PRATT — Iola’s dream season, complete with a state championship in tow, ended one day and two wins shy of the team’s final goal for the summer. NOTABLY DEFLATED for their follow-up contest against Waupun, Iola fell behind early and never could figure out the pitching mastery of Nate Hopp. Waupun, Wisc. 4, Iola 0 (5 innings) La Crescent takes title
The Leslie J. Campbell Post 15 Indians saw their season come to a premature conclusion at the Mid-States Regional AA Tournament on the heels of a gut-wrenching 5-3 loss to La Crescent, Minn., in the quarterfinals.
Dispatched to the losers bracket for their next contest a few hours later, Iola’s bats fell silent for a 4-0 loss to Waupun, Wis.
The Indians ended the year with a 41-5 record.
“It’s been a remarkable year, with great kids,” Iola head coach Roland Weir said. “We just couldn’t square up on the ball like we had been.”
The La Crescent loss was particularly bitter.
Locked in a scoreless tie through the first 4½ innings, Iola missed out on a golden opportunity to bring home the win in the bottom of the fifth — and would-be final — inning. (The games had been shortened from seven innings to five because rainy weather washed away Friday’s games.)
Nathan Whitcomb opened the bottom of the fifth with a walk. He moved to second when Eric Heffern, who indicated several times his intention to lay down a sacrifice bunt, drew a follow-up walk instead.
With two on and nobody out, and the top of the Indians’ batting order upcoming, the excitement among the Iola faithful was building to a crescendo.
Then disaster struck.
Levi Ashmore followed with a drive toward the gap that was caught inches from the turf by La Crescent right fielder Jevin Dorschner, who rolled over and flipped the ball to the center fielder to return the throw to the infield.
Whitcomb, who thought the ball had dropped for a hit, failed to tag up at second and instead raced to third. He was there when the umpire rang him up for the second out.
The rally ended when Trent Latta’s subsequent fly ball was caught for the third out.
La Crescent’s Zach Melbostad punched a slow dribbler up the third-base line to start the sixth, and beat Latta’s throw in a bang-bang play for his squad’s first hit of the game.
Eric Veglahn was next. His sacrifice bunt attempt was so good that nobody on the Indian squad could reach it to throw to first.
Dorschner was next. He, too, attempted to bunt the runners over, only to see Whitcomb’s throw to first skip past second baseman Drew Faulhaber for a two-run error.
Another bunt single by Hunter McCallson followed to set up what proved to be the decisive blow. Whitcomb, who had been flawless as pitcher, jumped ahead of Kaleb Keiser with two quick strikes. His third pitch, however, was launched over the temporary left field wall.
Suddenly, Iola trailed by five.
The Indians didn’t go quietly.
Mason Coons led off the bottom of the sixth with a walk, and moved to second on Derrick Weir’s flare over the infield for a single.
Jarred Latta followed with a blast to the left field gap for a double to score Coons. Drew Faulhaber followed two batters later with a single to cut the gap to 5-3.
But the rally ended without any more damage. Veglahn, La Crescent’s starter, retired Whitcomb and Heffern to end the contest.
Whitcomb took the loss despite allowing only the four sixth-inning runs. He struck out two and walked two others.
Veglahn allowed five hits. He pitched out of a jam in the fourth, when Weir and Jarred Latta hit back-to-back singles. Veglahn retired Braden Larson and Faulhaber to end the threat.
And in an ominous case of foreshadowing, Ashmore was robbed of extra bases and an RBI when his blast to center was snared by Melbostad in the bottom of the third.
“All day long, we just weren’t able to get going offensively,” Coach Weir said. “And we had a mental mistake on the basepaths. Those things happen.”
He retired all 15 batters he faced without a hit, walk or error.
Coons, Iola’s starter, wasn’t as fortunate. Hopp led off the top of the first with a single. He moved to second on a single, third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on an error. Waupun’s Jared Larson drove in Casey Asloos with a single in the second.
The lead grew to three in the fourth when Brandon VanGalen singled and scored on a wild pitch.
Bryce Buchholz doubled and scored on Ryan Schmidt’s single in the fifth for the final tally.
Coons surrendered eight hits and a walk with one strikeout.
