The parallels between Iola High and Crest High’s baseball seasons are striking.
Both entered 2022 coming off of memorable seasons that ended in heartbreak.
For the Mustangs, it was a sixth-inning rally by eventual state champion Bishop Miege in the 2021 Class 4A Regional Championship that ended Iola’s season.
Crest, meanwhile, steamrolled through the regular season with only one loss, but was felled by a late rally in a 4-2 loss to Spearville in the first round of the Class 2-1A State Tournament.
Returning players from both teams admitted the bitter disappointment fueled their offseason workouts, and then their performances this year.
That energy has paid off in spades, as both squads gear up for another run at a state title starting Thursday.
Iola (16-4) opens the Class 4A State Tournament with a first-round game against Ottawa at about 1:15 p.m. at Dean Evans Stadium in Salina.
Crest (23-0) kicks off the Class 2-1A State Tournament against perennial power Pittsburg-St. Mary’s Colgan at 11 a.m. at the Great Bend Sports Complex.
A first-round victory would guarantee both teams two more games at the state tournament, first a semifinal matchup at about 11 a.m. Friday, and then either a third-place contest if they fall in the semis, or ideally, a winner-take-all championship showdown Friday afternoon.
WHILE IOLA lost a number of seniors then, head coach Ryan Latta was cautiously optimistic the 2022 campaign was a matter of reloading, and not rebuilding.
“I really hadn’t given last year much thought when I thought about this year,” Latta admitted. “I was so focused on seeing what we had coming back.
“I did think we had a chance to compete,” Latta said. “I always do. Especially when you’ve got the pitching at the top we had.”
Even an arm injury that derailed staff ace Ryker Curry midway through the season failed to quell that optimism.
Thanks to the emergence of sophomore Korbin Cloud — who ended the year with three straight games without allowing a hit — and the ongoing brilliance of sluggers Jarrett Herrmann, Brandon McKarnin and the aforementioned Curry, Iola is back at the upcoming 4A State Tournament for the first time since 2018.
Herrmann wasn’t one to forget the disappointment from the loss to Miege.
“It fueled us all,” he said. “Everybody on the returning team wanted it. We knew we could win this regional. It was our duty to get back here and finish the job and go to state.”
