The Hiawatha Post 66 legion baseball team survived a wild Sunday in Concordia to advance to the AA State Tournament Championship game on Monday morning. 

Game 1: Marysville 9, Corning 10 (8 innings) 

This game was filled with plenty of runs and plenty of errors as wind gusts of nearly 40 miles per hour played a big factor in this game. 

Marysville led the game 5-3 after the first three innings as they got notable RBI's from Brandon Schmelzle, Wyatt Detweiler, and Grant Haefele. Corning's RBI's were from Drew Gibbs, Paxton Bowers, and they also got a run on an error. 

Corning scored four runs in the fourth inning to take a 7-5 lead with RBI's from Gibbs, Rayce Fisher, and Bowers. 

Both teams scored in the fifth with Marysville getting an RBI triple from Ty Moser and Corning getting their run on a bases loaded walk to Brett Heideman. Both teams had bases loaded opportunities in that inning and both were finished with inning ending double plays. 

Marysville tied the game at 8-8 with two runs in the sixth inning with runs being scored by Landon Schmitz and Alex Scheele. They would take a 9-8 lead with one run in the seventh on a sac-fly from Scheele. 

Corning tied it with Hunter Lamond in the bottom of the seventh as his fly ball to center field popped out of the glove of Carson Spoonts. Heading to third, the throw was wide and into the dugout of Corning. After discussion, the umpires ruled that Lamond could round third and head home. 

In the eighth, Marysville left a runner stranded in scoring position and Corning would win the game with a bases loaded walk to Miles Wimberly. 

Unofficially, the two teams combined for 17 hits and 13 errors with 20 left stranded on base. The loss for Marysville eliminated them from the tournament with a record of 19-16. 

Game 2: Hiawatha 10, Iola 13

Who would've thought that the second game of the day could've topped the outcome from game one? 

It turned out to be just as wild. 

Iola, the two-time defending state champs, jumped out on Hiawatha and led 5-2 after the first three innings. They scored two in the first on an RBI double from Trey Sommer and getting the other run on a passed ball. 

The two runs in the second was on a two-RBI single from Brandon McKarnin and the run in the third was on an RBI single from Korbin Cloud. 

Hiawatha's two runs in that stretch was on an RBI single from Kaden Smith in the first and an RBI single from Sam Dunn in the third. 

Hiawatha posted four runs in the fifth inning on four hits to take a 6-5 lead as they got an RBI double from Ashton Rockey, a sac-fly from Kaden Smith, and RBI singles from Brandt Barnhill and Gannon Becker. 

Iola took the lead right back at 8-6 in the bottom of the fifth with three runs on two hits. They got an RBI single from Avery Blaufuss, and RBI groundout from Cloud, and an RBI double from Blake Ellis. 

Another lead change in the top of the sixth with Hiawatha getting in front 10-8 with four runs on just one hit. They got an RBI double from Rockey, a run on a passed ball, a bases loaded walk to Lucas Lancaster, and a sac-fly by Becker. 

Hiawatha had the defending champs on their heels late but Iola showed out in the bottom of the sixth with five runs on three hits which ultimately decided the game. 

They got a two-RBI double from Rogan Weir, a bases loaded walk to Cloud, a sac-fly from Ellis, and another sac-fly from Logan Page. 

The loss for Hiawatha was their first of the tournament and it secured Iola's spot in the title game. 

Game 3: Hiawatha 7, Corning 6 

Why not have our two local teams battling it out for a spot in the state championship game in the final game of day three. 

Hiawatha built a 4-2 lead after the first three innings with two runs in the first and two runs in the third. Sam Dunn and Kaden Smith each had an RBI single and an RBI groundout in that stretch. 

Corning's two runs were off an RBI single from Aiden Talley in the second inning and an RBI single from Brett Heideman in the third. 

Corning got to within 4-3 in the fourth as they got a sac-fly from Talley which scored Paxton Bowers. 

Hiawatha got two back in the fifth to lead 6-3 after wild pitches scored both Rockey and Barnhill. They added one more in the sixth on an RBI single from Kaden Smith to lead 7-3. 

Corning scored one in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI single from LJ Koelzer and then would make things real interesting in the bottom of the seventh. 

Hunter Lamond and LJ Koelzer drove in runs to get Corning within 7-6 and they had the bases loaded with two outs. Hiawatha's Lucas Lancaster would get Drew Gibbs to ground out to second base to end the game. 

It was the seventh game between the two teams this summer and with the win, Hiawatha won the season series 4-3. Corning won three straight elimination games in the tournament and finished the 2024 season with a record of 17-9. 

#2 Hiawatha (29-11) and #1 Iola (30-6) will battle in the State Championship game on Monday morning beginning at 10:00 AM on 103.9 KNZA. Hiawatha will need to defeat Iola in back-to-back games if they want to win the title.