March 29, 2024

Cardinals split LHC twin bill with No. 4 Fillies

DALLAS CENTER — Mac Brown singled with one out and scored the go-ahead run for Newton High’s Cardinal softball team in the first game of a Little Hawkeye Conference doubleheader on Wednesday.

Brown’s run held up as the Cardinals upended hosting Class 4A fourth-ranked Dallas Center-Grimes, 3-2. The Fillies roared back to claim an 11-1 in five innings in the nightcap.

Newton has split four of it’s five LHC doubleheaders its played this season. The 3-2 win was the second win over a Class 4A ranked team in a week for the Cardinals. They beat No. 14 Norwalk on June 13.

The Cardinals are 5-8 in LHC play and 10-11 overall. The Fillies go to 7-4 in conference action and 15-8 overall.

Newton plays a 7:30 p.m. LHC game Friday at Grinnell then has a varsity doubleheader Monday at Oskaloosa starting at 5:30 p.m.

Brown was the only player among the two teams to have a multi-hit game with two singles. She scored the first run of the game in the third inning. With one gone, she singled and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Lakin Jenkins.

Peyton Maher drew a walk and Grace Benson went in as a courtesy runner then Chassidy Henwood was hit by a pitch. Maddison Thayer delivered a two-run single to put the Cardinals up 2-0.

The DCG Fillies answered with two runs in their half of the third inning. Maria Hendricks had a base hit and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. With two gone, Riley Feeley doubled in a run and she came around to score on a single by Kamryn O’Brien.

Maher and DCG’s Lani Gannon staged a strong pitching duel. Maher got the win but both pitchers limited the teams to four hits each and they each issued two walks. Maher struck out three while Gannon notched five strikeouts.

In the fifth, Brown’s base hit got the Cardinals going. Jenkins, who had a single in the game, bunted and reached on a DCG error which allowed Brown to come all the way from first base to score. Jenkins was tagged out attempting to advance to second.

Down 3-2, the Fillies had a runner on with two outs in the bottom of the seventh. Kylie Merical lined out to Newton’s Jenna Smith in left field to end the game.

The Fillies scored a run in the second inning of the second game and three more in the third. Newton came up with its run in the top of the fourth.

Henwood reached on an error and moved to second on a groundout. Thayer, who had three RBIs in the two games for Newton, doubled in Henwood.

DCG responded with a six-run bottom of the fourth. It added a run in the fifth to end the game by a 10 run-rule margin.

Brown had two singles in the game and Thayer doubled. Hitting a single apiece were Jenkins, Maher and Kameron Johnston.

Kalli VanKley started in the circle for the Cardinals. She allowed four runs on five hits, two walks and three hit batters and she struck out two. Johnston came on and pitched two innings, giving up seven runs on five hits and one walk.

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