Damin Churchman and the Ankeny Centennial baseball team are on a roll.
Churchman helped the Jaguars to a sweep of a CIML Iowa Conference doubleheader on Monday at Fort Dodge. He scored three times in a 5-4 victory in eight innings in the opener, then earned the win on the mound in the nightcap as Centennial completed the sweep with a 12-6 triumph.
The Jaguars improved to 7-5 in the conference and 13-11 overall, moving into a second-place tie with Mason City in the league standings. Fort Dodge’s records dropped to 5-7 and 10-12.
“It was a good night,” said Centennial coach Mark Hey, whose team has won four straight games and six of its last seven. “The guys are playing well.”
Centennial pounded out 11 hits in the second game. Kyle Miller went 2-for-4 with a double, a triple and three RBIs, while Easton Pratt doubled and also knocked in three runs.
Lincoln Lacey went 2-for-3 and hit a solo homer. Joey Oakie also had a solo blast, his second of the season.
Churchman went 2-for-4 and had eight strikeouts over the first five innings. He raised his record to 2-3.
Lacey pitched two hitless innings of relief after earning a save in the first game.
“We had good outings by everybody,” Hey said.
In the opener, Centennial rallied from a 4-2 deficit. The Jaguars tied the game with a pair of two-out runs in the sixth inning, then scored the go-ahead run in the eighth.
“We made some errors early on and gave up four unearned runs, but the guys just battled and kept chipping away,” Hey said.
Churchman, Jackson Powell and Ian McGhiey each had a double. Powell and Gabriel Monosmith each drove in a run.
Oakie had five strikeouts over the first four innings before being replaced by Andrew Tilton. Tilton (2-0) allowed two hits and had three strikeouts over three scoreless innings to earn the victory.
“Tilton threw really well,” Hey said.
Lacey then got the final three outs.
The Jaguars will host an Iowa Conference doubleheader against Marshalltown (1-11, 6-16) on Wednesday.
