The ideal one-two punch of strong pitching and timely hitting pushed the Pella baseball team to a pair of wins in a Varsity doubleheader at Pella Christian Monday night, 7-5, 4-1.

Schyler Kane took the win in the opener, throwing all seven innings and allowing ten hits, walking two and striking out seven. He got plenty of support at the plate, as Paul Anderson went 3-for-4 with 2 RBI, and helped his own cause by going 3-for-5 with a double and two runs scored. The surprise of the night, though, came from sophomore Ethan Butler, who was called up to play on short notice and went 2-for-3 with a triple, a double, an RBI and scored a run. For Pella Christian, Will VandeVoort pitched a solid game in the loss, striking out seven and walking three, while giving up 13 hits.

Pitching stole the show in the nightcap, as the Eagles’ Andrew VanderHart pitched for all but one out of an eight-inning game, allowing just five hits and striking out ten Pella High batters; but gave up five walks and sent five runners to first base on a hit-by-pitch. That impressive showing was upstaged by Pella’s Jacob Gleason, who went all eight innings for the win, allowing just four hits and two walks, and striking out a staggering 16 Eagle batters. Anderson was big at the plate for the Little Dutch again in the late game, as he went 2-for-4 with a double.

Pella High is now 9-6 overall and 4-3 in the Little Hawkeye Conference, while Pella Christian is 5-9 on the season and 1-7 in league play.