The Pella Christian baseball team started the 2016 season about the best way you could; a combined no-hitter against a team that made it to the state tournament championship game a year ago. The Eagles began with a 3 – 0 win over Pleasantville way back on May 23. It was a season that had so many question marks in the beginning, but a campaign that quickly solved those conundrums after a few short weeks, arguably even after the first game. Pella Christian’s pitching and their defense behind the guys on the mound helped them stay in games and wind up with an 8 – 10 record in conference play, despite being the smallest bird in the fight. Coach Nathan Johnson says he was proud of how fast the team found their identity this season. Johnson adds the offense lacked some critical base hits at times, but it’s something they can work on for next summer. They lost just two seniors and finished 2016 with a 17 – 13 record.