BURLINGTON — Iola High didn’t let the sting of disappointment in a walk-off loss linger.
The Mustang softball team rebounded from a tough, 5-4 loss to host Burlington — the winning run scored on a steal of home — to rally for a 6-4 win in Tuesday’s nightcap.
“I’m just really proud of the resilience, coming back after a disappointing loss,” head coach Chris Weide said. “Any time you get a win against Burlington, it’s a good win.”
Starting pitcher Reece Murry aided her own cause at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles, two RBIs and a key steal of home.
“She’s hitting it well,” Weide said.
Murry and Aysha Houk gave the Mustangs an early lift. Houk singled on the first pitch of the game, stole second and scored on Murry’s double.
The duo repeated the feat in the third, with Houk singling on the first pitch, then scoring on Murry’s double.
Harper Desmarteau and Miah Shelby got in on the fun in the top of the fourth. Desmarteau singled with one out and moved to second on a wild pitch. She scored on Shelby’s single before Shelby stole second, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a Jadyn Kaufman ground ball.
It was back to Murry in the fifth after Burlington pared Iola’s lead to 4-3. She led off the frame with a single, advanced to third on Reese Curry’s single and stole home for Iola’s fifth run.
Desmarteau’s leadoff single in the top of the sixth led to Iola’s final run after she stole second and scored on Kaufman’s ground-out.
“What I like was that we scored in five different innings,” Weide said. “For us to be really good, we have to start stringing big innings together, mainly to take pressure off our defense.”
Houk and Desmarteau both singled twice in the 10-hit attack. Curry, Chloe Sell and Shelby also had singles.
Murry, meanwhile, struck out seven in her complete-game victory.
THE LOSS in the opener was a matter of defensive execution, or lack thereof.
Defensive lapses led to four unearned Burlington runs, and spoiled Murry’s 18-strikeout performance on the mound.
It’s a matter of each player expecting the ball to be headed in her direction with every pitch, Weide said.
