Newton falls to Oskaloosa

OSKALOOSA — Newton High’s baseball Cardinals had five hits in its two games Monday at Oskaloosa. Frankie Cataldo and Clay Meyer had two each of those five hits.

Oskaloosa’s Indians were not good hosts as they kept the Cardinals winless in Little Hawkeye Conference play. The Indians won 11-1 in six innings to open the LHC doubleheader and finished with a 5-1 nightcap win.

“We hit the ball much better in the second game. We hit it hard but right at people,” Newton head coach Dustin Brisel said. “The effort was much better in the second game.”

Newton is 0-13 in LHC games and 1-16 for the season. The Cardinals host Des Moines East at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in non-conference play.

They are at Pella on Wednesday in conference action. The varsity game is at 7:30 p.m.

“We just keep grinding things out looking for a solution to this,” Brisel said. “We’ll take the positives from this second game to move forward to Tuesday,”

The Cardinals fell behind the Indians 7-0 by the end of the third inning of the opener. Newton averted a shutout with a run in the fifth.

Dalton Altemeier was hit by pitch. Cataldo delivered a one-out RBI double to get Newton on the scoreboard.

Oskaloosa came right back to score three runs in the fifth. The Indians plated one in the sixth to win by the 10-run rule.

Kael Swarts and Braydon Chance pitched for Newton. They allowed a combined 11 hits and six walks. Each had two strikeouts.

Meyer had a single as the other hit in game one.

Ryan Barr went the distance on the mound for Newton in the second game. He gave up seven hits, walked four and struck out two.

Two of the seven hits were home runs by the Indians. A two-run shot by Rian Yates in the third that broke a 1-1 tie and a solo shot by Cole Kraler, Oskaloosa’s pitcher.

“Ryan was outstanding on the hill. We played better defense in the second game,” Brisel said.

Newton tied the second game in the second inning. Cataldo singled, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Chance and to third on a passed ball. A groundout by Blake Sevenbergen drove in the run.

Oskaloosa used the home runs in the third and fourth to take a 4-1 lead. It added a run in the sixth.

Meyer, Cataldo and Swarts each had a single for Newton.

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