Cardinal baseball through, softball done

TRURO — Both Cardinal summer sports teams were two games away from the state tournament, and after a one-and-one record in semifinals games, there’s still a shot at seeing the Comets on the big stage.

The Cardinal baseball team went into Truro on Saturday hungry for a Substate final berth, and the Comets wouldn’t be deterred, knocking Interstate 35 out of the Class 2A Substate 5 tournament, 6-0.

Cardinal took advantage of a dominant night on the mount, getting a quality start from freshman Bode Ferrell and a couple of fantastic close out innings from junior Cayden Courtney, as the two combined to shut down the I-35 batters.

Ferrell through all of his allotted 90 pitches in the win, going 4.2 shutout innings and giving up just three hits and three walks, while striking out seven batters. Courtney gave up just two hits and one walk over 2.1 frames, and finished with one strikeout of his own.

Cardinal scored four of its runs in the second inning and two in the sixth. Cody Birlson was 2-for-4 with a double and three RBIs to lead the way.

Courtney went 1-for-1 with an RBI at the plate. Jacob Figueroa had a hit, two runs scored and an RBI, and Ferrell knocked home a run as well.

The Comets (17-10) will not face off with top-seeded Chariton (24-6) for a spot in the Class 2A state tournament. The two South Central Conferenec teams will battle on Tuesday night in Ottumwa, at 7 p.m.

The Cardinal softball team was defeated 3-1 at Pella Christian in a tight regional semifinal battle on the girls’ side, also on Saturday.

The Comets tried to come back from 3-0 down, but fell short, scoring just one run in the sixth inning.

The Comet girls finished their 2025 season 11-17, while Pella Christian moved on to play Louisa-Muscatine for a spot at the state tournament.