ROUND ROCK, Texas (KRHD) — Iola's baseball season ended Thursday at Dell Diamond in Round Rock, Texas, with a 7-2 loss to New Home in the state championship game. A five-run first inning by the Leopards proved to be the difference, as Iola could not recover despite a strong performance the rest of the way.
The Bulldogs drew first blood when Brek Roberts stole home with the bases loaded, giving Iola a 1-0 lead. New Home answered immediately. Bransen Beckham hit a two-RBI double, Jair Johnson added a sacrifice fly, and an error extended the inning, putting the Leopards up 5-1 before Iola could record three outs.
Head coach Eric Blenden said watching his ace give up runs early sent a shockwave through the team.
"You're used to seeing Superman go out there and be Superman, and when you see Kryptonite hit him for the first time, you're a little shell shocked," Blenden said.
New Home added two more runs in the second inning to push the lead to 7-1. Iola's only other run came in the third inning when Eddie Longoria scored on a Colin Fowler single up the middle.
Pitcher Brody Vaughn, a Blen Junior College commit, settled in after the difficult first inning and held New Home scoreless through the final five innings. Avin Madrid earned the save for New Home, and Tucker Cotton picked up the win.
Blenden said the rough first inning was a product of inexperience and emotion, not a lack of preparation.
"Obviously like to have the first inning back. I think that's a little bit of inexperience got us right there, too amped up, whatever — that's probably on me," Blenden said. "But like I told the kids, we can't take it back. It's a seven inning game, and after the first inning, I thought we played well."
Despite the loss, Blenden said the season was something the entire town of Iola should be proud of. Just two years ago, the program won only 14 games and did not advance past the first round of the playoffs.
"There's nothing I would take back about this season and what these guys have done," Blenden said.
Blenden said the senior class has been the foundation of a program-wide turnaround across multiple sports.
"Whenever I first got here, we were struggling on the boys' side in Iola, Texas, and they have stabilized that, and we've got a great foundation laid in all three major sports," Blenden said. "The whole town, the whole school, myself, our coaching staff — we owe everything to those guys."
The moment that will stick with Blenden most, he said, was not a play on the field.
"Just watching them hurt together. They've done everything together since August. Just watching them console each other and be together as a team one last time — that means that we're doing something bigger than just wins and losses," Blenden said.
Blenden said the program plans to build on this run and return to the championship.
"Continuity in sports is tremendous. Our coaching staff is gonna be here for a long time, and that's what's going to continue us to have a chance to be successful," Blenden said.
New Home's Bransen Beckham was named the game's MVP.
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