Newton baseball opens LHC play with sweep of Oskaloosa

OSKALOOSA — Kacey Sommars has found a power surge. And the offensive firepower led Newton’s baseball team to a road sweep against Oskaloosa on Wednesday.

The Cardinals swept the Indians 13-0 and 13-4 and Sommars delivered at the plate with a pair of home runs and 10 RBIs.

In the opening game, the Cardinals led 1-0 after four but plated three in the fifth and nine in the fourth to end things early. The Cardinals out-hit Oskaloosa 16-1.

Brody Bauer, Turner Williams and Drew Thompson all had three hits to lead the offense, while Sommars and Eli Stewart each finished with two hits.

Sommars blasted a home run, scored two runs and had four RBIs, Bauer finished with three hits, one double, two runs and four RBIs and Williams chipped in three hits, two runs and a double.

Williams is batting .529 through five games, while Bauer is hitting .429 through seven.

Stewart collected two hits, two runs, one RBI, one walk and one steal and Thompson finished with three hits and one RBI and he was hit by a pitch.

Braydon Chance doubled and added one run and two RBIs, Tade Vanderlaan and Evan Grimm both had one hit and one run, Vanderlaan walked once and Grimm doubled. Kael Swarts scored one run and was hit by a pitch and Jordan Killmer was hit by a pitch and scored one run.

Williams (2-0) started on the mound and went the distance. He tossed six innings and surrendered just one hit. He also struck out nine.

Oskaloosa (2-5 overall, 0-2 in the conference) started out better against the Cardinals in the nightcap, but Newton used a five-run sixth inning to pull away.

The Indians were limited to seven hits and they committed four errors in the field. Newton (5-2, 2-0) cranked out 11 hits and committed zero errors.

Sommars had the best game of his career in the nightcap, leading the Newton offense with a homer, two doubles, two runs, six RBIs and one stolen base.

Williams finished with three more hits and scored two runs. One of his hits was a double.

Bauer added two walks and two runs, Chance tallied one hit and two runs and was hit by a pitch and Stewart registered one walk, two runs, one RBI, one hit by pitch and one steal.

Swarts doubled, scored two runs and was hit by a pitch, Thompson had one hit, two walks and one RBI, Grimm chipped in two hits and one RBI and Vanderlaan drove in two runs.

Killmer collected one walk and one run, Cole Swank finished with one hit and Skyler Milheiser walked once.

Vanderlaan (2-1) earned the win on the mound after allowing four runs — two earned — on six hits with five strikeouts, two walks and two hit batters in 4 2/3 innings.

Swarts pitched the final 2 1/3 innings and surrendered no earned runs on one hit with five strikeouts, one hit batter and one walk.

Oskaloosa was led by Charlie North’s two hits, Wyatt Grubb’s two RBIs and Austen Coenen’s two walks.