The Ankeny Centennial softball team knocked off a top-five opponent on Friday at the Dallas Center-Grimes Invitational.
Then the Jaguars defeated another one.
Centennial opened the tournament with an 11-5 victory over Winterset, the No. 5 team in Class 4A. The Jaguars then posted a 4-3 win over No. 4 Indianola in eight innings.
“We played really well,” said Centennial coach Randy Schneider, whose team improved its record to 22-15. “We came up with a couple nice wins for the program.”
The loss ended a 22-game winning streak for Indianola, which is now 30-3 on the season. The Indians could face Centennial again in a Class 5A regional semifinal on Saturday.
Indianola’s top pitcher is Sydney Sickles, who boasts a 22-1 mark with a 0.97 ERA. She did not pitch in Friday’s game.
“They didn’t throw their No. 1 kid, but they’ve got some other good pitchers,” Schneider said of the Indians. “We just got some kids on base early and had some key hits.”
Lauren Birt went 3-for-5 with a double in the win. She singled to drive in Chloe Peck with the go-ahead run in the eighth inning.
Cassi Garland hit a two-run homer, her sixth of the year. Haley Gatica went 2-for-3 with a double, and Ella Schulz went 1-for-2 with three walks and an RBI.
Kayla Stone (6-4) tossed an eight-hitter to earn the win. She walked three and had four strikeouts.
“She pitched a really good game,” Schneider said.
Karlie Kaiser (4-5) was the winning pitcher against Winterset, which dropped to 23-12. She combined with Madi Huisman on a seven-hitter.
Franie Burnett went 2-for-4 with a double and four RBIs in the win. She also had two of the Jaguars’ eight stolen bases.
“We really put a lot of pressure on them on the bases,” Schneider said. “I just think a lot of teams aren’t used to seeing that.”
Birt went 2-for-4, scored two runs and drove in another. Taylor Runchey and Carleigh Kray each added one RBI.