Newton baseball ends season after heartbreaking loss

BONDURANT — Ending a season with a 10-0 loss in five innings would not be fun.

Coming up short in an extra-inning affair when the opportunity to win was there might just be tougher to take.

The Newton baseball team rallied from a two-run hole against Bondurant-Farrar on Friday, but the Bluejays walked off the Cardinals 3-2 in eight innings during a Class 3A Substate 6 quarterfinal matchup at Bondurant-Farrar Middle School.

“Games like this are hard. There are a lot of ups and downs,” Newton head baseball coach Derek Wrage said. “We just came up a little bit short. We had a few chances to score more runs and couldn’t do anything with those opportunities.”

Tade Vanderlaan got the ball for the Cardinals and he was spectacular for seven innings. But neither Vanderlaan nor Bondurant-Farrar starting pitcher Reed Pfaltzgraff factored into the decision.

The Bluejays scored one run in each of the first two innings off Vanderlaan but didn’t score again until the bottom of the eighth.

Newton got on the board in the third and Vanderlaan got things started with a one-out double to the gap in right-center field.

Skyler Milheiser singled to put runners on second and third and then courtesy runner Cade Bauer scored on Kacey Sommars’ RBI sacrifice fly to right field.

Eli Stewart led off the fourth with a double and then took third on a fly ball to right field by Brody Bauer. An RBI sacrifice fly to right by John Frietsch tied the score at 2-all. It was Frietsch’s first career varsity RBI.

Frietsch was making just his second start of the season as Drew Thompson did not play because of an ankle injury. Frietsch got his first career varsity hit later in the game.

Pfaltzgraff retired the first seven batters he faced until Vanderlaan’s double in the third. He also retired the Cardinals (12-18) in order in the fifth and sixth innings.

“They are really good as a staff in having three solid pitches they can locate,” Wrage said about the B-F pitching staff. “As I watched from third, you can see that (Pfaltzgraff) is really tall and he gets closer to the plate when he throws.

“We have to be the ones who have a good approach. We wanted to be aggressive early and not fall behind.”

In the seventh, Frietsch singled to lead off the frame and Jake Ingle and Vanderlaan both reached on a fielder’s choice. Pfaltzgraff got out of the jam with back-to-back ground balls to third base.

Pfaltzgraff started the eighth but was chased after Turner Williams and Eli Stewart both singled. Bauer’s sacrifice bunt resulted in a B-F error that loaded the bases.

With no outs, relief pitcher Jacob Roberts registered back-to-back strikeouts and ended the frame with a fly ball to left field.

“That was big. Once Brody got his bunt down and we had them loaded with no outs, we felt good at that point,” Wrage said. “But then it’s tough to come back from that when you don’t score.”

Sommars relieved Vanderlaan in the eighth and he hit the first two batters he faced. After a fly out to right field, Newton intentionally walked Bondurant-Farrar’s top hitter in Drew Peltz to load the bases.

That sent Pfaltzgraff to the plate and he laced an 0-2 pitch past a drawn-in infield for the game-winning RBI single.

“It’s so hard when they are the home team,” Wrage said. “They just have to score one. Hats off to them. We gave them a chance to score, and they took it.”

The Cardinals would not even have made it to the eighth without a fantastic defensive play in the bottom of the seventh.

With a runner on second, No. 9 hole hitter Jordan Rial got a single to center field, but Levi Wendt was thrown out at home after an 8-4-2 putout.

Newton center fielder Jake Ingle started the relay and Sommars fired a strike to Milheiser at home plate.

Sommars also made a strong play at second base in the third when he ranged to his left to make the final out of the frame with a runner on third base.

After Vanderlaan gave up two runs in the first two innings, the senior shut down B-F for the next five. He worked around a lead-off error in the fourth and retired the Bluejays in order in the fifth and sixth.

Wendt reached base on an error in the seventh and went to second on a wild pitch.

“The moments don’t get too big for him, and he’s able to stay under control even with guys on base,” Wrage said. “I couldn’t have asked for anything more from him.”

Vanderlaan allowed two earned runs on five hits and no walks and he struck out seven in seven innings.

Sommars (2-5) took the pitching loss after surrendering one earned run on one hit, one intentional walk and two hit batters in 1/3 of an inning.

Wrage had a few options when it came to choosing his starting pitcher. Wrage said the coaching staff went with Vanderlaan because “every time he took the ball, he gave the Cardinals a chance to win.”

“We thought he’d give us the best chance. We like how he mixes up his looks and he has a sharp curve ball,” Wrage said. “He also gets better as the situation gets bigger.

“I know we have options, but I think he proved today that he was more than deserving to get the ball. He allowed two runs and gave us a chance to win again.”

Stewart led the Cardinals with two hits, one double and one run and Frietsch, Vanderlaan, Milheiser and Williams all had one hit.

Frietsch and Sommars collected one RBI, Bauer scored one run and Ingle and Martin each walked once.

Roberts led Bondurant-Farrar (24-13) with one hit and two runs and he was hit by a pitch. He also got the pitching win after striking out two in the top of the eighth.

Roberts (2-0) came into the game with only 8 1/3 innings of relief this season.

Pfaltzgraff allowed two earned runs on six hits and two walks and he struck out five in seven-plus innings.

The Bluejays, who have won five of their last six games, advance to play Ballard at 7 p.m. on Monday in Huxley. Ballard downed Des Moines Hoover, 7-1, in their quarterfinal game.

Notes: Thompson injured his ankle at practice on Thursday. He was not in uniform against Bondurant-Farrar but led the Cardinals with 18 RBIs and ranked second with a .329 batting average. … Newton says goodbye to eight seniors. That group includes Thompson, Vanderlaan, Sommars, Williams, Ingle, Brody Bauer, Riley Mouchka and Trevor Klonglan. “Those are eight really hard goodbyes,” Wrage said. “Selfishly, one of the reasons I wanted to come home was so I could be a part of their lives again. They do a lot of things without being asked to do them. They set a great example for our younger guys.” … Bondurant-Farrar placed sixth in the Raccoon River Conference this summer. The Bluejays are 6-3 against Newton since 2012 but have won four of the past five since 2017.