Two we got — one we need

“This team loves playing defense,” Newton High head baseball coach Dustin Brisel said.

Brisel, who is in his second year as Cardinal head coach, is proud to say that because defense is part of the foundation of the Newton baseball team. Brisel pointed out the Cardinals stress making the routine plays defensively.

Newton had 26 errors in Little Hawkeye Conference play for the 2015 season, which was third best in the LHC, and 44 errors overall. Newton finished fourth in the Little Hawkeye Conference at 9-6 behind Pella at 15-3, Oskaloosa 11-7 and Dallas Center-Grimes at 10-8.

Norwalk posted a 7-9 conference mark followed by Grinnell at 4-13 and Pella Christian at 4-14. Several conference games were rained out for the season.

“We have great leaders and communication on the field defensively with our returning players and the guys joining the squad this year,” Brisel said as the Cardinals prepare for the 2016 season.

Newton returns six varsity lettermen from last year’s 16-14 squad. Two of the returners — senior third baseman Drew Stout and junior short stop Connor Gholson — earned Little Hawkeye Conference honors as infielders.

Stout was named to the All-LHC first-team, finishing with an .885 fielding average for the season. Stout was credited with 25 putouts, 52 assists, and had 10 errors.

Stout had an on-base percentage of .395 and finished in the top 15 in stolen base attempts — 11 of 13. He led the Cardinals in runs scored with 24. Stout tied for most hits on the team at 32. He had two doubles and drove in six runs.

Gholson was named to the second team as an infielder playing shortstop for Newton. He also pitched for the Cardinals. He ended with a .924 fielding average and seven errors defensively.

Gholson hit at a .258 clip with an on-base average of .313. He had 23 hits, and had five doubles, 10 RBIs and scored 18 runs. He was 5 of 6 on stolen base attempts.

As a pitcher, Gholson went 5-1 and had one save with a 2.03 ERA. He pitched 51 2/3 innings, gave up 50 hits, 15 walks and 21 runs while striking out 35 batters.

Other returners for the Cardinals are senior catcher Duncan Lee, junior first-baseman/pitcher Trey Vanderlaan, junior Brennen Dodd who played in the outfield, at second base and pitched and senior outfielder Grant Nook.

Senior Bryce Tish is back also, but he missed all of the 2015 season because of shoulder surgery. As a sophomore, Tish hit .263 with 15 this, one double, seven RBIs and nine runs scored. He had a fielding average in the outfield of 952 with one error. He was 4-for-7 on stolen base attempts.

Lee shared catching duties last year. Behind the plate he had a .968 fielding average with four errors, and he threw out 13 base runners on 23 base-stealing attempts.

Lee hit .242 with 22 hits, three doubles and one triple. He drove in 12 runs and scored 10 runs.

“We’re developing our pitching staff. We lost several good pitchers, so finding the right rotation is important this season,” Brisel said. “Our main concern is the one we deal with every years — keeping our players healthy and keeping pitchers’ arms healthy through the summer.”

Brisel and his assistant coaches Ryan Comer, Tyler Stewart, Brad Kahler and Brady Calow are looking to several younger players to step into roles for the varsity. Senior Austin James is working into the outfield and junior Jon Lawton is an infielder.

Juniors Keith Steinbach and Reagan Maple can play at the catcher spot and pitch for the Cardinals. Sophomores Trevor Ergenbright and Garrett Sturtz and juniors Tyler Stanton and Josh Gulling are players working on the mound and at other positions.

“We have good team speed. We will be pressuring defenses every night when we’re on base. We plan to use our speed to our advantage with base stealing, bunts and hit and run opportunities against opponents,” Brisel said.

Brisel said being patient at the plate is another aspect the Cardinals stress. He said Newton hitters are working on finding a pitch they can drive to the gaps in the field.

“We will work deep into (pitch) counts to push the opposing pitchers’ pitch count to get to their bullpen each game. We have players who are very patient at the plate, which helps put pressure on our opponents,” Brisel said.

Newton is looking to be right in the thick of the Little Hawkeye Conference title race again.

“We’re hungry for a Little Hawkeye Conference championship. We have the athletes to compete for the top spot in a very talented conference,” Brisel said. “It all comes down to us playing routine baseball defensively and executing at the plate offensively.

“If we do both of those things, you will find us at the top of the conference this year.”

Newton is in Class 3A this summer and has a mixture of talented Class 3A and Class 4A teams on its schedule. It has its annual Cardinal Invitational on June 18 at Newton’s Woodland Park. The Cardinals added the Woodward-Granger Invitational tournament on June 4 to their schedule.

Other members of the Newton 2016 baseball team are: senior Jacob Risius; sophomores Cole Cazett, Carson Cazett, Kamden Kuennen, Jace Lukefahr, Darren Revell, Blayden Rhone, Reid Umbarger, Luke Winchell and Logan Wolfe; freshmen Ry Arguello, Ryan Barr, Aaron Bartels, Ike Bebout, Carver Christenson, Blake Cockerton, Taylor Greiner, Ben Leal, Mason Lee, Adam Maharry, Luke Maharry, Josh Miller, Matt Moran, Jacob Murphy and Cole Webster; and eighth-graders Clay Meyer and Taylor Danley.

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