The Iola Mustangs picked up their first sweep of the season in a pair of narrow victories over Pioneer League foe Anderson County Tuesday 4-3 and 12-11.
After a few close calls throughout the season, the Mustangs finally knocked the door down on their sweep of the Anderson County Bulldogs. The win evens their record to 5-5 before taking on perennial powerhouse Girard Friday.
“It took all nine on the field and all nine at the plate, being our first sweep of the year we’re pretty excited about it,” Iola coach Chris Weide said.
Freshman pitcher Haidyn Desmarteau performed double duty after picking up the win in the opener, then coming in to assist freshman teammate Kinzley Fountain in the finale. Fountain reciprocated the gesture with a slew of timely plays at shortstop and scoring the would-be game-winning run on a passed ball in the seventh inning.
“I did a lot better. I had struggled the last two games,” said Desmarteau, who tallied seven strikeouts over 11 innings. “I just wasn’t throwing the ball right, and it was all in my head. My mom sent me atext (before the game) saying ‘You can do it, just get out of your head.’ That helped.”
Sophomore catcher Addie Wacker put Iola on the scoreboard in the third inning of the opener with an RBI single.
Iola freshman Haidyn Desmarteau goes into her wind up during her first of two appearances on the mound during Tuesday’s double-header against Anderson County.
A pitchers’ duel ensued until the seventh inning, when a fly ball by junior outfielder Brooklyn Holloway forced an error, plating a pair of Iola runners. A sacrifice fly by freshman first baseman Breighlynn Rutherford added another run, which was all Iola needed to take the opener.
“Our hitting has been good at practice. We’ve been hitting a lot,” Holloway said. “When I’m in the batter’s box, I’m just battling for every hit. We fought and we wanted it. We needed a win to help our confidence, to help us in the long run. Being young is not an excuse.”
After defense dominated the opener, the Mustangs and Bulldogs threw caution to the wind in the nightcap.
Due to the field at Allen Community College lacking lighting, the contest was limited to five innings but both teams made up for the lack of play with plenty of fireworks.
Iola proved the more consistent team after Anderson County opened with a pair of four-run innings.
Every inch of ground the Bulldogs gained, the Mustangs matched until Anderson County finally came up short in the fifth inning thanks to snags by senior outfielder Faith Warden and Wacker.
Desmarteau, Holloway and Wacker tied for the team lead in RBIs with two each. Desmarteau was perfect in the batter’s box with a team-leading three hits.
Following Friday’s game against Girard, the Mustangs return to the Pioneer League Tuesday against Osawatomie.
First pitch for both doubleheaders is slated for 4:30 p.m. for the opener and 6 p.m. for the nightcap.
