In a 10-4 Little Hawkeye Conference victory that was broadcast live on KRLS3, Pella overcame an early lead by the Newton baseball team on Thursday night.
Despite two singles, a hit batter, and a walk in the top of the first inning, the Cardinals managed to drive the first run across the plate; nevertheless, the inning finished with the bases loaded. Newton stranded two more runners on base but scored two more runs in the top of the second. To tie the score at three, the Dutch scored one run each in their half of the second, third, and fourth innings. Then, in the bottom of the fourth inning, Pella scored four runs and took a 7-3 lead by stringing together some singles and taking advantage of Cardinal mistakes. Pella secured the season sweep with three runs in the bottom of the inning, while Newton scored their final run on a Dutch throwing mistake in the top of the sixth.
Both sides had five mistakes, and the Dutch had fifteen hits compared to the Cardinals’ seven. Pella stranded nine runners, while Newton left eight on base. With two singles in four at-bats, two runs batted in, and two runs scored, Cade Bauer led the Cardinals’ attack. The other two Newton runs were batted in by Dakota Winkleman and Gabe Otto. Isaiah Kettler scored a run and finished two for two with two runs batted in, while Samuel Carlson went three for four with two runs batted in for the Dutch. Lincoln Kocour and Lucas Jablonski each went two for three with one run batted in and scored twice. Jablonski’s blast, a solo homer to center field, was the only home run of the game.
Newton dropped to 4-15 on the season and 2-11 in conference play, while Pella improved to 16-4 overall and 10-3 in the conference. Tonight at 5:00 p.m., the Dutch will play Norwalk in a doubleheader; the second game will be streamed live on KNIA3. The second game of the Cardinals’ doubleheader versus Oskaloosa is broadcast on KRLS3 this evening at 5:00 p.m.
