The Ankeny softball team has had a Jekyll and Hyde personality this season.
On some nights, the Hawkettes have played like one of the best teams in Class 5A. But on other nights, they have struggled tremendously–especially in the field.
Coach Dave Bingham’s team cleaned up its defensive mistakes on Wednesday and rolled to a doubleheader sweep at Marshalltown. Ankeny posted a 10-1 victory in the opener, then completed the sweep with a 15-0 win in three innings.
“We showed glimpses of where we want to be,” said Bingham. “We played much better defensively. We were pretty excited that we got through two games with just one error.”
Ankeny improved to 9-9 in the CIML Iowa Conference and 17-15 overall. Marshalltown’s records dropped to 1-17 and 5-27.
The Hawkettes moved into a third-place tie in the league with Ames, which dropped a twinbill at 10th-ranked Ankeny Centennial. They will host the Little Cyclones in their regular-season finale on Tuesday.
Ankeny capitalized on four Marshalltown errors in Wednesday’s nightcap. The Hawkettes also pounded out 16 hits.
“It wasn’t like we didn’t hit it,” Bingham said. “We did a lot of directional hitting and got a lot of balls on the ground.”
Kennedy Palmer went 2-for-3 and drove in four runs, while Reagan Enright went 2-for-3 and had two RBIs. Gillian Overturf went 3-for-4 and knocked in a run.
Praze Buchan went 2-for-2 in the win. Buchan and Shelby Romig each doubled and had one RBI.
“Praze is really swinging it right now,” Bingham said.
Kendra Winfrey (10-6) tossed a three-hitter for her fourth shutout. She also drove in a run.
In the first game, Ashtyn Billings (6-4) threw a five-hitter for the Hawkettes. She walked none and had nine strikeouts.
“We did the things we needed to do,” Bingham said. “We only gave up three hits the second game, and I think Ash only gave up one hit through the first six innings in the first game. It was good for us.”
Overturf went 2-for-4 and knocked in four runs in the opener. Marina Carter went 3-for-5 with a double and two RBIs.
Palmer went 3-for-4 and drove in two runs. Romig went 3-for-3.
Bingham has continued to tweak his lineup in an effort to find the right combination of speed and power.
“I don’t know if I’ve put the same lineup together for two games this year,” he said. “It’s been crazy.”
Ankeny will play two games in the Ottumwa Invitational on Friday. The Hawkettes will face Fairfield (17-11) at 2:30 p.m. and Ottumwa (18-12) at 6.
