Cardinals strike early, down Bobcats

One big inning was enough for the Newton High softball team against Marshalltown on Friday night.

The Cardinals sent 10 batters to the plate in the second inning and five of them crossed home plate. That was enough to earn Newton a 6-3 victory in non-conference action at Berg Middle School.

Newton took advantage of three Marshalltown errors in the inning, chasing Bobcat starter Kaley Mead from the circle after two frames.

Peyton Maher had four hits against the Bobcats’ two pitchers and earned the win in the circle. She allowed five hits, two earned runs and struck out nine over seven innings.

“P.J. (Maher) got up in the count most of the time. That’s what you expect from your pitcher to get ahead in the count and she was able to do that,” Newton coach Kristina McNew said.

The Cardinals’ first four hitters collected 10 of Newton’s 11 hits. Maher, the clean-up hitter, drove in two runs with a two-run single in the five-run second inning.

Taylor Ryan had two hits, one run and a walk from the No. 3 spot, while Sydney Jenkins went 2-for-3 with a run, an RBI and a walk from the lead-off spot. Karley Leiker was 2-for-4 in the two-hole as well.

“That’s the most important for us,” McNew said about the top of her order’s success. “We seem to play better when our first couple of hitters get on. They feed off each other and those top few getting on tonight was key for us. As soon as you see one hit, it’s motivation for the others and ups their confidence.”

Newton (15-16) stranded two runners on base in the first inning, but had much better luck bringing them around in the second frame.

Bailey Davis reached on an error to lead off the inning and then Kari Adams walked with one out.

Both Davis and Adams scored when Fran Lucas reached on another Marshalltown (4-26) error. Lucas ended up on third before scoring on Jenkins’ RBI single. Maher’s two-run single came with two outs.

“The girls got the bat on the ball and made stuff happen,” McNew said.

Newton’s four hits were assisted by the three Bobcat miscues but the Cardinals stranded two on base.

Cassidy Blackford came on in relief for Mead in the third. She got the Cardinals in order in the third and kept them off the scoreboard in the fourth despite four consecutive hits from Jenkins, Leiker, Ryan and Maher.

Jenkins was caught stealing and Leiker was thrown out at home. Davis grounded out with the bases loaded to end the inning.

Newton stranded two more in the fifth and left nine on the base paths in the game.

Ryan led off the sixth with an infield single and then she came all the way around to score when Maher singled to center. The ball got passed the center fielder and rolled all the way to the fence, helping Newton go up 6-1.

“Today we had two big errors that were kind of deal breakers for us that we just couldn’t come back from,” Marshalltown coach Angie Lovell said. “Newton’s got a good little ball club going on here. Their pitcher had our number today. She threw well. But I am proud of my team because we did rally back and we haven’t done that all year so that’s a good sign going into next week.”

Marshalltown scored its first run in the sixth and then plated two more in the seventh. Each run was assisted by a Newton error, but Maher ended the game with a strikeout of Regan Mazour.

Adams made a great catch in centerfield to rob Marshalltown’s Tabby Steffensen of extra bases in the sixth. She ran down a ball to the gap before running into the fence. She was shaken up on the play but remained in the game.

The Cardinals conclude their regular season with a home game against Norwalk at 7:30 p.m. Monday.

The Class 4A playoffs begin at 7 p.m. Thursday and Newton opens with a home game against Des Moines Hoover.

Contact Troy Hyde at
641-792-3121 ext. 6536 or thyde@newtondailynews.com