The Ankeny baseball team took care of business quickly against an overmatched opponent on Wednesday.
The third-ranked Hawks traveled to Marshalltown for a CIML Iowa Conference doubleheader and routed the Bobcats twice, posting a 12-0 victory in five innings and a 17-2 win in four innings.
“We’re just competing every game,” said Ankeny catcher Tamden Webb-Tate, who had one of the Hawks’ four home runs on the day. “We’re going out there and putting every team down.”
Ankeny improved to 18-0 in the conference and 23-6 overall. The Hawks, who had already clinched the league title, have won 10 straight games and 20 of their last 21.
“We swung the bats really well all night,” said Ankeny coach Joe Balvanz. “We had 30 hits in nine innings, including 18 for extra bases. It’s fun to watch them swing it like that.”
It wasn’t much fun for Marshalltown, which dropped to 1-17 in the conference and 6-24 overall. The Bobcats have lost 11 consecutive games–the last 10 by double-digit margins.
In the opener, Ankeny pitcher Brody Brecht tossed a two-hitter for his third shutout of the season. He walked two and had 11 strikeouts.
“He was looking good,” Webb-Tate said. “His slider was getting over, his fastball was effective, and he located well.”
Brecht (6-0), who was named the Gatorade Iowa Player of the Year on Tuesday, graded his own performance as a B.
“I did fine, but I wasn’t 100 percent feeling it,” Brecht said. “It was my first time throwing game one, and I just kind of had to get in rhythm. But I did a good job.”
Brecht typically throws the second game of a doubleheader. That allows him to play in the outfield in the first game and to give him plenty of time to get his valuable right arm loosened up.
“My adviser just wanted me to throw the first game and see how I would do–if I could get my velo up there,” Brecht said. “I don’t think I hit anything high. Like I said, I was probably 85 or 90 percent. I don’t know what it was. I just wasn’t feeling my best like I did at Fort Dodge or Ankeny Centennial. But it was good enough to get the job done.”
Still, Brecht lowered his ERA to 0.82. Opposing hitters are batting just .128 against him.
“He probably didn’t locate as many off-speed pitches as he would have liked,” Balvanz said. “But we changed his routine tonight on his request. He wanted to try to throw game one and then DH the second game, and I was fine with it. We’ll evaluate it going forward, but I’ll write his name down whenever he wants to throw.”
A six-run fourth inning allowed Brecht to get off the mound early. He threw 77 pitches in his five innings of work.
“I’ve got to go Tuesday again (against Ames) so I’ll get about a day rest shorter than what I normally would, so it’s good to keep my pitch count down,” Brecht said.
Ankeny got off to a slow start at the plate before Carter Smith, Cael Boyd and Jase Bauer hit three consecutive RBI doubles with two outs in the second inning. All of the hits came against Marshalltown starter Brendan Bates, who initially befuddled the Hawks with a variety of slow pitches.
“We needed to make a little bit of an adjustment, but I thought our guys did a commendable job of adjusting to the type of pitching they were seeing,” Balvanz said. “Not trying to do too much and just trusting the work that they’ve done in practice. Just stay with their plan, and they’ll find success out there.”
Colin Riggs hit his third home run of the season in the third inning. He went 6-for-7 with two doubles in the twinbill, raising his average to .440.
Webb-Tate blasted his second homer to ignite Ankeny’s outburst in the fourth inning.
“It was definitely difficult (to hit against Bates),” Webb-Tate said. “You’ve got to stay back and be patient and drive it the other way. I saw a first-pitch fastball that I liked, and I took it out.”
All nine Ankeny starters drove in a run in the opener. All but one had at least one hit.
Boyd went 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles, while Kade Somers had a two-run double to extend the lead to 10-0. Weston Fulk went 2-for-4 with a double, and Brecht had two RBIs.
In the second game, Fulk went 3-for-4 with a homer, a double and three RBIs. It was his ninth home run of the season.
Fulk is now batting .505 with 17 doubles and 46 RBIs. He leads the state with 52 hits and 106 total bases.
Brecht added a solo homer, his second of the year. Webb-Tate went 3-for-3 with three doubles and three RBIs.
Bauer went 3-for-4 and scored three times. Ryan Crandall went 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs, while Somers also doubled and drove in two runs.
“They know what pitches they can hit hard, and tonight we had quite a few of them,” Balvanz said.
Dylan Schlee (4-2) was the winning pitcher. He combined with Ryan Madole and Jacob Smith on a six-hitter.
