The Iola American Legion Post 15 Indians 15U ended their season on a high note after splitting Thursday’s doubleheader against Uniontown.
Following an 8-3 drubbing in the opener, the Indians rebounded with an 8-0 victory thanks in part to a complete-game shutout by Layne Lord, who struck out eight batters in his final appearance on the mound in 2025.
“It was amazing,” Lord said. “I knew I had to go out with a win. Nothing hurt. My arm felt amazing.”
Starter Andrew Donovan took the loss, despite striking out five batters, after allowing seven runs on six hits and seven walks. Uniontown did a majority of its damage in the early goings of the opener with three runs in the first frame, a pair of runs in the third inning and three runs in the fourth.
The Indians chipped away at Uniontown’s lead with a sacrifice fly from first baseman Max Disbrow and a Donovan RBI single in the second inning. They also scored a run in the fifth after Disbrow reached home plate on a wild pitch, but could not overcome the early deficit.
Second baseman Franklin Kerr had a team-leading three hits while perfect in 3 of 3 at-bats. Donovan had two hits while tying Disbrow for the team lead in RBIs with one each.
The Indians showed more patience at the plate in the finale, manufacturing all but three runs on pitching miscues.
A timely RBI single by outfielder Dagan Denny secured the fourth-inning run rule.
“The bases were loaded and I wanted to end the season on a high note and get the win. It felt pretty,” said Denny, who tied third baseman Tucker Westler and outfielder Trapper Boren in RBIs with one each.
A wild pitch put Iola on the scoreboard in the opening frame as Donovan took advantage of the first of many miscues.
Outfielder Ruger Boren, who accounted for half of Iola’s hits while successful in 2 of 4 at-bats, found pay dirt in similar fashion in the second inning, then moments later Kerr took Iola’s lead to 3-0 on another wild pitch.
Sandwiched between wild pitch scores by Donovan and shortstop Will Disbrow, Wrestler picked up Post 15’s first RBI with an RBI single. A bases loaded walk set the Indians up for a fourth-inning mercy rule. With the bases loaded once again as Denny walked to the plate, the season seemed all but complete. The moment seemed fitting considering the Indians began the season 1-9, but caught fire at the end to win two of their last four games.
“I’m glad we ended on a good note. The boys played well,” Coach Korbin Cloud said. “It started with good pitching from Layne and tumbled down to the rest of the team.”
With the win, the Indians improve to 3-13. As iron sharpens iron, at least one player believes their late success will carry over to next year. 
“That was the closest team we played to our true age,” Cloud said. “We’ve been playing 19-year-old or 17-year-old teams. We have a bunch of 14- going to be 15-year-olds. Our record does not show it, but in the end we competed every day. You only get better by facing tougher competition.”
