Iola takes 9-1 win in baseball semi

Thursday, May 17, 2012

OTTAWA -- Southeast Kansas League tri-champion Iola eliminated Fort Scott High, 9-1, in the semifinals of the Ottawa Class 4A Regional Baseball Tournament here Tuesday afternoon.

The Mustangs (17-6) went on to lost to top-seeded Ottawa in the final, 13-5. The Cyclones (19-4) reached the final with a 15-2 rout of fourth-seeded Osawatomie in the semifinal.

The Tigers (10-12) upset third-seeded Paola, 5-4, in Monday's first round to get to the semifinal.

"Overall, that's the best baseball we have played since we swept Pittsburg," Fort Scott head coach Josh Regan said. "Justin (Uhler) was able to challenge people and use his defense, and that's exactly what he did. We executed offensively -- got guys on, got them over, and got them in. We were able to string together some hits and also manufacture some runs."

In the semifinal, Iola pitchers Jared and Trent Latta combined to allow only 3 hits. The Tigers' only run scored on Luke Brown's solo home run in the sixth inning.

"We just didn't have it ... and I got that feeling early on," Regan said. "We came out and led off with two straight hits (by Zach Denton and Jake Durossette) and then weren't able to score and that really let the air out pretty quick. You can't miss on opportunities against a team like that."


(6) Fort Scott........ 000 001 0 -- 1 3 2

(2) Iola................. 204 003 x -- 9 10 0

WP -- J.Latta. LP -- Pickert (3-3).

HR -- Fort Scott: L.Brown (3, 6th inn., none on, 1 out).