March 29, 2024

Positives rise out of Cardinals’ 14-1 loss

Ever the optimist, Newton High head baseball coach Dustin Brisel said there were positives for the Cardinals even in a 14-1 loss.

“We had guys playing in positions they normally don’t play tonight. These early games are about those types of situations,” Brisel said following Newton’s loss to Boone Wednesday in the Cardinals’ home opener.

“It’s no fun to lose 14-1, but we can’t dwell on it. We’re back playing Thursday night. We move forward from here,” he said.

Trailing 4-0 in the bottom of the third innings, the Cardinals plated their only run of the game. Senior Josh Gulling drew a leadoff walk and went to second on a sacrifice bunt by junior Jaron Roush.

“Ben Leal got his first varsity start. On his first varsity at-bat, he hits the first pitch he sees and has an RBI double,” Brisel said. “We even got him an inning of work on the mound. That’s an example of positives from this game.”

Brennen Dodd, a senior, was Newton’s starting pitcher and took the loss. He allowed four runs on four hits and three walks, and he struck out two in 2 1/3 innings of work. Junior Trevor Ergenbright pitched 2 2/3 innings, giving up eight runs on seven hits and five walks. Ergenbright struck out two.

Leal, a sophomore, pitched one inning. He allowed two runs on one hit and two walks, and had two strikeouts.

Newton had one other hit in the game — a single by senior Keith Steinbach in the fourth inning.

“I told the guys before the game that Boone traditionally is a good hitting team, and we’d have to hit the ball to stay with them. You can’t win games with one or two hits,” Brisel said. “Tonight, our pitchers struggled a bit and we made a couple of mistakes defensively.”

Tanner Frost hit a two-out, two-run home run for Boone in the second inning. The Toreadors added two runs in the third, three more in the fourth and two in the fifth. In the top of the sixth, Boone (2-0) increased its 9-1 lead with five runs.

Newton (0-2) is on the road for a 7:30 p.m. game Thursday at Chariton. The junior varsity game is at 5:30 p.m.

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