Pella Christian baseball’s 10-5 victory in the nightcap salvaged a Little Hawkeye Conference doubleheader split against Newton Friday night, while the Eagles softball team lost to the Cardinals 12-2 in five innings.

After dropping the opening game of the baseball twinbill 6-0, Pella Christian took the early 1-0 advantage in the second game with Eliot Menninga’s RBI single in the top of the first inning. The Eagles lead held until the bottom of the fourth, when Newton scored five runs to take a 5-1 lead. Pella Christian chipped into the Cardinal lead with two runs in the top of the fifth, before regaining the advantage with a six-run top of the sixth to pull ahead 8-5. The Eagles added a pair of insurance runs in the seventh inning to secure the win and improve to 12-16 overall and 3-11 in conference play. Eliot Menninga powered the Eagles offense on the night, combining to go 4-for-7 in the doubleheader with four RBIs. 

The Pella Christian softball team found themselves trailing 4-0 after the first two innings, but found an answer to cut the deficit in half in the top of the third. Faith Kacmarynski’s sacrifice fly and Brynn Roozeboom’s RBI single pulled the Eagles within 4-2, but the Cardinals responded with eight runs in fourth and fifth innings to earn the run-rule victory. Mya Huisman led Pella Christian’s offense on the night, going 2-for-2 at the plate with a run scored as the Eagles fell to 1-20 overall and 0-14 in conference play.

The Pella Christian summer sports teams are back in action Monday, making the short-trip across town for the second installment of the Tulip City Showdown with Pella.