BALDWIN — The 3A Iola Mustangs more than held their own while battling the 4A Baldwin Bulldogs. Despite the effort, the girls lost 5-3 and 15-5 to the Bulldogs.
The Mustangs’ bats were alive, but their strong hitting was not enough.
Trailing 2-0 after the second inning, Iola got on the scoreboard with a pair of runs in the third.
Junior outfielder Brooklyn Holloway plated the first of her team-leading two RBIs off a triple. One swing later, sophomore catcher Addie Wacker drove in Holloway to tie the game.
Freshman pitcher Haidyn Desmarteau kept victory within reach as she held Baldwin scoreless in the third and fourth innings.
She ended the game with a trio of strikeouts but allowed five runs on three hits. A Holloway double in the third inning gave Iola a brief 3-2 lead only for Baldwin to reply with three unanswered runs to hold on for the win.
Holloway tied freshman Breighlynn Rutherford for the team lead in hits with two each as both players were successful in 2 of 3 at-bats.
Iola jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the finale, but the Bulldogs did most of their damage in the late innings with all 15 of their runs coming in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings.
Holloway put Iola on the scoreboard with another base-clearing triple in her first at-bat, then put another run on the scoreboard after scoring on an errant pitch.
Freshman catcher Kashyn Curry added another run on an RBI single in the second inning, but Iola’s bats went quiet after that. Baldwin scored eight unanswered runs for an 8-3 lead. Curry cut Baldwin’s lead to three with a two-RBI single, but Baldwin responded with another seven runs in the sixth to secure the 15-5 run rule.
Curry finished the day with a team-leading three RBIs. She tied Desmarteau and Holloway for the team lead in hits with two each.
On the mound, freshman Kinzley Fountain took the loss with 11 runs on nine hits and nine walks. Sophomore Shaylee Karns came on in relief in the sixth, posting a strikeout while allowing four runs on a hit and five walks.
Following Friday’s action, the Mustangs have a 2-4 record. They look to get back at .500 while hosting Prairie View Tuesday. First pitch for the opener is at 4:30 p.m. with a 6 p.m. first pitch slated for the finale.
