Cardinals knock off No. 7 DCG Fillies

Senior right fielder Maddison Thayer was the leadoff hitter for Newton High’s Cardinals in the bottom of the fifth inning Monday night.

The Cardinals were up 4-2 on the visiting Class 4A seventh-ranked Dallas Center-Grimes Fillies.

Thayer’s solo home run put the Cardinals up by three runs.

It would be the winning run as the Cardinals held off the Fillies for a 5-4 victory.

With the tying run on third base with two gone, Newton’s freshman second baseman Kya Butler redeemed herself. She had made a couple of defensive miscues but when Molly Cooney hit a foul ball down the first base line, Butler chased it down and caught it.

The catch ended the game and moved Newton to 9-10 in Little Hawkeye Conference play while DCG dropped to 12-7. The Cardinals have two more LHC games remaining.

Those are slated as a conference doubleheader on Tuesday against 4A No. 11 Norwalk.

The first game starts at 5:30 p.m. at Newton Softball Field.

Peyton Maher, Cardinal senior pitcher, improved to 15-8 in the circle. She limited the Fillies to three hits, walked two and struck out six. She has 632 career strikeouts.

The Cardinals took control of the game quickly. They scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning.

Senior third-baseman Mac Brown and senior center fielder Lakin Jenkins had back-to-back singles. They moved up to second and third base on a passed ball.

Maher drove in a run with a base hit. Jenkins stole home for the second run.

Thayer connected for a one-out triple in the third inning. Sophomore shortstop Chassidy Henwood was safe on a fielder’s choice.

Malarie Zach, Newton’s junior catcher, bunted and a run scored on an error by the Fillies. An errant throw to third base allowed Henwood to score.

Newton was up 4-0 and Maher had held DCG hitless through three innings. That changed in the fourth.

Lauren Osborn drew a walk to begin DCG’s fourth. She stole second and went to third on a sacrifice fly.

Cooney’s fielder’s choice hit resulted in a run scoring and she was safe. DCG freshman Elle Nelson drove a single to left field to break up the no-hit bid.

There were two gone when Newton failed to field a little squabbler hit in front of the plate. The Fillies scored on the miscue.

Newton was up 4-2 with two gone in the bottom of the fourth. Jenkins doubled which brought a pitching change by DCG.

Lani Gannon started and Erica Manning took over in the circle. One pitch resulted in a popup by Maher to end the inning.

Jenkins tracked down a drive to the left center field fence by DCG’s Kylie Merical for the second out of the top of the fifth inning. Maher struck out two in the inning.

Thayer powered out a Manning pitch over the right field fence to open Newton’s half of the fifth. It was her fourth of the season and her eighth career home run.

In the sixth, a couple of Newton errors and two singles resulted in two runs for the Fillies.

The Cardinals went into the seventh inning still up by one run. Junior left fielder Jenna Smith ran down a ball in foul territory for the first out.

An error put the tying run on. Kamryn O’Brien singled but was tagged out trying to stretch it to a double. Butler made the final catch and the Cardinals won the LHC season series with DCG (22-13), 2-1.

Thayer had a triple and the home run. Brown and Jenkins each hit a single and a double.

Maher and Kameron Johnston had two singles apiece. Henwood and Zach had a single apiece.

Newton (16-14) wraps up the regular season on Tuesday against Norwalk. The Cardinals open Class 4A Region 1 play on Thursday.

The Cardinals host Bondurant-Farrar at 7 p.m. Thursday at Newton Softball Field. The winner advances to the regional semifinal against 4A No. 3 ADM in Adel on Saturday.

Contact Jocelyn Sheets at
641-792-3121 ext. 6535 or jsheets@newtondailynews.com