Osky Softball Splits With Newton
by Jay Harms
The Oskaloosa Indians split a pair of games with the Newton Cardinals at Jay Harms Field, winning the first game 4-1 and losing the nightcap 7-5. In game one, Faith DeRonde threw a 2 hitter to pick up her 1st win of the season. With the score tied 1-1 going into the bottom of the 6 inning, Lydia Van Veldhuizen hit a 2-run homer which turned out to be the game-winner for the Indians. The Indians would pick up an insurance run in the 6th inning as Maleah Walker singled, stole second, and scored on a throwing error. Leading the Indians at the plate in game one was Olivia Gordon with 2 singles and 1 rbi. Van Veldhuizen had one hit – her 2 run homer. Walker, Alexis Price, DeRonde, and Presley Blommers all had singles – while Lucy Roach had a double. DeRonde was the winning pitcher – giving up 0 earned runs, while walking 2 and striking out 5 batters.
In game 2, the Indians led 4-0 after 3 innings but Newton scored 2 in the 4th and 2 in the 6th to tie the game. Newton would score 3 runs in the top of the 7th on 2 hits and 2 Osky errors. The Indians came back to score 1 in the bottom of the 7th to cut into Newton’s lead and had the tying run at the plate with no outs but two hard line outs and a pop-up ended the game. Shannon Van Rheenen took the loss on the mound pitching 6 1/3 innings, giving up 6 runs on 9 hits, walking 2 and striking out 2. DeRonde pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up 1 run on 1 hit. She walked 0 and did not strike out a batter. Van Rheenen’s record drops to 0-3 on the season. Leading the Indians at the plate in game 2 were Gordon, Aubrey Boender, and Roach with 2 hits apiece. Getting one hit were DeRonde, Walker, Price, and Van Veldhuizen. Gordon, Boender, Roach, and Price all had an rbi.
The Indians fall to 1-4 on the season and 1-1 in Little Hawkeye play. They travel to Norwalk Friday for a JV2/JV1/V tripleheader starting at 4:00 and then host the Oskaloosa Classic at Lacey Complex Saturday. The Indians open play at 9:15 vs. Lynnville-Sully then they will play Cardinal at 2:30 to close out the Tournament.
