It was a back-and-forth tilt in Norwalk for a long-standing Little Hawkeye baseball rivalry, but it was advantage Dutch as Pella defeated the Warriors in a 4-2 game heard live on 92.1 KRLS Wednesday.

Norwalk struck first for two runs in the bottom of the second in a sequence that included three consecutive hits. Xavier Bush and Eli Benschoter each drove in runs in that frame. But Pella responded quickly with two runs of their own in the top of the 3rd, highlighted by the first of two doubles ripped by Hayes Lautenbach. The Dutch added single tallies in the 5th and 6th innings, aided by what ended up being five Norwalk errors.

Isaiah Kettler struck out seven Warriors batters in six innings, giving up two earned runs. Garrett Geurink also tossed six innings, giving up two earned runs and striking out five Dutch batters. Lautenbach came in for an inning to earn the save on the mound, in addition to his 2-for-4 performance. Ryan Jones of Norwalk added a double to his batting line, as well as scoring the first Warrior run of the night.

Pella improves to 8-3 overall and 4-2 in the conference and hosts Pella Christian for a varsity doubleheader on Friday that can be heard on the KRLS2 stream and watched on Pella Dutch Live. Youth baseball players in the Tulip City get free entry and popcorn if they wear their jerseys to attend both the baseball and softball games between the Dutch and Eagles.

Norwalk falls to 5-5 overall and takes their first conference loss, next traveling to Oskaloosa for a pair of games on Friday.