RICHMOND — Late-inning dramatics are becoming a theme for Iola’s softball team, losing twice to Central Heights Tuesday night.
After winning in the bottom of the seventh against Independence on Monday, Iola came out on the losing side, 9-8, in extra innings in the first game.
“Things just didn’t fall for us tonight, especially in that first game,” coach Vince Coons said. “MacKenzie Weseloh threw a lot of pitches and we had the advantage.”
After the first inning and a half, Iola held a 4-0 lead. The Fillies first scored on an error. Jaydn Sigg then had an RBI-single to drive in Shelby Reno. Sigg came around to score after stealing second, the Viking defense made another error. In the second, Iola added the fourth run after Halie Cleaver ripped a single and Ashlie Shields scored after yet another error by the Vikings allowed her to advance.
In the bottom of the second, Central Heights offense took off, cutting the lead to 4-3. Then they took a 6-4 lead after the third.
Picking things up in the top of the sixth, Iola was losing 7-5. Katie Shields drew a lead off walk. After a flyout, Shields advanced to second on a passed ball, putting her in scoring position. That’s when Ashlie Shields hit a triple, knocking in her sister and more importantly placing herself in scoring position as the tying run. The very next hitter, Cleaver, hit a single to tie the game 7-7.
In the top of the seventh, Iola regained the lead. Taylor Heslop hit into a fielder’s choice for the second out of the inning, but she ended up on first. Ashlie Shields then reached first on an error, which put Heslop on second and in scoring position. Cleaver then had a single, and Heslop came around to score on a bad throw from Central Heights. That’s the only run the Fillies scored in the inning, taking an 8-7 lead.
The Vikings tied the game up in the bottom of the seventh. The baserunner reached on a dropped third strike. Weseloh threw three straight balls, prompting Coons to make a pitching change for Hannah Endicott.
“Endicott came in and did a good job,” Coons said. “That’s a tough count to deal with, three balls. She came in, struck out the batter but dropped the ball and the batter made it to first. It’s like ‘oh my God’ but that’s how things went tonight.”
The runner then advanced to second on a fielder’s choice and reached third base on a wild pitch. The runner then scored on a fielder’s choice to tie the game. Extra innings would be needed.
Iola had a chance to take the lead in the top of the eighth. After Weseloh and Sigg walked, runners were on first and second. Emily McKarnin then singled, which looked like the bases would be loaded. However, Weseloh ran into the short stop on the play, causing her to be the second out of the inning on an offensive interference play. Runners were still on first and second, but didn’t score after a ball was hit toward the third baseman who tagged the base for the final out.
Central Heights won the game in the bottom of the inning. With one out and a runner on third, Endicott struck out the batter, but it was a dropped third strike. So, instead of two outs and a runner on third, the batter reached first and the runner on third scored standing up. The game ended in a 9-8 loss.
Iola lost the second game 11-2, never taking a lead. The Vikings took an 8-0 lead into the fifth when the Fillies got both of their runs. Cleaver hit a single, scoring Heslop, who got on base after drawing a walk. Ashlie Shields then scored after Endicott hit into a fielder’s choice on the play.
The Vikings scored three more runs to take an 11-2 lead into the seventh. The story of the game could be summed up with what happened next. After Heslop drew a lead off walk, Ashlie Shields roped a liner down the first baseline, which looked like it would be extra bases. Instead, the first baseman lunged down the line, caught the ball, and tagged first base. Cleaver then lined out to second for the final out of the game.
The Fillies will next play in the league tournament on Thursday.
