Fueled by momentum from Thursday night’s thrilling comeback over Chariton, the Pella High baseball team pounded Grinnell in a Little Hawkeye Conference sweep last night in their home league opener. Tyler Hillman had a one-hitter on the mound going into the seventh inning, but settled for the 6 – 1 victory over the Tigers in the first contest. His final stat line shows just three hits, one unearned run, four walks, and five strikeouts in the complete game “W.” He was also 2-for-3 at the plate. The Little Dutch got down early in game two, but a bases-loaded, three-run double off the bat of Jaden Rolffs, and an eight-run sixth inning gave Pella the walk-off 13 – 3 win in six frames for the sweep. Grant Judkins had an RBI double in that final inning, and Payton Shull also added a two-run double. Lucas Hileman earned the win on the rubber, and Coach Jesse Jablonski tells KNIA/KRLS Sports that he was happy with how Hileman kept attacking the Grinnell hitters and kept the team in the game despite a few early bumps. Pella improves to 7 – 1 overall and 3 – 0 in league play.

The Lady Dutch had a late 5 – 4 lead over the Tigers on the softball diamond, but three late runs gave Grinnell the 7 – 5 win. Sara Tallman, Destiny Brown, and Alexa Dingeman all had two hit nights for Pella, as they fall to 4 – 4 on the year and 0 – 2 in conference play. The softball team is in Oskaloosa for a tournament today, and both the boys and girls will head to Pella Christian for another conference game each this Monday.