Iola sweeps Tigers, takes lead in SEK

Fort Scott shortstop Luke Brown makes a play on a ground ball during the first inning of play at Ty Cullor Field Monday afternoon. (Kenny Felt/Captured Images)

The Southeast Kansas League baseball race has been turned on its ear in the past six days.

Thursday, Columbus came to Fort Scott as the league leader but was swept by the Tigers. Saturday, Columbus went to Pittsburg, which had taken over the lead when the Titans were swept, and took both games from the Purple Dragons.

Saturday's sweep by Columbus put Fort Scott and Iola in a share for first place. Those teams met at Ty Cullor Field Monday with the visiting Mustangs taking control of the league race with a 2-1 and 8-5 sweep.

The league race didn't end here, though. Iola leads right now with a 12-2 league record (16-2 overall) while Columbus moved into second at 11-3 (12-5 overall). Pittsburg is third at 9-3 (11-4 overall). The Tigers fell to fourth -- which was where the Titans fell after they were swept Thursday -- at 10-4 (11-6).

Coffeyville plays at Columbus today while Pittsburg visits Labette County. Thursday, Fort Scott will be at Chanute and Pittsburg travels to Iola.

Fort Scott could still tie for the league title -- the Tigers can't win it outright now -- and it could end up a four-way tie if certain games to the right way.

The Tigers had a chance to take control of the race. But they never led the first game -- scoring their only run in the bottom of the seventh -- and surrendered a 5-run lead in the nightcap.

"We didn't come out loose," Fort Scott head coach B.J. Pruitt said. "I felt like we were a little tight at the beginning, especially that first game. And then when some things didn't go right, we got a little tighter. In the second game, as the game got closer, we got tighter and weren't able to make play when we had an opportunity."

The losses were Fort Scott's second and third in a row. Friday, they won their 11th straight game by beating Girard 13-0 in the first game of a make-up road doubleheader but saw the streak snapped when the Trojans won the second game, 10-6.

Iola scored the first run of the opener in the top of the third inning. Clint Heffern led off the frame with a single to right. Jerrik Sigg reached on an error, then broke for second base. A wild throw on the play allowed Heffern to score.

The Mustangs made it 2-0 in the fourth. Mason Coons hit a leadoff double. Drew Walden singled and then Jared Latta's one-out single to right brought Coons home.

Fort Scott got out of further trouble when catcher Josh Durossette tried to pick off Walden coming too far down the third-base line on a failed squeeze play. He was tagged out and then Latta was caught at second base at the end of a 2-5-1-6-5-8-4 double play.

Dustin Stewart led off Fort Scott's half of the seventh with a double and scored when Brent Parsons got a one-out double to drop in just inside the left-field foul line. But the Tigers couldn't get Parsons home as Sigg induced a fly out to center field, then struck out Jaret Thorpe to end the game.

Sigg allowed 4 hits and 1 walk while striking out 3. Matt Carrillo went the distance for Fort Scott, allowing one earned run on 6 hits and one walk while striking out 8.

No one had more than one hit in the game offensively. Carrillo, Stewart, Parsons and Cole Clayton had Fort Scott's hits.

Game two saw the Tigers crank out 7 hits and take advantage of 2 Iola errors over the course of the third and fourth innings.

Zach Denton led off the third with a ground-ball single to right. Then Thorpe and Carrillo reached on back-to-back bunt singles. But Durossette's line drive -- ironically, the hardest-hit ball in the inning -- was gloved by Iola first baseman Corey Taylor for an unassisted double play.

Despite that, the Tigers came through. Luke Brown was given an intentional walk. Then Clayton came up to sneak a grounder between short and third to bring Denton and Thorpe in to make it 2-0.

Stewart reached on an error leading off the bottom of the fourth. Parsons singled to right. Denton singled in Stewart, although Parsons was thrown out at third. Thorpe came up and belted a 2-run homer to left to put the Tigers up 5-0.

Iola put up its first two runs in the fifth, both scoring after a 2-out error. Clayton had struck out Coons and got Walden to fly out to start the inning. Devin Conner singled to right and then Latta reached on a fielding error that kept the inning alive.

"That's what it comes down to at this point of the season," Pruitt said. "When you have an opportunity to make a play, it's gotta be made. The second game, we just didn't finish that game. We had a nice lead and were unable to close the deal."

Levi Ashmore came up next and belted a double to the deepest part of Ty Cullor Field to bring Conner and Latta home. That brought Iola within 5-2.

Justin Uhler moved to the mound for the sixth inning. But after striking out Taylor, he walked Braden Larsen and Coons consecutively. That prompted Pruitt to put Carrillo back on the mound.

But Walden stroked a double to right-center that brought in Larsen. Conner's ground out plated Coons and Latta's double brought in Walden with the tying run.

Fort Scott had a chance to reclaim the lead in the bottom of the sixth. Thorpe bunted his way on with 2 out as Iola's third baseman was playing deep. He stole second and then moved on to third because of an errant throw. Carrillo drew a walk but a groundout ended the inning.

Heffern led off Iola's seventh with a double to left. Sigg drew a walk and Larsen singled to left to load the bases for Walden, who cleared the bases with a 2-out double to center.

Clayton got a hit with one out in the bottom of the seventh. However, Ashmore, who took over Iola's pitching duties in the sixth, got a strikeout and a fly ball to center to end the game.

Thorpe was 3 for 3 for the Tigers, who had 12 hits off three Mustang pitchers. Denton and Brown were both 2 for 3 and Clayton went 2 for 4.

Walden was 2 for 4 for Iola and drove in 4 runs. Conner was also 2 for 4.

Ashmore, the winning pitcher, allowed 2 hits and 1 walk while striking out 2. Carrillo (4-4), who took his second loss of the night, allowed 4 runs on 5 hits and 1 walk with 3 strikeouts in 1 1/3 innings of relief. Clayton went the first 5 innings for the Tigers, allowing no earned runs on 3 hits and one walk with 6 strikeouts.

The Tigers' chances of winning a share of the SEK crown are not great, so Thursday's games will most likely be used to tune up on things Pruitt feels need work and pick up a pair of wins so they can get a good seed in the Spring Hill Class 4A Regional Tournament -- where it's possible to see Iola again down the road.

"We want to come out Thursday and play with the same intensity and focus that got us 11 (straight) wins," Pruitt said. "Tonight, that didn't happen."

Game One

Fort Scott................. 000 000 1 -- 1 4 3

WP -- Sigg. LP -- Carrillo (4-3).

Game Two

Fort Scott................. 002 300 0 -- 5 12 2

WP -- Ashmore. LP -- Carrillo (4-4).

HR -- Fort Scott: Thorpe (4th inn, one on, one out).