March 29, 2024

Cardinals beat Hawks, lose to Jaguars

ANKENY — Jordan Travis did whatever it took to help Newton High’s Cardinals produce a victory Saturday.

The Cardinal baseball team played two games — one against host Ankeny and one against Ankeny Centennial on the Northview Middle School field in Ankeny.

Travis got his first start on the mound of the 2015 season. He kept the Ankeny Hawks off balance in the batter’s box, allowing five hits and walking two. He struck out seven.

Travis did not give up a run as the Cardinal defense played error-free behind him. The teams played five scoreless innings until Newton broke through in the top of the sixth.

Tyler Wood beat out a hard hit ball to the Ankeny shortstop for an infield single. With one gone, Wood swiped second and went to third on a throwing error by the Hawk catcher. Travis connected for a sacrifice fly to center field to drive in Wood.

“Jordan was in the zone all game. He threw strikes (67 of 99 pitches). We played our game with solid defense behind Jordan and coming up with a run when we needed it,” said Dustin Brisel, Newton head coach.

Along with Wood’s single, Newton got base hits from Michael Barr, Duncan Lee and Jeff Stanton.

Things didn’t go as well in the second contest. Newton dropped a 4-2 decision to Ankeny Centennial’s Jaguars.

“We were in the game. It was a 4-2 game in which both teams were putting the ball in play,” Brisel said. “They found a few more holes than we did. We made four errors that led to four runs. Coming away with a split against two very good teams is something I can live with. We were close in the second game with opportunities to score. We just didn’t get the hit we needed.”

Ankeny Centennial jumped out to a 3-0 lead by the end of the first inning. Newton came back to produce two runs in the second.

With one out, Lee drew a walk, then Tristan Peters ripped a two-out single to right field. The runners moved to third and second on a passed ball. Mike McCormick’s double to right field drove in two runs.

Three errors by Newton allowed a run to score in the third to put Ankeny Centennial up 4-2. Newton had two on and two out in the fifth and two one and no outs in the sixth, but couldn’t score.

Wood (1-1) took the loss after pitching three innings. He was charged with four runs on eight hits and two walks. Stanton pitched three innings in relief, allowing no runs on two hits and two walks and striking out four.

“Tyler had a decent outing and only gave up two earned runs tonight. Jeff came in and threw strikes for us. He shut them down using his curve ball and fast ball pitches,” Brisel said.

Drew Stout had the only other hit, a single, for Newton in the game.

Newton (2-1) hosts Bondurant-Farrar Tuesday at Woodland Park, then opens Little Hawkeye Conference play at Pella Christian Wednesday.

Contact Jocelyn Sheets at
641-792-3121 ext. 6535 or jsheets@newtondailynews.com