PELLA — The Class 4A No. 15 Newton softball team didn’t let Thursday’s narrow loss to 11th ranked Norwalk deter them.
The Cardinals are now winners of three straight games after going 2-0 at the Pella Christian tournament on Saturday and defeating Little Hawkeye Conference rival Grinnell on Friday night.
Newton won its 20th game of the season Saturday when it ended the Pella Christian tourney with an 11-2 win over Humboldt.
Before that, the Cardinals (20-8) blew out Albia 10-0 in five innings.
Friday, the Cardinals improved to 5-4 in LHC play with a 5-1 triumph over Grinnell.
Newton hit four home runs against Humboldt. Senior Sydney Jenkins led off the game with a solo blast and then added another solo shot in the third.
Freshmen Emily Valtman and Riley Slycord both laced solo homers in a three-run fifth inning.
Newton led 3-1 after three innings but put the game away with a three-run fifth and a four-run sixth.
Jenkins was 3-for-3 in the game. She had two RBIs and a walk. Valtman also had three hits, while Karley Leiker, Peyton Maher, Slycord and Kari Adams all had two hits.
Leiker scored two runs, Slycord and Taylor Ryan both had two RBIs and Kennedy Leiker also scored twice. Fran Lucas had one hit, one RBI and one walk.
Maher got the win in the circle. She allowed two earned runs on five hits with eight strikeouts in seven innings.
The Cardinals plated single runs in each of the first two innings against Albia and then made it 8-0 with a six-run third. The game ended in the fifth after Newton scored one run in the fourth and another in the fifth.
Karley Leiker, Harlie Durr and Lucas all had two hits at the plate. Durr scored twice, Lucas had two RBIs and one run, and Karley Leiker had one run and one RBI.
Jenkins had one hit but finished with a walk, one run and two RBIs. Valtman scored twice, walked once and had an RBI.
Ryan was 1-for-2 with a run and an RBI, and Adams walked once and scored one run.
Freshman Anna Coyle earned the win in the circle. She allowed four hits and struck out nine while walking one in five innings.
The Cardinals host fourth-ranked Oskaloosa at 7:30 p.m. Monday at Berg Middle School.