The Norwalk baseball team improved to 12-6 overall on Thursday with a commanding 10-3 non-conference win at Des Moines East.

The Warriors took a quick 3-0 lead in the top of the first and added two runs each in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings, out-hitting the Scarlets 12-6. Ian Fisher went 3-for-4 at the plate with a double and two RBI while CJ Davis was 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI. Vinny Mauro and DJ Harris both added two singles with Mauro scoring three runs and Harris driving in three.

Keefer Sadoris, the first of three Warrior pitchers, earned the win with four innings of work. He allowed four hits and two runs, striking out five and walking a pair.

Tonight in Norwalk, the Warrior baseball and softball teams will host rival Dallas Center-Grimes in a pair of varsity doubleheaders starting at 5:30 p.m.

Game two of the softball twin bill can be heard live on KNIA-KRLS.com (streamed on KNIA3) and matches two teams that each made a big jump in Thursday’s Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union state rankings.

Winners of nine straight, Norwalk enters Friday’s softball doubleheader with a 10-1 overall record and an unblemished 7-0 mark in the Little Hawkeye Conference. The Warriors moved up eight spots to No. 5 in this week’s Class 4A rankings while DC-G climbed six spots to No. 6 The Fillies are 10-4 overall and 5-0 in the Little Hawkeye, making tonight’s games a battle for first place in the league standings.

Norwalk has been led so far this season by the pitching rotation of Zadie Wadle, Addi Downe and Olivia Dougherty, who have already combined to strike out 134 batters in 77 innings. Wadle leads the staff with 85 Ks in 43 ⅔ frames, posting a 6-1 record, 0.64 earned run average and a WHIP of just 0.60.

Freshman Nyah Hulbert leads Norwalk with a .476 batting average, Kaylee Cary is hitting .333 with a team-high 10 RBI and Jaylynn Brandt has scored nine runs.

DC-G, meanwhile, has split the pitching between four hurlers. Sophomore Aubrey Johansen, who sports a 1.70 ERA, leads the Fillies with a 5-1 record, 33 innings, and 26 strikeouts. She also holds the team lead with a .490 batting average and 17 RBI – one of five DC-G starters hitting .396 or higher.