Cardinals strand eight in softball loss to East Marshall

There were plenty of base runners for Newton’s softball team on Tuesday during its non-conference contest against East Marshall.

The next step for the Cardinals is to find a way to bring those runners around to home plate consistently.

Newton stranded eight runners on base in all and couldn’t come up with clutch hits during a 4-1 home loss to the Mustangs.

“It all comes down to execution. We have plenty of talent. We just have to execute better,” Newton softball coach Kory Leiker said.

Things started off well for the Cardinals. They put runners on base in every inning except one but missed bunts early that kept the Newton runners from advancing.

The Cardinals left one runner on base in the first, one in the second and two in the third.

East Marshall scored its first two runs in the third. Kallie Van Kley, Newton’s starting pitcher, issued a lead-off walk to No. 7 hitter Catelyn Fisher and then an error on a sacrifice bunt put another runner on base.

Ellie Hull kept the East Marshall frame going with an RBI double and Rayne McIlrath made it 2-0 with an RBI single.

Van Kley was pretty good mostly for the Cardinals. She retired the Mustangs (3-2) in order in the first, second and fourth innings and had five strikeouts in those frames.

She pitched out of trouble in the fifth when she got a pop out and a fly out to strand two East Marshall runners on base.

Van Kley tossed six innings total and allowed three runs — two earned — on four hits with seven strikeouts, two walks and one hit batter.

In the East Marshall half of the sixth, Van Kley gave up a lead off double and a single to start the frame. She got the next three batters but Emma Pfantz scored on a wild pitch to make it 3-1.

“Kallie threw a nice game,” Leiker said. “It’s a long season. We are three games into the year. This means nothing.”

Newton’s run came in the fifth. Vanessa Vasseau and Sloan Brodersen drew back-to-back walks to begin the threat. Then, Chloe Swank reached after laying down what was supposed to be a sacrifice bunt.

The Cardinals (1-2) couldn’t get a hit with the bases loaded, but Taylor Lust put Newton on the board with a sacrifice fly to left field.

“We couldn’t put the bunt down when we needed to early, but that was a nice bunt by Chloe,” Leiker said. “We have to come up with the clutch hits when we need them and make the plays that we can make. They don’t have to be fantastic plays, just make plays.”

The only other base runner in the game came in the seventh when Brodersen reached on a single. The Cardinal eighth-grader was 3-for-3 in the game and she drew a walk. Swank, who is a freshman, also had a hit and was on base three times.

Freshman Katelyn Lambert was 0-for-3 at the plate but did have an impressive on-target throw from center field that prevented another East Marshall run in the third.

“They are playing with great confidence right now,” Leiker said of some of the younger players on the roster. “They are being thrown into the lions’ den. (Sloan) is getting after it and Chloe Swank is hitting real well, too. If I have them in the lineup, I believe in them.”

With injuries hitting the Cardinals early, Leiker and his coaching staff are still trying to find the right combinations in the field and with their lineup.

“The older girls need to step up. Some of them are struggling,” Leiker said. “But injuries are catching up with us a little bit and we have some girls playing out of position.

“If we get those parts and pieces back and we can get to full strength, then the sky’s the limit.”

Lust and Van Kley had back-to-back singles in the second and Van Kley had two hits total in the game. Lust had the RBI and Vasseau walked and scored the team’s run in the fifth.

Hailey Sumpter pitched the seventh inning for the Cardinals. She allowed one earned run on two hits.

McIlrath had two hits and two RBIs to lead East Marshall and Morgan Neuroth got the pitching win after surrendering one earned run on seven hits with seven strikeouts and two walks.

Notes: Leiker said senior Kya Butler is on track to be back in the lineup on June 13. Peyton Durr has a doctor’s appointment on June 9 to see if she gets released. … It’s a busy week for the Cardinals, who played a doubleheader against Oskaloosa on Wednesday. They also play at Pella on Friday and in the Oskaloosa tournament on Saturday. The postponed game against Marshalltown also is tentatively scheduled for Thursday.