fly around the bases and score the game-winning run.
The 6-5 victory is a statement win for the Fillies, who could face the Vikings later on this season in the regional playoffs.
“The best thing about tonight is that we know Parsons is in our regional and there is a pretty good chance that we can meet up with them again,” Weide said. “We don’t know what the seedings are going to do, but it is nice to see what we are going to be up against. We have seen all the teams that we are going to play and we have a lot of confidence, because we know that we can play with any of those teams.”
That message is certainly not lost on the Fillies.
“That comeback was huge, especially because we play them in regionals,” Iola senior Riley Murry said. “Now we know how they are and we know that we can beat them.”
Sophomore Sierra Snavely threw all seven innings for the Fillies and only allowed six hits and one walk while striking out eight.
Snavely was not helped by her defense, however, which committed five errors and while the sophomore only allowed one earned run, four unearned runs were allowed to score.
Aronson and Murry shared the team lead with two hits each.
“Mia really hit the ball well tonight,” Weide said. “We had planned to hit her one game and sit her the next, but as hot as she is, it is hard to sit a girl who is hitting like that. She is one of those girls who works hard in practice every day and she is really hitting the ball well right now.”
GAME TWO
Defensive struggles bit the Fillies again in game two, but this time their offense wasn’t able to save them as they fell 4-1.
The Fillies allowed three unearned runs to score which proved to be difference in the game.
Iola was able to out-hit Parsons 9-7 with Holloway and seniors Murry, Wade and Jadyn Sigg each getting two hits and Aronson adding another, but Parsons was able to overcome that by playing error-free softball for all seven innings.
Snavely finished with seven hits and one earned run allowed over her seven innings. She stuck out 10 Vikings while walking two.
UP NEXT
Iola is scheduled to travel to Neodesha on Thursday.
They will return to league-play next Tuesday with huge doubleheader against Wellsville at Riverside Park.
