Eagles strike in final inning to beat Cardinals

Finding the gaps on hard-hit balls has not been the norm for Newton High’s Cardinals this baseball season. Case in point came Friday night as they hosted Class 3A No. 4 Saydel for Senior Night at Eversman Field.

In a scoreless contest through six innings, the Cardianls were hitless. Saydel produced two runs in the top of the seventh.

Senior catcher Duncan Lee led off Newton’s half of the seventh. After fouling off the first pitch, Lee hit a rope to center field for a single to break up Saydel’s Rece Martin’s bid for a no-hitter.

Senior third baseman Drew Stout struck out, but junior Tyler Stanton connected for a single to right field. The Cardinals had the tying runs on base with one out. Martin struck out sophomore Garrett Sturtz then got junior Jon Lawton to ground out to end the game.

“It was a close game, so close,” Newton head coach Dustin Brisel said. “We couldn’t get a hit. There’s a reason that team is No. 4 in the state. They don’t make mistakes defensively, and (Martin) is one of the best pitcher’s we’ll see all year.”

Brisel said the Cardinals had a good effort, especially in the seventh with hits against Martin. He said his players just have to stay with it and grind it out through the final regular season games Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to get ready for the postseason on Friday.

“The guys are figuring things out. We just have to start hitting it square again. We’re happy with tonight’s performance, except the loss, because we competed with a team like Saydel,” Brisel said.

Junior Trey Vanderlaan went five scoreless innings on the mound for Newton. He worked out of a couple of jams including the first inning when Saydel’s Eagles had two runners on base and no outs. Vanderlaan struck out two and got a ground out.

Vanderlaan and the Cardinal defense got around Eagles on base in the third, fourth and fifth innings. Vanderlaan racked up seven strikeouts. He gave up four hits and walked one batter in a no decision.

Sturtz came on in relief to pitch the final two innings, and he took the loss for Newton. The Cardinals got out of a bases-full situation without any damage in the sixth. Sturtz was charged with two runs on seven hits.

“Trey and Garrett pitched well tonight,” Brisel said.

In the seventh, T.J. Steghenson delivered his third single of the night for the Eagles. Devin Porter singled to right. Newton attempted to cut down Steghenson going to third base, but the throw was late. Stout threw back to Stanton at second base, who tagged out Porter trying to advance on the play.

Martin helped his own effort on the mound with an RBI triple to center field. Martin scored on a sacrifice fly by Joe Boehler. That was all the scoring in the game, and it was enough to allow Saydel to claim the win.

Martin did walk three Cardinal hitters. He struck out 12 in his two-hit, complete-game performance for Saydel.

Brisel started the six seniors with Jacob Risius in right field, Grant Nook in center field, Bryce fish in left field, Jordan Henning as the designated hitter, Lee behind the plate and Stout at third base. Risius and Henning, who has been the team’s manager this season, were Newton’s first two batters of the game.

After the first inning, Risius, Henning and Tish, who has been sidelined with an injury all season, were replaced by regular starters. The Cardinals were without starters Connor Gholson and Brennen Dodd, both juniors.

Brisel said Dodd was at the game but did not play and Gholson was gone.

Newton (9-18) hosts Knoxville in a non-conference game Monday at Eversman Field in Woodland Park. The junior varsity game is at 5:30 p.m. followed by the varsity game at 7:30 p.m.

The Cardinal varsity wraps up Little Hawkeye Conference action Tuesday. They host Dallas Center-Grimes in a doubleheader starting at 5:30 p.m.

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