The Ankeny Centennial baseball squad might be one of the hottest squads in the state.
The Jaguars got a masterful pitching performance from Trey Morris in a 1-0 victory at Ottumwa in the first game of a doubleheader on Friday. They then completed a sweep with a 17-3 triumph in the nightcap, which saw Centennial end the contest with a 10-run sixth inning.
“I think we’ve got a pretty good group,” said Centennial coach Mark Hey, whose team is now ranked third in Class 4A. “The season is a grind, and you have to use a lot of different pitchers. But when we throw our best lineup out there, I think we can be pretty competitive with just about anybody.”
Morris tossed a two-hitter and had 12 strikeouts in the opener. He raised his record to 2-1.
“Trey just had a great game,” Hey said. “He really kept them off-balance, and we scraped across a run in the fifth inning and that was all that we really needed.”
Derek Boike went 3-for-4 with a double and scored the game’s only run. He came home on a hit by Morris.
In the second game, Kaden Stewart (2-0) scattered five hits to earn the win. He walked two and had three strikeouts.
“Kaden was really in command,” Hey said. “He retired nine or 10 batters in a row at one point.”
Cory Prange went 3-for-3 with a double, a triple and three RBIs. Boike went 2-for-2 with a double, scored four runs and drove in another.
Boike now leads the Jaguars with a .516 average. Prange is hitting .360.
“Both of those guys swung the bat really well,” Hey said. “Our top of the order has really been a catalyst to get us going, but the bottom of the order has also been very productive for us.”
Keaton Gray went 2-for-3 with two doubles and two RBIs as Centennial (9-2) extended its winning streak to five games. Josh Meador and Ryan Vermeer also drove in two runs apiece.
The Jaguars will host a CIML Central Conference doubleheader against Ames on Monday.