Cardinal baseball creams Falcons

ELDON - The Cardinal bats were rattling on Tuesday night in a Southeast Iowa Super Conference South Division battle with West Burlington. The Comets fried the Falcons 12-2 in five innings.

Eighth-grader Tatum Telfer took the mound for Cardinal, and he was strong all night, giving up just two earned runs on four hits and one walk over four innings. The offense gave him plenty of room to work with, plating 12 runs over a three-inning stretch.

“Every time he’s had an outing he’s done well,” Cardinal coach Chris Becker said. “To get him some run support tonight was great.“

The Comets put up one run in the second inning when Keysean Moore ripped a two-out RBI single. When the third frame came around, the Comets put the game out of reach, batting around for an eight-run inning before polishing the night off with three more in the fourth.

Cardinal did so one night after a walk-off loss at rival Van Buren County. Becker says the quick turnaround was a good way to put that game behind them.

“It was a lot of highs and lows in that game,” Becker said. “You always tell the kids to enjoy the game if it’s a win, but if it’s a loss, just flush it right away.”

Matt Streeby went 2-for-3 with a double and four RBIs to lead the Comets. Tristan Cloke was 2-for-2 with two doubles and two RBIs. Kaleb Figueroa went 2-for-2 with a double and two RBIs.

Blaine Bryant got it done on the hill and at the plate. He was 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI on the night. He came in to pitch a scoreless top of the fourth.

Cardinal is now 5-5 in the South Division, putting the Comets in fourth place alone behind New London (10-0), Van Buren County (6-2) and Notre Dame (5-4).