Newton baseball sweeps conference rival Oskaloosa

OSKALOOSA — Turner Williams and Tade Vanderlaan put the Newton baseball team in a great position to sweep Oskaloosa on Friday.

The senior duo nearly tossed a pair of complete games on the mound and shut down the Indians during a Little Hawkeye Conference road doubleheader.

They also helped the Cardinals overcome a Jekyll and Hyde performance at the plate and six errors in the field.

Newton was held to just one hit in the opener but downed the Indians 4-1. In the nightcap, the Cardinals cranked out 15 hits, put up crooked numbers in four of the seven innings and cruised past Oskaloosa 12-4.

Newton (8-6 overall, 4-4 in the conference) scored its four runs in game one in the first three innings.

The Cardinals scored two in the first and third frames despite registering one hit because they drew four walks, were hit by three pitches and took advantage of three Indian errors.

Oskaloosa out-hit the Cardinals 2-1 but also had one more error and was given fewer free passes.

Brody Bauer led the offense with one hit, one run, one RBI, one walk and one steal.

Williams walked once, was hit by one pitch and scored one run, Vanderlaan and Skyler Milheiser both walked once and Eli Stewart and Finn Martin both were hit by a pitch. Kacey Sommars and Riley Mouchka both scored one run, Stewart and Sommars each stole one base and Drew Thompson tallied one RBI.

Milheiser leads the Cardinals with nine walks this summer and Stewart has been plunked by a team-most six pitches.

Williams improved to 2-3 on the mound as he allowed no earned runs on two hits in seven innings. He struck out nine and walked three in 115 pitches and lowered his earned run average to 1.60.

Aiden North doubled to lead Oskaloosa (4-11, 1-6) and Linus Morrison allowed no hits and no runs and struck out three in 4 2/3 innings of relief.

The Cardinals had no issues at the plate in game two. They out-hit Oskaloosa 15-4 and there were nine combined errors.

Newton led 3-1 after one and then pushed its margin to 8-1 after three. Oskaloosa scored one in the fourth and two in the fifth, but the Cardinals got those runs back with a three-run seventh.

Sommars led the Cardinals with four hits, three runs, two steals and one RBI and he was hit by one pitch. He leads the Cardinals with 12 runs scored this summer.

Williams added two hits, one double, one run, five RBIs, one walk and one steal. He leads Newton with 16 hits, four doubles, 25 total bases and nine RBIs.

Mouchka tallied three hits, one run and one RBI, Martin collected two hits and scored three runs and Milheiser finished with two hits, one run and one RBI. Thompson and Vanderlaan had the other hits.

Stewart walked once, was hit by one pitch, scored one run and had one RBI, Bauer and Thompson each walked once and Bauer and Vanderlaan tallied one run and one RBI.

Vanderlaan got the win and improved to 3-2 on the mound after surrendering four runs — none earned — on three hits in 6 2/3 innings. He struck out 11 and walked two in 110 pitches. Bauer got the final out.

Wyatt Grubb led the Indians in the nightcap with two hits and two RBIs.