A day after having a much-anticipated meeting with Norwalk rained out, the Pella High softball team struck back against another strong Little Hawkeye Conference foe, defeating Newton 4-3 on the road Friday night. Tabbed as one of the early front-runners in the league race, the Cardinals held a 3-1 advantage entering the seventh inning, but the Lady Dutch strung together nearly all of their hits on the night to pull off a two-out, three-run rally to take the lead and hold on for the win.

Morgan Ernst was key in Pella’s success, as she scored twice and had two of Pella’s seven hits on the night. Lindsey Mueller also had a pair of hits, but the Lady Dutch struggled for much of the night with Cardinals’ ace Courtney Meyer, who rung up 13 strikeouts in a complete game performance. In the circle for Pella, Bri Arkema scattered five hits, but maintained the game to earn the win. The Pella softball team is now 5-2 overall and off until Monday, when they face another tough test in the Little Hawkeye Conference – Oskaloosa.