BURLINGTON — In a fitting microcosm of their 2014 season, Iola High’s Mustangs brought several thrills to the legions of supporters who followed them to Burlington Tuesday for the Class 4A-II Regional Tournament.
But the youthful Iola squad, with six freshmen and sophomores playing leading roles, couldn’t find the big hits necessary in game 2, a 7-6 heartbreaker at the hands of Burlington High in the championship game.
The loss sends Iola home for the season with a 13-9 record.
“I’m so competitive that sometimes I forget we have this many freshmen and sophomores,” Iola head coach Mark Percy said. “But they really got after it tonight. I told them all I wanted out of this tournament was for us to compete, and not just go down. I thought we did that. I’m proud of ’em.”
The championship game came down to the final pitch, with freshman Garrett Wade batting with the bases loaded and two outs.
Wade sent a screaming ground ball to the opposite field, but straight at Burlington second baseman Tate Swank, who fielded the smash cleanly and threw to first for the out, sending the Wildcats into a state of delirious celebration.
“That ball gets through, we at least tie it and probably have the lead,” Percy said. “We had a lot of young ball players who grew up this season, and especially tonight.”
The loss came after an equally exciting first game, a 5-4 substate semifinal win over Santa Fe Trail that went for eight innings.
The tie-breaker in the opener came on Drew Faulhaber’s two-out double to straight-away center that barely missed going over the fence for a home run.
“I thought it was out for a second,” Faulhaber said. “I was seeing the ball well all night.”
THE LOSS brings to an end the high school careers of two senior standouts, Trent Latta and Derrick Weir.
Both went out with a bang.
Latta pitched a complete game in the opener, striking out 16 Santa Fe Trail batters, while allowing only one run. He also came on in relief in the second game, despite throwing 128 pitches already on the day.
“My arm was fine,” Latta said. “I wanted to pitch more.”
Tournament rules, however, limit a pitcher to nine innings in one day.
