April 25, 2024

Newton upends No. 13 Pella softball team

By Jocelyn Sheets

Getting mobbed at home plate by her Newton High Cardinal teammates is senior Kari Adams (6) who hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning of Monday’s home Little Hawkeye Conference game against No. 13 Pella. Newton toppled the Lady Dutch, 8-1. (Jocelyn Sheets)

One mistake in a close game can open the flood gates. That is what happened Monday night in a Little Hawkeye Conference softball contest between Newton High’s Cardinals and the Class 4A No. 13 Pella Lady Dutch.

The visiting Lady Dutch committed an error with one out in the third inning allowing Newton’s Fran Lucas to reach safely. Newton followed it up with four straight hits to drive in three runs.

Sydney Jenkins singled and Karley Leiker’s double drove in two runs. Taylor Ryan had a base hit followed up by an RBI single by Emily Valtman.

The Cardinals went on to topple the ranked Lady Dutch, 8-1, to improve to 3-2 in LHC play. Newton is 12-5 overall. Pella fell to 8-8 and 0-5 in conference.

“We achieved all our goals tonight. We were aggressive and scored when the opportunities were there,” Newton head coach Kristina McNew said. “This was a great team effort.”

Kennedy Leiker led off the fourth inning with a single for Newton. Kari Adams hammered out her first home run of the season — a two-run shot over the left field fence. In the fifth, Rylee Slycord took a Kinzi Van Wyk pitch deep over the fence to put Newton up 6-0.

The Cardinals scored two more times in the sixth. Jenkins singled and quickly found her way to third on two stolen bases. Jenkins scored on a one-out sacrifice fly by Ryan. Valtman doubled and scored on a single by Audrey Lucas.

Newton’s Anna Coyle had gotten out of several jams in the game and had no trouble in the seventh inning with the Lady Dutch. She recorded two strikeouts and got a ground-out to end the game. Coyle scattered four hits over seven innings of work, walked two and struck out six for the win.

Van Wyk took the loss for Pella, working five innings and allowing six runs on 12 hits. Alexa Dingeman pitched one inning and gave up two runs on two hits.

The Lady Dutch produced their run in the sixth. Hannah Emmert singled and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Van Wyk. Lydia Dingeman and Alexa Dingeman had back-to-back singles to chase in the run.

Karley Leiker connected for two singles and a double for Newton. Adams had a single and a home run while Valtman hit a single and a double.

Jenkins, Ryan and Audrey Lucas each had two base hits. Slycord had the home run, which was her second of the season. Kennedy Leiker singled.

Newton faces Class 4A fifth-ranked Norwalk in LHC action at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Newton’s Berg Middle School field.

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