Months of grueling practices, long road trips and avoiding rain drops boiled down to a matter of inches for Iola High’s baseball team Friday.
With a runner at third base and two outs in the fifth, Bishop Miege’s Hayden Thilges connected on a perfectly placed Bradyn Cole curveball in a tie Class 4A Regional title game. Thilges looped the ball just beyond the outstretched glove of Mustang first baseman Dillon Bycroft to the outfield, scoring the go-ahead run in a 3-2 victory.
Iola had two golden opportunities to tie or take the lead after that, but left runners on second and third in the sixth and had a runner on third base in the seventh when Miege’s Jude Putz recorded a strikeout to end the game — and Iola’s season.
With the victory, Miege advances to the state tournament in Salina. Iola’s season ends at 16-5.
“Looking back, there’s not a lot of things we could have done differently,” Iola head coach Ryan Latta said. “It was just a hard-fought ball game. It was tough.”
Emotions ran high on both sides after the game ended, with Miege and Iola parents engaging in a brief shouting match as the Stag players celebrated on the ifield.
School officials managed to cool things off before the tension escalated.
The game started with Miege jumping in front 1-0 on a pair of Mustang errors and a wild pitch, before Iola starter Ryker Curry settled in nicely.
He pitched out of a bases-loaded, nobody-out jam in the fourth by inducing a soft liner to Cole at third, who beat a Stag baserunner back to the bag for a double play.
Curry then caught Miege’s Jake Welsh looking at strike three to retire the side.
Iola manufactured its runs in the first and second innings.
Bycroft worked a two-out walk in the bottom of the first, stole second and scored when Cole smacked a line drive single to center.
TJ Taylor bunted for a single with one out in the second. He stole second base, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a Kole Rogers sacrifice fly to right.
But missed chances plagued Iola the rest of the way. The Mustangs stranded eight baserunners, seven in scoring position.
Miege’s pitchers — Nate Stanley, Jake Welsh and Jude Putz — limited Iola to three hits, although Mustang batters worked seven walks into the mix.
Curry ran into trouble to start the fateful fifth.
