Landon Vander Leest’s two run homer in the eighth inning sparked the Pella High baseball team to a 5-2 win last night at Dallas Center-Grimes. Meanwhile, the Lady Dutch softball lost 6-1 to the Fillies.

Avery Van Zee led off the game with his third home run of the season, and the Little Dutch added to their lead on a double steal in the fourth. After the Mustangs rallied to tie it in the sixth, Vander Leest’s bomb put Pella back in front.

River Baker pitched six solid innings for Pella, allowing two runs, only one of them earned, on three hits and two walks while striking out five. Joel Ruiter pitched two innings of shutout relief to earn the victory.

The Little Dutch continue their busy week tonight with a trip to Gilbert for a non-conference game, and while Coach Jesse Jablonski wants his team to be competitive, he’s got other objectives as well.

“We don’t want to get people hurt this time of year. With a busy week of seven games in five days, the last thing we want to do is overwork somebody and get them hurt. The key for us the rest of this week is staying healthy and building momentum and confidence as we head into this last couple of weeks of the season before the playoffs start.”

Pella is now 15-13 on the season and 10-9 in the Little Hawkeye Conference, currently good for third place behind Indianola and Oskaloosa.

With last night loss to the Fillies, the Pella softball team is 5-27 and 2-17 in league play. They have the night off tonight.