March 29, 2024

Newton baseball wins season opener at Marshalltown

The Newton baseball team was able to get one game in before the rain started to fall Monday, and that game likely made the stormy return home a little easier.

The Cardinals put up one run in the first inning and three more in the fourth before holding off host Marshalltown for a 4-2 victory. Game 2 of the doubleheader was suspended in the third inning with the Bobcats up 2-1.

“I had a feeling we had a solid team after a few weeks of practice, but after that game they proved it,” Newton co-coach Pat Riley said. “We got outhit, but we scored runs when we needed to and made plays when it counted.”

Junior Derek Wrage picked up the win for the Cardinals, giving up just two hits and one walk in three innings of work. Sophomore Tyler Wood also pitched three innings, giving up two earned runs and striking out two. Senior Taylor Field pitched one inning to close the door on the Bobcats.

“The pitching staff did a decent job of throwing strikes and keeping the ball in play,” co-coach Darin Tisdale said. “The hitters did a great job of just putting the ball in play, but there is room for improvement everywhere.”

Offensively, the Cards got RBIs from Field, Wrage and senior Jacob Hill. The team’s four hits on the game came from doubles by Wood and Field and singles junior Chandler Sturtz and sophomore Mike McCormick.

Monday marked Newton’s first return to Marshalltown since the Cardinals’ 13-inning victory in the first round of the 2011 playoffs. The Cardinals will play their home opener on Wednesday, hosting Boone at Eversman Field.