The Ankeny softball team ran into a buzzsaw on Thursday at Waukee.
The fifth-ranked Warriors remained unbeaten by sweeping a doubleheader, 9-2 and 7-3. They lifted their record to 11-0 on the season, while Ankeny dropped to 1-5.
Waukee is averaging nearly 10 runs per game.
“They didn’t really pound the ball,” Ankeny coach Dave Bingham said of the Warriors. “But they’re just such a sharp, well-disciplined team.”
In the opener, Ankeny scored a run in the top of the fourth inning to tie the game at 2-2. But Waukee answered with three runs in the bottom of the frame, then added four more in the sixth.
“Zoe Baker hit a bomb for us, and I thought we were in business,” Bingham said. “But we just couldn’t hold them down.”
In the nightcap, the Hawkettes scored three runs in the third inning to erase Waukee’s 1-0 lead. Jasmine Rumley drove in two runs with a base hit and came all the way around to score as the Warriors committed an error.
However, Waukee then responded with a five-run outburst in the bottom of the inning.
“They’re just so solid, and they’re not going to beat themselves,” Bingham said. “But we’d love to play them again, and hopefully we will.”