March 28, 2024

Newton falls to Boone 9-6 at home

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The Newton Senior High baseball team welcomed Boone to Woodland Park on Wednesday night, but the Cardinals left their home field with a bad taste in their mouths, falling to the Toreadors, 9-6.

The visiting Toreadors made it clear that they would not let their brief visit to Newton go to waste as they pounced on Cardinal senior pitcher Jacob Hill early on. Hill had a rocky first inning, allowing a two-out rally by the Toreadors that was capped off by a two-run homer that cleared the left field fence with relative ease.

The Cardinals bounced back a little bit in the bottom of the inning when sophomore Tyler Wood scored from third base on a double down the left field line by junior third baseman Evan Shimon.

The Toreadors’ bats stayed wide awake, however, as the team posted yet another crooked number on the board in the third inning. Boone put up a three-spot on Hill, bringing his debut start of the season to a rough ending after just three innings of work. Hill’s final line read as three innings pitched, eight hits, five earned runs, one walk and two strikeouts. He was relieved by junior Derek Wrage to start the fourth inning. Wrage quieted the Boone bats to the tune of just two runs over the final four innings. Wrage also picked up five strikeouts.

"We knew they were good coming in," Newton co-coach Pat Riley said. "They have good hitters, and we weren't able to match their scoring. I thought our guys took too many good pitches at times, but that will come with experience and seeing more pitches."

The closest the Cards were able to pull within were two runs at the end of the sixth. In the bottom of the third inning, senior catcher Taylor Field launched a two-run home run to make the score 7-3. Then in the bottom of the fifth inning, Shimon picked up another two RBI on a base hit that scored Wood and Field, making the score 8-5. Sophomore Michael Barr drove in another run in the bottom of the sixth to make the score 8-6, but the Toreadors put another run on the board in the seventh, and the Cards were unable to mount a rally.

The loss for Newton marks its first of the season for the team. Although the offense did show fight, which should suggest the amount of resolve the team has within it. There is plenty of upperclassman leadership that will keep the team members from hanging their heads, which should allow for some comeback wins this season. There was also plenty of support from the Cardinal faithful, who did a good job of staying positive despite the deficit.

"I liked how our guys didn't get down on themselves," Riley said. "They kept fighting, and that's something you always like to see, but the bottom line is six runs should be enough to win us a game."

The 1-1 Cardinals will host Chariton on Thursday night, as they look to bounce back from a tough loss at home.

B — 4 0 3 0 1 0 1 — 9 16 1

N — 1 0 2 0 2 1 0 — 6   6 2