Walnut Grove Baseball Dominates East Hall, Falls Short vs. Newton

On February 13th, the Walnut Grove Baseball Team blew out East Hall, 11-0. On February 18th, the Warriors fell just short against Newton, 0-1.​
​by Justin Andrio and Drew Caraway

East Hall - February 13th (MaxPreps)
The Warriors beat East Hall 11-0 in seven innings, mercy ruling the Vikings. Sam Martell led the hitting parade with three hits, a walk and an RBI in five plate appearances. Davis Hunt led the team in RBI’s at three in the ten total the team collected, with Brayden Kelly and Cade Trinkle at two apiece.

Coach Allen, Head Coach of the Baseball team, said, “I thought [the team] did a good job... Our pitchers have been throwing really well and some of our hitters strung together some good at-bats. [We were able to] scratch some runs across the board.”

Walnut Grove pitching was excellent in the win shutting East Hall out only allowing two hits the whole game. The pitching was led by Sam Martell (SR), followed up by his younger brother Sean Martell (SO), and closing down with Gray Jones (SO). 
   
Sam Martell threw 2.2 innings and tallied seven strikeouts. Sean Martell threw 2.1 innings with two strikeouts, and finally Gray Jones pitched the final inning of the game with one strikeout. 


Newton - February 18, 2025 (MaxPreps)
Unfortunately, the team went no-hit against the Rams. On a positive note, the team drew six walks.

However, that did not stop the pitching from putting on a showcase. Branson Blalock and Jarrod Cook took the mound for the Green and Black. They tallied four strikeouts a piece, two walks, and four hits in 26 total batters faced. They only allowed one run, which would be the deciding factor in this non-region contest. 

Ethan Kennedy, #16, says, “Newton was just not a great game, hitting wise. We didn't perform [as we should]. We are definitely going to be working on situational hitting at practice….”

As of the morning of Friday, February 21st, 2025, the Warriors are 2-1 with big wins over Monroe Area High School (11-3 in seven innings) and East Hall.

Sam Martell is leading six hitting categories: batting average (0.571 average), slugging percentage (1.000 percentage), hits (four hits), RBIs (six RBIs), OPB (0.769 percentage), OPS (1.571 percentage) and home runs (one home run) (MaxPreps). 


The Warriors face the Newton Rams again on Tuesday, February 25th, 2025. The team will look to take revenge on their home turf. Come out and support your Warriors!

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