Iodence’s pitching is thing of beauty

As a brisk wind blew in from the outfield, threatening clouds briefly gave way to sunshine and a brilliant double rainbow during the NJCAA Region 18 baseball tournament Friday at Morse Stadium in Henderson.

The picturesque sky created a perfect backdrop for Community College of Southern Nevada right-hander Ryan Iodence, who painted a masterpiece on the mound in a 6-1 first-round victory over the College of Eastern Utah.

Iodence, a Faith Lutheran product, struck out a Coyotes season-high 14 and scattered four hits in eight innings. His performance carried 16th-ranked CCSN into the best-of-3 region championship series against Western Nevada, starting Thursday in Henderson.

"Not to sound arrogant, but we fully expected to come out of this weekend. We really haven't done anything yet," said Coyotes coach Tim Chambers, who guided CCSN to the junior college national title in 2003. "The kids know if we win five in a row, we'll have a chance to get back to the (junior college) World Series."

Iodence, who entered with a 1.89 ERA, gave up one run and walked four to improve to 8-2. He had at least one strikeout in every inning and fanned two in six different innings. Ten batters struck out swinging, most waving at Iodence's curveball.

"He's got his velocity up to 88 to 90 (mph), and his breaking ball is his out pitch. He got a bunch of guys swinging at that thing tonight," Chambers said. "He's kind of had their number. I thought it was a pretty good matchup. He's been pretty darn good all year."

Iodence was even better against Eastern Utah in a 10-0 victory April 13, when he gave up two hits in six innings, walked one and struck out 12 on 79 pitches.

"I was relaxed. I knew their hitters, and I knew what I had to do. It was just a matter of going out and doing it," said Iodence, who threw 110 pitches. "My breaking ball was obviously my best pitch of the night. Basically I relied on that and my fastball and got it done. I've had better outings, but it's nice.

"I'm just glad to come out with the win, and we're looking forward to Western Nevada. We want to win as a team, and it's all one heartbeat."

J.C. Leach had a two-run double and eight players hit safely for CCSN, which improved to 30-7 at home, 41-16 overall and 30-11 in the Scenic West Athletic Conference.

"We have a tough opponent coming in next week, so I'm thankful we're at our yard," Chambers said. "I like our chances, but they have a hell of a club. We're going to have to come out and pitch to beat those guys."