Newton baseball takes winning streak into postseason

URBANDALE — The Newton baseball team scored first but needed a pair of runs late to down Des Moines Christian on the road on Tuesday.

The Cardinals rallied from an early 4-1 hole to win 7-5 in non-conference action against a future Little Hawkeye Conference squad.

Newton led 1-0 in the first, but Des Moines Christian plated four runs in the bottom of the inning.

The Cardinals took the lead with a four-run fourth but needed one run in the sixth and another in the seventh to edge their hosts.

It was Newton’s second straight win over the Lions, who lost 8-7 to the Cardinals last season.

The Cardinals (7-24) take a three-game win streak into the Class 3A postseason when they face Clear Creek-Amana (19-12) at 7 p.m. on Friday in Tiffin.

Mason Mendez had two of Newton’s six hits in the win. He finished with one run, one RBI, one walk and two steals and now sports an on-base percentage of .492.

Mendez’s RBI single in the sixth inning proved to be the game-winning hit.

Drew Bauer totaled one hit, one run, one walk and one RBI, Cade Bauer tallied one hit, two runs and one stolen base and Landry Rausch contributed one hit and one walk and he was hit by a pitch.

Cade Bauer leads Newton (7-24) with 19 runs, 47 total bases and 17 steals and Rausch has a team-best 13 walks.

Dakota Winkleman got the other hit. He doubled and had one RBI, Derek Wermager registered one walk, two runs and one steal and he was hit by a pitch, Lane Rozendaal walked once and scored one run and Kreytein Wickliffe was hit by a pitch.

Gabe Otto started on the mound but did not factor into the decision after allowing four earned runs on three hits, two walks and one hit batter with three strikeouts in three innings.

Carter Lehrman (2-6) tossed two innings of relief and got the win. He surrendered one unearned run on one hit and one walk with one strikeout.

Winkleman registered his first career varsity save with three strikeouts in the final two innings. He did not allow a base runner.

Newton 8, Clarke 6

CLARKE — Cade Bauer’s first career varsity pitching win gave Newton its second straight victory on Monday.

The Cardinals scored first, used a three-run frame to take their first lead and then plated two runs in the top of the ninth that held up during an 8-6 non-conference road victory over Clarke.

Bauer tossed 5 1/3 innings of relief and picked up his first career varsity pitching win after allowing only one earned run.

Wermager led the Cardinals’ 10-hit night at the plate with three hits and two RBIs and Creighton Andrew laced two doubles, too.

Both teams scored once in the second, but Clarke led 3-2 after three. Newton plated three in the fourth and one in the fifth to take its first lead, but the Indians tied the game with a pair of runs in the sixth. The Cardinals out-hit Clarke 10-8, and Newton had two errors.

Wermager doubled and scored one run, Andrew added one run and one RBI and Cade Bauer chipped in two hits, two steals and one RBI.

Bauer leads the Cardinals with 21 RBIs and Andrew’s five doubles lead the squad.

Mendez doubled, scored one run and had one RBI and he was hit by a pitch, Drew Bauer totaled one hit, one run and one walk and Rozendaal walked twice and scored two runs and he was hit by one pitch. Mendez has been hit by a team-most six pitches.

Otto tallied the team’s other hit, Wickliffe was hit by a pitch, scored one run and stole one base, Rausch was hit by a pitch and Josh Lampe scored one run.

Andrew started on the mound and allowed four runs — two earned — on four hits, four walks and two hit batters. Andrew struck out four in 3 1/3 innings.

Cade Bauer (1-5) surrendered two runs — one earned — on two hits and one walk with four strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings.

Joey Turpin led Clarke (10-21) with two hits, one run and one RBI and Seth Oswald chipped in two hits and one RBI.