Mustangs claim tourney title

The fun began with the first pitch.
Iola High’s Levi Ashmore blasted a line drive from Central Heights pitcher Jordan Horstick into the center field alley for a leadoff double, setting in motion a methodical — and quite impressive — 7-3 victory to seal the Pioneer League Tournament championship.
Ashmore’s double led to Mason Coons’ RBI single, giving the Mustangs a 1-0 lead, an advantage they held through the contest.
“Levi is so good at putting pressure on their defense,” Iola coach Mark Percy said. “We knew when he got on base in the first inning that we’d have a great chance at scoring.”
The heroes this night were many.
Senior first baseman Levi Ashmore laced a key two-out double in the top of the fourth with Iola still on top just 1-0. His drive over the centerfielder’s head drove in Derrick Weir, who had opened the inning with a double.
“I think it relieved some of the tension,” Clubine said. “We were pretty tense in the dugout up until then, but I felt confident. We knew (Horstick) was going to be around the strike zone.”
“Tyler’s hit was huge,” Percy said. “We were confident we could get good swings, but they’re a good team over there, and (Horstick) was their best pitcher.”
Drew Faulhaber keyed both of Iola’s last two rallies after that.
Faulhaber’s leadoff single in the fifth led to a stolen base — he actually was picked off first, but eluded the Viking defender’s glove as he scampered to second. Ashmore drove him in with a single, then stole  second — he is 44-for-44 in attempts over the past two years — and scored on Trent Latta’s RBI single. Latta stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch, before Coons capped the rally with a sacrifice fly, putting Iola on top 5-1.
Latta was able to pitch out of trouble on a handful of occasions, allowing only two runs while scattering eight hits through six innings of work.
Latta’s final salvo came in the bottom of the sixth when he struck out the Vikings’ Coby Robertson and Jacob Pryer with runners on first and third and Iola up, 5-2.
“Trent pitched great,” Percy said.
Iola’s final two runs came across in the top of the seventh. Faulhaber doubled and scored on Ashmore’s follow-up double. Ashmore, in turn, scored on Coons’ sacrifice fly, his third RBI of the game.
“We’ve missed so much practice I wasn’t sure how we would react,” Percy said, noting the tournament ended a 16-day layoff for the Mustangs since their last game. “We were excited to hear we were going to be able to get this tournament in.”
The tournament was postponed from last week due to rain and snow. An earlier doubleheader against the Vikings also was canceled due to bad weather.
“They dodged us a couple of times,” Clubine joked. “We were glad to get the chance to finally play them.”