HUMBOLDT — The Iola and Humboldt rivalry seems to be a very natural one, but the rivalry on the softball field has been dormant lately after Iola switched to the Pioneer League and that caused the Fillies to not participate in Humboldt’s home tournament, like they had in the past.
With Iola coach Chris Weide working to rekindle the Fillies’ program, he is looking forward to trying to make the rivalry a yearly occurrence.
“(Humboldt) coach (Brad) Piley and I talked and this is something we really want to get going every year,” Weide said. “It is a nice little rivalry and it is cool for our girls to play on the turf. They are a quality club and we think we are starting to be a quality club and it will prepare both teams for where we want to go.”
If Monday’s doubleheader is any indication, a revamped rivalry looks to be a very entertaining proposition after the Cubs and Fillies split. Iola won the first game 9-3 and Humboldt responded with a 7-1 win.
“Coach (Becky) Carlson and I have a ton of respect for coach Piley and coach (David) Taylor and the girls play with their girls during the summer and some even for coach Piley, so when we knew it was in the works to play them and I mentioned it to the girls, we had to tone them down a little bit because they were so excited,” Weide said. “It is something we want to do every year, for sure.”
Game one began as a pitcher’s duel with Iola sophomore Sierra Snavely and Humboldt junior Rylan Wilhite exchanging a pair of no-hit innings to begin the game.
The Cubs were able to get their first hit in the bottom of the third.
Senior Kira McReynolds reached on an error by Iola right fielder Mia Aronson to begin the inning and Piley brought in freshman Alayna Johnson to run for McReynolds.
Johnson was able to advance to second base on a wild pitch, but Snavely struck out Maggie Johnson to get the first out of the inning.
Humboldt lead-off hitter Morgan Mauk singled to right field a batter later and Johnson rounded third, heading for home.
Iola left fielder Kelsey Morrison uncorked a perfect throw to the plate, where Sprague blocked the plate and was able to snap a tag on Johnson for the out.
Mauk was able to advance to second on the throw with two outs and freshman Winter Snyder due up next.
Snyder hit the first pitch of the at bat into center field and Iola senior Jadyn Sigg battled the wind to get under it, but the ball ricocheted off of her glove and fell to the turf.
Mauk motored around third and scored the first run of the game to give Humboldt the 1-0 lead after three innings.
The score remained there until the bottom of the fifth inning when Snyder knocked another pitch into center field.
Sigg drove to try and rob Snyder of a hit, but the ball bounded past her and rolled to the wall in center.
Snyder wheeled around the bases all the way to home plate with an inside-the-park home run.
“She has hit the ball well all year,” Piley said of his freshman.
With the Cubs leading 2-0 after five and Wilhite only having given up one hit, the odds of a Fillies’ victory did not appear strong. After Wilhite got an out to begin the sixth inning, the top of the Iola order was able to get the game turned around though.
Wade got things started with a single, but Wilhite was able to induce a potential double-play ball from junior Chloe Gardner. Humboldt shortstop Makaylah McCall overthrew Wells at second, however, and both Gardner and Wade reached safely.
Senior Riley Murry drew a walk to load the bases for Jaydn Sigg, who was ready to make a contribution at the plate following her defensive struggles.
Sigg kept the line moving by beating out an infield single.
“It felt good,” Sigg said of her bit of redemption. “It was much needed.”
Snavely then helped herself with the biggest hit of the inning. She singled to the gap in right-center allowing Gardner and Murry each to score and give Iola its first lead of the game.
A single from Morrison scored Sigg and the lead was 4-2 going into the bottom of the sixth.
Snavely was able to hold the Cubs scoreless in the sixth and let her offense get right back on the field.
The playbook was similar to the previous inning.
Wade, Gardner and Murry all reached base with one-out and a bases-loaded single from Sigg scored two.
“We definitely got it going in the last couple innings,” Sigg said. “When someone gets a good hit, it gets everyone going.”
Snavely, Morrison and Aronson all added RBIs and Iola’s lead grew to 9-2.
Humboldt got one run back in the seventh, but the Fillies hung on for a 9-3 victory.
Snavely threw seven innings with six hits allowed and two walks to go with four strikeouts.
Sigg and Snavely each had two hits for the Fillies while Mauk and Sydney Barker each had two for Humboldt.
GAME TWO
Mia Aronson got the start for Iola in game two for her first varsity action of the season.
“We were super-pleased with Mia today,” Weide said. “She accepted the challenge to go against Humboldt, who is a great hitting team. In her first start of the year she went against a line-up that is one of the best we’ve seen and she did a great job of battling.”
The Cubs were able to get their offense back going early though with Mauk leading off the first inning with a single and a stolen base.
Rylan Wilhite drove Mauk in with a single and the Cubs had a 1-0 lead again.
Wilhite started out on fire again with two no-hit innings to begin the game, but in the third it was Sprague that got things going with a single. Murry knocked in the team’s first run of the game later in the inning with her own single.
The Cubs responded quickly though as Snyder led off the third inning with a triple and scored later in the inning to give the Cubs a 2-1 lead.
The Cubs put the game away with a five-run fourth inning.
Maggie Johnson and Morgan Mauk led off with back-to-back singles and Snyder crushed another ball to center field for a double this time — six of her seven balls hit in-play on the day were hit to center with Sigg catching two, but the other three being a home run, double, triple and error.
“I was seeing it pretty well today,” Snyder said. “I was just looking it off the hip and hitting it. You just have to watch it hit the bat and you’re golden.”
McCall tripled after Snyder stole home and three more batters reached base before Iola was able to record another out.
The inning put the game out of reach as the Cubs picked up a 7-1 win.
“Top to bottom, they have one of the top lineups that we will face all year and Rylan is a super, super quality pitcher,” Weide said.
Wilhite threw a complete game and allowed just five hits with three walks and six strikeouts.
“In the second game, she hit her spots a lot better,” Piley said. “She kept it low and her changeup was better.”
Mauk, Snyder, Johnson and Wells each finished with two hits for the Cubs.
UP NEXT
Iola hosts Wellsville today and Humboldt will go to Uniontown on Thursday.