“We tried to get after it, but we were flat. You could tell that,” Weir said. “You’re going up against teams that are just as good as you are, and we couldn’t get going with the bats.”
Weir carried fond words for his outgoing players.
“My hat’s off to them,” he said. “We’re losing some great players like Braden Larson, Eric Heffern, Jarred Latta, Aaron Barclay, Levi Ashmore and Mason Coons.
The Indians have won a combined 82 games over the past two seasons, winning a pair of state titles in the process. Counting Iola High’s state runner-up finish in May, Iola baseball compiled a record of 61-6.
Weir said Iola’s string of success is unlikely to end, with a strong core of returning players for next year.
“We have some younger guys who will have to work hard to replace our outgoing players,” he continued. “Our older players have set a tremendous example for the young baseball players in Iola to follow. Iola baseball isn’t going anywhere. We’re getting a program developed here, and we hope to continue it.”
In addition to its 2012 state crown, the Indians were state champions in 1988. The Indians have been to the AA state tournament eight times in their history, including the past three years.
Saturday’s results
La Crescent, Minn. 5, Iola 3 (6 innings)
La Crescent AB R H BI
Zach Melbostad 3 1 1 0
Eric Veglahn 3 1 1 0
Jevin Dorschner 3 1 0 0
Hunter McCallson 3 1 1 0
Kaleb Kaiser 3 1 1 3
Matt Wieser 3 0 0 0
Levi Massman 1 0 0 0
Dillion McKinnon 2 0 0 0
Austin DeBoer 2 0 0 0
TOTALS 23 5 4 3
Iola AB R H BI
Levi Ashmore 3 0 0 0
Trent Latta 3 0 0 0
Mason Coons 2 1 0 0
Derrick Weir 3 1 2 0
Jarred Latta 3 1 2 1
Braden Larson 3 0 0 0
Drew Faulhaber 3 0 1 2
Aaron Barclay 0 0 0 0
Nathan Whitcomb 1 0 0 0
Eric Heffern 1 0 0 0
TOTALS 22 3 5 3
LOB-La Crescent 3, Iola 6. 2B-Jarred Latta. HR-Kaleb Kaiser. Sac Bunt-Dillion McKinnon, Eric Heffern.
La Crescent IP H R ER BB SO
Eric Veglahn-W 6 5 3 3 4 8
TOTALS 6 5 3 3 4 8
Iola
Nathan Whitcomb 6 4 5 4 2 2
TOTALS 6 4 5 4 2 2
Waupun AB R H BI
Nate Hopp 2 1 1 0
Colin DeBoer 3 0 1 0
Jordan Daane 2 0 0 0
Bryce Buchholz 3 1 1 0
Jordan Moul 3 0 1 0
Ryan Schmidt 3 0 1 1
Casey Asloos 3 1 1 0
Brandon VanGalen 2 1 2 0
Jared Larson 1 0 0 1
TOTALS 22 4 8 2
Iola AB R H BI
Levi Ashmore 2 0 0 0
Trent Latta 2 0 0 0
Mason Coons 2 0 0 0
Derrick Weir 2 0 0 0
Jarred Latta 2 0 0 0
Braden Larson 2 0 0 0
Drew Faulhaber 1 0 0 0
Tyler Clubine 1 0 0 0
Eric Heffern 1 0 0 0
TOTALS 15 0 0 0
LOB-Waupun 6, Iola 0. 2B-Bryce Buchholz, Jordan Moul. Sac Fly-Jared Larson. Sac Bunt-Jordan Daane.
Waupun IP H R ER BB SO
Nate Hopp-W 5 0 0 0 0 3
TOTALS 5 0 0 0 0 3
Iola
Mason Coons-L 5 8 4 3 1 1
TOTALS 5 8 4 3 1 1
PRATT — La Crescent’s AA American Legion squad edged Waupun, Wis., to win the Mid-States Regional Sunday, 2-1.
Both squads advanced through the losers bracket into Sunday morning’s final game.
A squad from Flandreau, S.D., had defeated La Crescent Saturday night, but was disqualified for allegedly using ineligible players in the tournament.
Coincidentally, La Crescent and Waupun both claimed wins over Iola Saturday to eliminate the Indians.
Legion season ends at regional
