Cardinal teams sweep Eagles

PELLA — Newton’s Cardinal softball and baseball teams found a cure for what ails them just 28 miles to the south Monday.

The Cardinal squads came off a couple stinging losses from the weekend. They made the trip to Pella Monday to play Pella Christian’s teams in Little Hawkeye Conference games and prevailed on the road.

Newton’s girls got up early and did not give way, beating the Eagle softball team, 5-2. The Cardinals improved to 4-9 in Little Hawkeye Conference play and 5-16 overall.

Newton’s boys shut out the Eagles, 5-0, to get to 6-7 in LHC action and 8-13 overall.

On the softball diamond, Sydney Jenkins had a 4-for-4 night at the plate, driving in a run and scoring a run. Jenkins hit two singles and two doubles for the Cardinals.

Newton scored twice in the first innings. Lizzie Stock singled and scored on an RBI single by Jenkins. Jenkins came across the plate when NHS pitcher Ashton Hoffman connected for a base hit.

Pella Christian scored a run in the third inning. The Cardinals answered with two runs in the top of the fourth. Alex Hutchinson was hit by a pitch and came home on a double by Kaytlin Ahn. Bailey Davis’ ground-out scored Ahn.

Leading 4-1, the Cardinals gave up another run to the Eagles in the bottom of the fourth. They got it back in the seventh. With two gone, Kari Adams drew a walk and Jenkins singled. Madison Bargnall reached on an error, allowing Adams to score.

Pella Christian got a leadoff hit in the seventh, but Hoffman and the Cardinals retired the next three batters to shut down the threat. Hoffman picked up the win in the circle, allowing three hits, walking one, hitting two batters and striking one out.

Ahn had a single and a double in the contest for Newton. Stock and Hoffman each had a single.

NEWTON'S BASEBALL team got strong pitching from starter Chandler Sturtz and Michael Barr to limit the Eagles to six hits and no runs. Sturtz went four scoreless innings for the win, scattering five hits and striking one out. Barr threw three innings of one-hit ball and walking two.

Pella Christian had runners on base throughout the game, but the Cardinals worked around them making the necessary plays for outs. Newton scored two runs in the first inning, then added single runs in the third, fourth and seventh innings.

Bryce Tish was hit by a pitch to start the game and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Sturtz. Evan Shimon, who was 2-for-3 with two RBIs on the night, doubled to right field to produce the first run. Connor Gholson, running for Shimon, advanced to third on a ground-out by Derek Wrage. Gholson came home on a passed ball.

In the third inning, Sturtz helped himself with a one-out triple and scored on a sacrifice fly ball by Shimon. With two gone in the fourth, Mike McCormick and Jeff Stanton had back-to-back singles. Tish reached on an Eagle error allowing McCormick to scamper home.

Again in the seventh, the Cardinals rallied for a run with two gone and benefitted from a Pella Christian error. Jordan Travis drew a base-on-balls followed by a single by Wood. An errant throw on the play gave Travis time to bolt home for the fifth run of the game.

Shimon had two doubles in the game while Sturtz hit a single and a triple. McCormick connected for two singles. Wood and Stanton each had a single.

Newton’s softball and baseball teams are back in Little Hawkeye Conference action Wednesday at home. The Cardinals host Knoxville in doubleheaders at Berg Middle School for the softball team, starting at 6 p.m., and at Woodland Park for the baseball team, starting at 5:30 p.m.