Charlie Corell hit a two-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning to give seventh-ranked Dowling Catholic a 6-5 victory over No. 1 Ankeny and a sweep of a non-conference baseball doubleheader on Wednesday at Dowling. The Maroons also won the opener, 4-3.
Corell’s blast came off Will Johnson and improved Dowling’s record to 7-1. The Hawks dropped to 3-5.
“It was two good teams going at it,” said Ankeny coach Joe Balvanz. “Sometimes the ball leaves the yard when you don’t want it to.”
Dowling’s George Nahas hit a three-run homer in the fourth inning to tie the game at 4-4. Ankeny regained the lead in the top of the fifth, setting the stage for Corell’s walk-off blast on a two-ball, one-strike count.
Johnson (0-1) allowed six earned runs on nine hits over 6 2/3 innings. He had four strikeouts while throwing 112 pitches.
“That was going to be his last hitter regardless,” Balvanz said. “I had somebody ready (to come in), but Will had come that far and I wanted to see him finish it. It just didn’t work out. He left a curveball up, and Corell hit it out.”
Colin Riggs homered and had two RBIs for the Hawks. It was his second home run of the season.
Weston Fulk and Kade Somers each went 2-for-4 and scored a run.
In the first game, Ankeny’s Jase Bauer went 3-for-4 with a double while Brody Brecht went 2-for-4. They both scored a run.
Somers and Tamden Webb-Tate each doubled and had one RBI.
Dowling freshman Blake Larson allowed just one run on four hits over the first five innings. He racked up 11 strikeouts.
“He’s a lefty, and he’s going to be tough to deal with for the next three years,” Balvanz said. “We didn’t get much going until we got him off the mound.”
Fulk (0-2) took the loss, allowing three earned runs on seven hits over the first 4 1/3 innings. He had five strikeouts.
“Weston threw well enough to win,” Balvanz said. “But Dowling’s a very good team, and they were just a little bit better than us.”
Ankeny will play North Polk (3-1) and Davenport North (1-2) in the Tim Heggen Invitational on Saturday.
