OSAWATOMIE — At the end of last season, senior Ben Cooper and junior Ethan Tavarez figured to sit in the No. 3 and No. 4 spots in the Mustangs’ pitching rotation this season.
Everyone knew they were talented, but on one of the deepest pitching staffs in the state, they seemed destined for the bullpen.
On Tuesday, Cooper and Tavarez stepped to the forefront and pitched a shorthanded Mustang staff into the state tournament.
“It is huge going into state, because if you are going to do anything at state, you need at least three pitchers,” Iola coach Mark Percy said.
With ace Derek Bycroft limited because of arm soreness suffered against Wellsville two weeks prior, Cooper, the team’s No. 2 pitcher all season, got the call for game one and Tavarez was earmarked for the championship game.
“We talked about it all year,” Percy said. “There will always be adversity, but the teams that can go on and do what it takes to win are the ones that are going to move on.”
Cooper did his part in the opener against Prairie View by pitching a complete game in the Mustangs’ 3-2 semifinal victory.
Cooper’s brilliance allowed Tavarez to take the bump in the championship game against host-school Osawatomie with the full complement of his bullpen to back him up.
Tavarez hasn’t pitched as often as Percy would have liked this season, simply because Bycroft and Cooper have been too good and have thrown a lot of complete games as the season churned along.
Tavarez was ready when his number was called.
The junior, known as ‘E.Z.,’ lived up to his nickname in the opening few frames.
Tavarez breezed through a 1-2-3 first inning. His offense was then able to get him a run in the second inning when junior Kane Rogers trotted home on a passed ball by Osawatomie’s Cody Hazlett.
Tavarez threw up a pair of zeros in the second and third innings as the score remained 1-0.
“They hit the ball some,” Tavarez said. “But I trust my defense and they did great.”
The Mustangs seemed poised to tack on an insurance run in the third inning when Bycroft led off with a double and advanced to third base with no outs on a wild pitch.
Hazlett was able to pick Bycroft off at third however, on what was seen as a highly questionable call by many in attendance, who thought Bycroft made it back safely.
The Trojans tied the game up in the fourth inning with three consecutive walks to begin the inning followed by a no-out single to deep center.
The deep blast seemed destined to score multiple runs, but Mustang junior center fielder Isaac Vink played the ball brilliantly off the wall and used his strong arm to hold each runner to just one base each.
Tavarez buckled down from there with the bases still loaded and no outs.
Cooper snagged a liner at short and Tavarez got a pair of strikeouts to strand all three runners and keep the game knotted at one.
After a scoreless fifth inning, the Mustang bats came alive in the sixth.
Tavarez got it going with a single, followed by a Rogers walk and a Vink single to load the bases.
The Mustangs tried a squeeze-play with Cooper, but the bunt wasn’t executed and Tavarez was hung out at third for the first out.
Cooper drew a walk to load the bases back up with one away. Osawatomie was able to get a strikeout though and just like that there were two outs and lases loaded in a tie game for Calvin Delich.
“I tried to zone everything out and just focus on me and the pitcher,” Delich said. “It felt like it was just me and him.”
The freshman stroked the second pitch he saw for a two-run single to give his team a 3-1 lead.
“He goes up there with confidence,” Percy said. “That is big for a freshman with state on the line.”
A walk to Bycroft loaded the bases back up for senior Coleson Wiggin, who drew a walk to extend the lead to 4-1.
Freshman Cal Leonard worked a six-pitch at bat into a two-run single and build the lead to 6-1 and the lead grew to 7-1 by the end of the inning.
“I don’t think I could have been any more pumped at that moment,” Delich, who scored on Leonard’s hit, said. “It was at that point that I think we knew we had it.”
Osawatomie struck right back in the home half of the sixth though, with a single and two walks loading the bases with one out.
Leonard came in to relieve Tavarez and try to secure the two outs needed to get out of the inning.
After allowing a single to score one, Leonard struck out Hazlett for the second out.
A double by the next batter cleared the bases though and tightened the score to 7-5.
An error allowed another run to score and what had been a six-run lead was suddenly one..
Percy couldn’t wait any longer. He had been trying to save Bycroft and not use him with his sore arm or at least give him time to warm up in the bullpen with the Mustangs batting and start a fresh inning, but with state on the line, the Mustangs’ skipper turned to his ace.
“Cal was in the dugout so I was able to have him throw,” Percy said. “I thought if we could get through that sixth inning, I could warm up Derek and get Derek in.”
Seeing their ace on the mound gave the team a supreme confidence.
“I knew he was going to close it out as soon as he stepped on the mound,” Tavarez said.
Bycroft delivered by throwing one pitch and getting a fly out to Delich in right field.
“I was feeling good,” Bycroft said of his work leading up to the game. “I was stretching a lot to stay ready and I took some Aleve to keep the pain down. It was hurting for a while, but I just kept throwing more and more. Going into today, I felt good. By game time, I felt great.”
The Mustang offense got back to work in the top of the seventh.
Cooper singled with one out and Blake Ashmore drew a walk.
Delich came through again with an RBI single and Bycroft reached on an error while Ashmore scored to make it 9-6.
“Going into this year, I knew Calvin was a great hitter,” Bycroft said. “He is a switch hitter which is valuable and he hits great from both sides.”
Bycroft gave up a pair of singles to start the bottom of the seventh as Osawatomie tried to mount a rally, but the sophomore buckled down with two strikeouts and a ground out to Ashmore at second to punch Iola’s ticket to state.
“I’m thrilled,” Delich said. “I don’t think I’ve ever been this pumped for baseball.”
SEMIFINALS
While the championship was a high-scoring affair, the semifinal was more of what the Mustangs had been used to all season.
Cooper and Prairie View freshman Justin Scott battled to a 3-2 decision with Cooper and his Mustangs coming out on top.
The Mustangs did all their scoring early with a two-out first-inning rally sparked by a Wiggin double and four-consecutive singles by Leonard, Tavarez, Rogers and Vink leading to three runs.
From there, Cooper took control.
“It was nice to know that I could go right at people and bring everything I had at them,” Cooper said. “I didn’t have to worry about giving up just one run.”
The senior threw a complete-game and allowed only single runs in the second and the third innings.
While the Mustang offense was quiet for the final six frames, Cooper seemed to get stronger as the game went on and finished with a three-hitter.
He finished the game with four consecutive no-hit innings.
“Whenever I do give up runs, I want to bounce back and make sure I don’t give up anymore,” Cooper said. “I didn’t want to let my teammates down.”
While Cooper had plenty of superb numbers in the performance, the biggest for the Mustangs were ‘7’ and ‘100’.
The senior threw all seven innings and threw 100 pitches.
“I feel really good,” Cooper said. “I hate having to give the ball to someone else. I want to go out and finish what I start.”
Early in the year, that feat would have been impossible for Cooper, who was on a strict pitch count, but late in the year, Cooper has been going deeper into games.
“He has worked a ton to do that,” Percy said. “He has come a long way to be able to go the distance.”
On Tuesday, that stamina proved pivotal as Cooper saved the bullpen for the championship tilt when Leonard and Bycroft were needed to nail down the state appearance.
UP NEXT
The Mustangs will prepare for the 4A-II State Tournament that will run next Thursday and Friday at Soden’s Grove Field in Emporia.
“I’m proud of everyone,” Percy said. “It is an exciting time. When you play high school sports, getting to state is when it gets really exciting… That (Regional Champions) trophy sure looks nice.”
The state bracket will be released later this week.
