March 18, 2024

Cardinal baseball opens season with loss to Bobcats

MARSHALLTOWN — Newton High’s Cardinals opened the 2017 baseball season Tuesday on the road against Marshalltown’s Bobcats. Bobcat pitcher Nate Vance threw a three-hitter in Marshalltown’s 5-0 win over the visiting Cardinals.

“He really kept us off balance all night. He used the outside corner and we didn’t make the adjustments,” Newton head coach Dustin Brisel said. “It’s the first game and a lot of our guys haven’t had a lot of practice against live pitching because of participating in other spring sports.”

Overall, Brisel said he was pleased with the Cardinals’ first outing — except for the loss. Seniors Trey Vanderlaan and Josh Gulling had stints on the mound for Newton. The Newton defense played behind them without an error.

“Pitching and defense were the two things I was confident in being solid for us this season. We’ll get the sticks going,” Brisel said. “Trey and Josh threw strikes and with the new pitching rule, that’s what we need from our pitchers.”

Senior Brennen Dodd opened the season with a leadoff single for the Cardinals. Unfortunately, Newton stranded two base runners in the first inning. The Cardinals left four runners on base for the game.

Vance recorded nine strikeouts against the Newton hitters. He retired the Cardinals in order in the second through fifth innings.

Marshalltown plated a run with two gone in the third inning on a single by Sam Irwin and a double by Vance. The Bobcats added three runs in the fifth and one more in the sixth.

“They used a couple of really good bunts and had a couple of hits get through the holes in the infield, but no big hits,” Brisel said. “Tyler Stanton made a great diving stop at second base and threw a runner out at first base.”

Vanderlaan worked five innings as the Cardinal starter on the mound. He took the loss and was charged with four runs on five hits and had three strikeouts. Gulling came on for one inning of work, giving up one run on two hits and one walk.

Juniors Trevor Ergenbright and Jaron Roush each had a base hit.

Newton (0-1) has its home opener Wednesday against Boone. The varsity game is at 7:30 p.m. at Eversman Field in Woodland Park. The junior varsity game’s first pitch is at 5:30 p.m.

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