Baseball Recap: South Newton Takes a Loss

South Newton had lost 11 straight at home dating back to last season, but on Tuesday they dropped their record down to 0-21 to make it 12. They lost 11-3 to the North Newton Spartans. The Rebels were not able to make up for their loss to the Spartans from their previous meeting back in May of 2024.

Aidan Mattox was huge while hitting and pitching even without the win. He struck out seven batters over seven innings while giving up five earned (and six unearned) runs off five hits. That's the fewest earned runs he has allowed over his last six games. He was also solid in the batter's box, going 2-for-3 with one stolen base and one run.

In other batting news, Myles Wittenborn and Cayden Martin stepped up to the plate in a big way. Wittenborn went 2-for-3 with one run, one double, and one RBI, while Martin went 1-for-3 with two stolen bases and one run. That double marked the first that Wittenborn has hit this season.

As for North Newton, their victory bumped their record up to 9-14. The high-scoring performance was a welcome turnaround for their hitters, who had struggled in the games prior.

On North Newton's side, Nick Bartrom looked comfortable as he didn't allow a single earned run over four innings pitched. Bartrom has been consistent for a while: he hasn't given up more than two walks in 14 consecutive appearances.

On the hitting side, Joe Bijak and Korbyn Haberlin did most of the damage at the plate: Bijak got on base in three of his five plate appearances with four stolen bases, one run, and one RBI, while Haberlin went 1-for-4 with four stolen bases, two RBI, and one run. North Newton is undefeated when Bijak posts two or more stolen bases, but 4-14 otherwise.

While South Newton had to take the loss, they won't have to wait long to give it another shot: the pair's next game is a rematch scheduled at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday.