Eagles Roose and Van Arendonk Advance to Semifinal at State Girls Tennis Tourney

The Pella Christian girls tennis duo of Katy Roose and Sydney Van Arendonk had a fantastic first day at the Class 1A State Doubles Tennis Tournament Friday, advancing to the semifinal round today. Competing at Byrnes Park Tennis Center in Waterloo, Roose and Van Arendonk opened the tournament against Rachel Hollen and Isabella Nelson from Columbus Catholic and earned a 6-2, 6-3 win in the first round. In the second round, the Eagles duo faced Decorah’s Haley Gossman and Annalise Skrade and moved on to the semifinals with a 7-6, 6-4 victory. Roose and Van Arendonk are back in action today at 10 a.m. against a familiar foe in Oskaloosa’s Presley Blommers and Lucy Roach, with the winner advancing to the Championship Match at 12:30 p.m.

Pella Christian Softball Dominates Des Moines Christian, Baseball 

The Pella Christian softball team dominated rival Des Moines Christian in a 12-0 run-rule victory Friday night, while the Eagles baseball squad also downed the Lions by a final score of 4-2. 

On the softball field, Pella Christian wasted no time jumping in front of the Lions with five runs in the bottom of the first inning. The Eagles added a run in the second inning, before ending the game in the bottom of the third with a six-run outburst. Emma Eekhoff had a big game for Pella Christian, going 2-for-2 at the plate with four RBIs and striking out four while allowing no hits or walks in the circle. Faith Kacmarynski also went 2-for-2 at the dish on the night and Emri Agre blasted a solo home run in the contest for her first of the young season. With the win over their rivals, the Eagles improved to 2-1 on the summer.

A fifth-inning rally proved to be the difference for the Pella Christian baseball squad on Friday night. Trailing 2-0 heading into the bottom of the fifth, the Eagles plated all four of their runs in the inning and held on the rest of the way for the win. Corbin Westerkamp was phenomenal on the bump for Pella Christian, striking out 13 Lions while allowing just two hits and three walks in a complete game win. Eliot Menninga powered the Eagles’ offense in the win with a 2-for-3 effort and batted in two of the four runs to help the team improve to 4-2 on the season. 

The Pella Christian softball team is back in action today with two games at the Williamsburg Tournament beginning at 9 a.m., while the Eagles baseball team is off until Tuesday when they play at Albia.