An early inning deficit proved to be too much to overcome for the Iowa Mennonite School baseball team (2-7 overall) Wednesday afternoon. IMS welcomed the West Branch Bears (5-8 overall) to rural Kalona for a single non-conference battle. The Bears scored seven of their nine runs in the first two innings, upending IMS 9-4.

West Branch opened the game with a three-run first inning, and added a pair of runs in the second and third innings for a seven run cushion. IMS brought nine batters to the plate in the third, recording four runs to cut the deficit to 7-4. West Branch increased the lead with single runs in the fifth and sixth inning, holding IMS off the scoreboard in the later innings for a 9-4 victory.

Senior Payton Miller led IMS with two hits in three plate appearances and scored a run in the setback.

The setback is the third in a row for IMS, who dropped their overall record to 2-7. IMS returns to the diamond tonight, traveling to Winfield for a Southeast Iowa Super Conference tilt against the Winfield-Mount Union Wolves (7-4 overall).