March 28, 2024

Cardinals break through to second round of playoffs

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Fran Lucas is not a power hitter. Newton High’s junior second baseman admitted Thursday night, she just took a regular swing.

That regular swing put the exclamation point on a 6-0 victory for the Cardinals in Class 4A Region 7 opening round play. Lucas launched the softball down the third-base line and the ball skimmed over the left-field fence.

“That’s my first home run,” Lucas said following the Cardinals win over visiting Des Moines Hoover (12-18) to advance to the Region 7 semifinals Saturday. “It was a regular swing. I was trying to put the ball in play.”

Newton (16-16) plays Class 4A seventh-ranked Norwalk (28-8) at 7 p.m. at Norwalk Saturday. The two teams played in Little Hawkeye Conference action in June with Newton losing 3-1.

In the other quarterfinal Thursday, Ballard defeated Grinnell, 11-1. Ballard plays at No. 3 Winterset Saturday in the semifinal. The Region 7 championship game is 7 p.m. Tuesday at Winterset.

Lucas’ 185-foot, two-run shot came with freshman catcher Emily Valtman aboard. Valtman, who got her first varsity start behind the plate, reached on an error to open the innings. There were two gone when Lucas connected.

Eighth-grade pitcher Peyton Maher was in command from the circle from the beginning. Maher allowed two singles — both by her counterpart for the Huskies, freshman pitcher Hannah Blackford — in seven innings of work. She hit a batter to open the game and struck out five.

“Tonight, we put everything forward,” said Kristina McNew, Newton head coach.

“I told them before the game it was do or die, and let’s do everything we’ve been stressing all season long. The girls got the hits, played defense and P.J. (Maher) pitched a great game.”

Hoover’s Huskies were playing on Newton’s field, but were the home team on the scoreboard. It didn’t matter to the Cardinals.

“It didn’t bother us being the visitors tonight. We’ve practiced all week and were focused to get ready for this game,” Lucas said. “We were determined to win because we want to go to state. We put the ball in play and played good defense.”

The Cardinals racked up 10 hits off the Huskies’ pitcher. They scored a run in the first inning and three more in the third for a 4-0 lead.

Junior shortstop Sydney Jenkins opened the game with an infield single followed by a one-out base hit by sophomore first baseman Taylor Ryan. Maher’s base hit to center field drove in the first run.

Maher, who has been Newton’s main pitcher all season, hit Hoover’s leadoff batter in the first. Sophomore third baseman Audrey Lucas snared a Husky bunt in the air for the first out. Hannah Blackford singled to left, but Maher struck out the next two batters to end the inning.

“A lot of my pitches were working well tonight. The pitches were moving a lot and that made them (the Huskies) pop up a lot,” Maher said after the game. “Emily did a great job catching tonight. We know we can go out and win as long as we put in 100 percent into our practices and our games.”

Maher improved to 12-11 pitching for the Cardinals. She and fellow eighth-grader Anna Coyle were Newton’s top pitchers, but Coyle has been sidelined with a shoulder injury since June 12.

“We’ve really have been relying on P.J. and she’s stepped up. We’ve seen her develop really well this season,” McNew said.

Freshman Kennedy Leiker has been Newton’s starting catcher this season. McNew said Leiker turned her ankle in practice this week, so Valtman moved into the catcher spot for Thursday’s game. McNew said Leiker could be back for Saturday’s contest.

Newton put three insurance runs on the scoreboard in the third inning. Maher reached on an error. With Liz McVey running for Maher, Audrey Lucas singled to right field. Another Husky error allowed Valtman load the bases.

Back-to-back ground outs by sophomore left fielder Bailey Davis and junior center fielder Kari Adams forced in runs. Fran Lucas connected for an RBI single.

Maher and Newton’s defense recorded five 1-2-3 innings against Hoover. Adams made a diving catch in center in the third and Davis ran down a fly ball in the left field corner in the sixth to rob Hoover of hits.

The Huskies had a leadoff infield hit by Hannah Blackford in the fourth. After that, the Cardinals set down the final 12 Hoover batters in the game.

It’s the first time in three years for the Cardinals to advance into the second round of the 4A playoffs. In 2013, Newton lost to Hoover 2-1 in the first round and dropped a 6-0 decision to Saydel in 2014. In 2012, the Cardinals made it to the third round losing to Dallas Center-Grimes.

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