The Newton baseball team had a lot of new faces at the varsity level this season. But many of those players have started at least 18 games this summer. So at this point in the season, it’s hard for head coach Derek Wrage to use inexperience as an excuse.
Or a reason the team comes up short in certain aspects of the game. The Cardinals led Class 3A No. 9 Pella through three innings on Friday, but couldn’t avoid that one bad inning that has plagued them a lot this season.
And a three-run fourth is all the host Dutch needed during a 3-1 victory in the 3A Substate 7 opener. “I have said a lot that we have young kids and are trying to learn how to win, but at this point in the season there’s no such thing as freshmen and freshmen mistakes,” Wrage said. “They’ve played 25 games now.
” Newton senior Eli Stewart, left, singled in his final prep at-bat on Friday during the Cardinals' season-ending loss to Class 3A No. 9 Pella on Friday. Newton lost to the Dutch, 3-1.
(Troy Hyde/Newton News) Newton committed two errors in the season-ending loss and one of the three runs Pella scored was unearned. But the Cardinals mostly had trouble fielding bunts and finding a way to get outs on soft contact in the deciding fourth frame. “It just comes down to having trust in the preparation.
All of that stuff came on bunts or soft contact,” Wrage said. “They didn’t hit the ball hard. “Part of this is that we are young and maybe part of it’s on me because it’s been happeni.
