The Pella and Norwalk baseball teams split a Little Hawkeye Conference doubleheader Friday night, with the Class 3A #2 Dutch winning the opener 8-3, while the Warriors took the nightcap heard live on the KNIA3 stream 2-0. 

Pella jumped out to the early lead in the first game with a run in the bottom of the first inning, before Norwalk responded with their lone three runs in the top of the second to take a 3-1 lead. The Dutch rallied to regain the advantage in the fourth inning, piling on six runs to jump in front 7-3, before adding an insurance run in the sixth inning to secure the 8-3 victory. Anderson Schirm was a perfect 4-4 with an RBI at the plate in the opener for the Dutch, while Isaiah Kettler was 3-4 with 2 RBIs and a run scored, and Lake Cowman was 2-4 with 3 RBIs and a run scored. Cole Wardlow led the Warriors offense in the first game, going 1-3 with 2 RBIs, while Colton Moore had two walks and the other RBI. Samuel Carlson struck out seven over five innings to record the win for Pella on the mound, and Teagan Hoekstra earned the save after striking out three in the final two innings. Wardlow struck out three in taking the game one loss for Norwalk, giving up six unearned runs on seven hits in 3.2 innings of work.

The nightcap saw both offenses struggle to get anything going, but Norwalk did just enough to pull off the upset. After three scoreless innings of baseball, the Warriors got runners on the corners in the top of the fourth. Norwalk pushed across their first run on a Dutch throwing error, before adding on the game’s final run on an RBI double later in the frame. Pella had their chances to answer, but stranded 11 baserunners throughout the contest, including seven after the Warriors took the lead. Eli Benschoter led Norwalk in the upset victory, batting in the go ahead run and scoring the insurance run in the fourth, while also striking out five in 3.2 innings of relief. Briley Purcell got the start for the Warriors in game two and struck out four in 3.1 innings in helping Norwalk move to 11-9 overall and 8-5 in the conference. Cowman led the Dutch offense in the night cap, going 2-4 with two doubles. Hayes Lautenbach took the loss for Pella in game two, recording five strikeouts in six innings of work, while giving up just two unearned runs as the Dutch moved to 17-5 overall and 11-4 in the conference.

The Dutch return to action on Monday for the third and final Tulip City Showdown matchup with Pella Christian, and the game can be heard live on 92.1 KRLS. The Warriors are also back on the diamond Monday, hosting Oskaloosa in a game that can be heard live on the KNIA3 stream.