HUMBOLDT — An early deficit proved too tough to overcome for the Iola A American Legion baseball team Tuesday.
The Indians trailed 3-0 after half an inning and 5-1 through much of the contest.
Iola rallied in the ninth inning, but drew no closer than the final 5-3 decision against the Overbrook Bombers.
Overbrook pitcher Drake Graham served as the primary antagonist for the Iola squad, limiting the Indians to five hits over seven-plus innings.
“Their starting pitcher was really good,” Iola head coach Mike Dougherty said. “We saw a lot more quality pitching tonight than we’ve seen. The guys were trying to adjust to that.”
But the Indians mounted a rally once the Bombers dipped into their bullpen.
Blake Ellis led off the bottom of the ninth with a single, and moved to second when Sy Snow singled with one out. Each moved up a base on a wild pitch and Gavin Jones followed with an RBI grounder.
Grady Dougherty lined a single to right, driving home Snow and bringing the potential tying run to the plate, but a ground-out ended the rally — and the game.
“I was pleased with the fact we didn’t lay down and fought all the way to the end,” Dougherty said.
Iola trailed 4-0 in the bottom of the third, and was still in search of its first baserunner, when Ryan Golden laced a one-out double to right. He scored on Korbyn Fountain’s two-out double.
Both teams clamped down defensively from there.
Noah Gleue pitched three hitless innings, striking out two, before Lucas Maier pitched the final five innings, allowing a hit and striking out two. They came on in relief of Hayden Johnson, who allowed three hits in an inning of work with a strikeout.
Golden paced the Indian office with a single and double in three at bats. Fountain chipped in with a single.
Ellis, Snow, Logan Page, Grady Dougherty and Payton Houk chipped in with singles.
While Iola allowed a few too many walks for Coach Dougherty’s comfort — nine in all — the Indians played error-free defense to keep things in check.
“There have been times where we’ve had ‘blow-up’ innings defensively, and we were able to avoid that,” Dougherty said.
