FRONTENAC — The Iola Mustang season came to an end with an 11-1 loss to the top-seeded, perennial powerhouse Frontenac Lady Raiders in Thursday’s regional semifinal.
The Lady Raiders later advanced to the state tournament with an 18-8 mercy-rule of the West Franklin Falcons, which seemed a dramatic shift in fortunes after trailing the Mustangs whose starting lineup has been composed almost entirely of underclassmen.
Freshman pitcher Kinzley Fountain kept Frontenac off the scoreboard until the third inning.
Also in the third, Iola put a scare in the Lady Raiders when they jumped out to an early lead after freshman first baseman Breighlynn Rutherford plated sophomore second baseman Addie Wacker.
Unfortunately, that was Iola’s only RBI and run of the afternoon as Frontenac scored 11-unanswered runs to take the game, which ended by mercy-rule in following a six-run fifth inning. Fountain took the loss, allowing five runs on seven hits and three walks.
Fountain’s stat line is misleading considering only three of those runs allowed were earned runs. The rest came from more than five errors committed by Iola’s fielders.
Freshman Haidyn Desmarteau suffered a similar fate after entering in the fifth inning. She allowed six runs on four hits and a walk, with only one of those runs earned.
Rutherford, Desmarteau and Wacker each had one hit. Rutherford was perfect in the batter’s box in 1 of 1 at-bats, including a walk. Wacker and Desmarteau were successful in 1 of 3 at-bats.
With the loss, the Mustangs end the season with an 11-13 record.
After graduating nearly their entire lineup last year, the Mustangs will return a lineup next season loaded with experienced talent. That includes all-state pitcher Zoie Hesse, who missed most of this season with a knee injury.
