Cardinal baseball team records sweep of Trojans

The Newton baseball team recorded a sweep of South Tama on Wednesday to move their record to 8-8 overall, but if a pair of wins can be frustrating, these two were.

South Tama pitchers struggled to throw strikes in both games of the doubleheader, but Newton played “small ball” well in winning 7-4 and 17-5.

“It was a tough night for our hitters as the Tama pitchers struggled to throw strikes,” Newton coach Jim Marter said. “They really seemed to be pitching around the middle part of our lineup.”

Of the seven runs scored in Game 1 by Newton (8-8, 6-4), none came on RBI hits. The Cardinals had three sacrifice flys and walked twice with the bases loaded to put five runs on the board. The other two runs came off a South Tama balk and a double steal.

South Tama led 3-1 after two innings in the opener, but Newton rallied with a four-run third. Travis Gardner walked, stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch before scoring on a balk. Dustin Schelling also walked, advanced to third on an Ira Mitchell single and then was plated when Marter called for a double steal. The other two runs came on a sacrifice fly by Tyler Warner and a bases-loaded walk by Tyler Latcham.

The Trojans scored a run in the bottom half of the third inning, but Newton held on for the win, scoring two more runs in the top of the seventh as a sac fly by Ben Schober and a bases loaded walk by Chris Tomlin finalized the scoring.

“We did a nice job of being patient, but it was nice to see, particularly in the second game, some other guys come up with key hits and RBIs,” Marter said.

The second game lasted just six innings, and the Cardinals plated runs in every inning but the first.

In the second inning, Gardner and Schelling came through with RBI hits to put Newton up 3-0. After South Tama scored two in its part of the second, Newton pushed the lead to 7-2 after a single run in the third and three runs in the fourth.

In the third, Schober came through again with an RBI double as Warner and Roger Braun began the frame with walks.

The fourth inning started with a Gardner walk and then after a sacrifice bunt, Mitchell brought in Gardner with an RBI triple. Another run was plated off a sac fly by Brisel and an RBI double by Braun made it 7-2.

South Tama walked three straight times in the fourth and eventually scored two more runs to cut the Newton lead to three. The Cardinals got those runs back, however, as a sharply hit ball up the middle got by the shortstop, plating two more runs for Newton.

The Trojans got one back in the fifth, but Newton ended the game in the sixth with eight runs. The inning featured five walks, six wild pitches, two South Tama errors and an RBI double by Gardner.

Brandon Tish threw five innings in the first game and got the win after allowing three earned runs on five and striking out five. Warner earned a two-inning save as he struck out four and allowed no hits.

Freshman Brian Rose got a win in his first-ever varsity start in Game 2. He went five innings, gave up two earned runs and allowed just five hits while striking out five and walking five. Gardner pitched a scoreless sixth.

“We made a couple mistakes defensively, but for the most part, our pitchers threw strikes and were able to stay out of the big innings,” Marter said. “Both Brandon and Brian gave us quality innings.”

Brisel led the offense with four RBIs on the night, while Gardner came through with two RBI hits in Game 2. Schober had an RBI in each game as well.

The team is scheduled to travel to Knoxville tonight for a conference contest before heading south to the Centerville Tournament on Friday and Saturday.

Newton softball team loses to Boone in 10

BOONE — The Toreadors continued to play at a high level Wednesday as they took down the Newton softball team at home, 3-2, in 10 innings.

Newton coach Gary Grimes said the Cardinals’ offense struggled with runners on base and freshman pitcher Courtney Meyer was fatigued in the 10th inning.

“Courtney pitched a good game, but she ran out of gas in the 10th inning,” Grimes said. “And we failed to put ball in play when we had runner’s in scoring position.”

The loss drops Newton’s record to 14-7 overall and 8-2 in the Little Hawkeye Conference. The conference loss forces a tie at the top of the standings with Class 2A No. 9 Pella Christian, which also is 8-2. However, one of Pella Christian’s defeats came at the hands of a 3-0 loss to Newton. Those two teams will face off again on Monday, this time in Pella.

Against Boone, the offense collected seven hits, with Meyer getting two of them. Amanda Jones and Michaela Wood both had a hit and scored a run in the third inning. Val Humke had an RBI hit, while Caitlyn Meyer collected the other RBI.

The Cardinals will try to get back on the winning track tonight against Knoxville. Newton suffered its only other conference loss at Knoxville, 7-1, earlier this season.