Newton softball seeks 20-win season, long postseason run

The Newton softball team has seven seniors on this year’s roster and that group has seen it all on the diamond.

From witnessing or playing for a team in 2018 which advanced to the state tournament to a team which went 0-18 in 2020 to a pair of at or near .500 squads in the other two seasons, this year’s seniors hope to take Newton back to the top of Class 3A this summer.

“We want to win at least 20 games,” Newton softball coach Kory Leiker said. “We almost got there last year and won a regional game. This year, we want to keep winning until we get to state. That’s always the goal and with this group, we have a real good shot to do it.”

Leiker begins his second season as head coach. The first one ended with the Cardinals finishing 16-19.

Coming into the second season has been much easier than starting fresh and coming off an 0-18 campaign last summer.

“They know my expectations now,” Leiker said. “The first year was me learning about them and them learning about me. We’ve had a full year of offseason workouts.”

According to Leiker, the Cardinals have a good mix of experienced players and some talented youth.

Headlining the senior class is Kallie Van Kley, Jaz Cooper and Kya Butler.

Van Kley is the pitcher with the most experience. She broke out last year, finishing with an earned run average of 3.01 and a record of 7-11. She struck out 89 batters and had one save in a team-most 116 1/3 innings.

At the plate, Van Kley batted .269, had an on-base percentage of .316 and drove in nine runs. Her fielding percentage was .932.

Cooper, who will play first or second base, batted .291 and had an OBP of .352. She ranked second on team with 19 runs and 19 RBIs and also had three doubles, 10 walks and a fielding percentage of .943.

Butler will start the year with an injury. Whether or not she plays this summer is still unknown. She’s the team’s starting shortstop when she’s on the field.

Butler batted .258 and had an OBP of .385. She led the team with six doubles and two homers, ranked third with 18 runs and added 14 RBIs, 10 walks, 10 stolen bases and she was hit by 10 pitches.

“She’s moving it well right now. We are hoping to have her back for the second week of games,” Leiker said. “The four to six week timetable is what we are hoping for.”

The rest of the senior class includes outfielders Grace Benson, Taylor Lust, Mackayla Johnson and Vanessa Vasseau.

Vasseau batted .267 and had an OBP of .371 last summer. She added 14 runs and seven steals.

The rest of the varsity is made up of junior Madison Henwood, sophomores Kadance Ahn, Hailey Sumpter and Peyton Durr, freshmen Chloe Swank and Katelyn Lambert and eighth-graders Mackynna Sims and Sloan Brodersen.

“It’s a good group of seniors. We are a little bit older and still have a good mix of younger girls,” Leiker said. “It will be an interesting year.”

Swank led the team with a .314 batting average last summer and she had a team-best .407 OBP. She finished with 12 RBIs and nine walks and had a fielding percentage of .950.

Ahn ranked third on the team with 18 runs scored, was second with 15 walks and was hit by five pitches, tallied nine RBIs and stole five bases. Her OBP was .333.

Ahn will play shortstop until Butler returns. She was the starting third basemen last summer.

Sumpter batted .267 at the plate but made a bigger impact in the circle. She finished 5-2 with an ERA of 2.54. She also had one save and pitched 41 1/3 innings. She will play first base when she’s not pitching.

Lambert started as an eighth-grader and finished with a .250 batting average and an OBP of .369. She finished with a team-best 25 RBIs, 12 steals and 17 walks and tallied 16 runs and three doubles.

Henwood scored 18 runs and stole five bases as most a courtesy runner. Johnson and freshman Paige Benson scored six runs each last summer.

Henwood can play either the infield or outfield, Swank will catch or play third, Sims will catch or play in the outfield and Brodersen is an outfielder.

Injuries have been a big part of the preseason so far. Aside from Butler, Durr and and freshman Tallyn Seitz are currently out with injuries.

Durr started eight of the first nine games of her career last summer but missed most of the year with an injury. Seitz adds pitching depth when healthy.

“We will start the season with some players out, but we have plenty of depth to make up for everything we are missing,” Leiker said.

The Cardinals were 6-15 in conference play last summer. Overall, they batted .257 and had an OBP of .355 as a team. Newton also scored 4.5 runs per game, committed 2.7 errors per game, had a team fielding percentage of .904 and the team’s ERA was 4.30.

Leiker’s assistant coaches are Eric Vander Velden, Bailey Johannes, Mike Butler and volunteer pitching coach Mariah Fritz.

The Cardinals open the season with a home game against Grand View Christian on Monday. They go to Marshalltown on Tuesday. Both varsity games start at 7:30 p.m.