The Ames softball team entered Monday’s doubleheader at Ankeny with an 8-1 record and a No. 13 ranking in Class 5A.
It has been an impressive start for the Little Cyclones, but they have yet to play any of the three top-five teams in the CIML Iowa Conference–No. 1 Waukee Northwest, No. 2 Fort Dodge and No. 5 Ankeny Centennial.
The Ames players discovered that Ankeny is no slouch, either.
The Hawkettes rolled to an 8-1 victory in the first game, then followed with a 6-0 shutout to complete a sweep of the twinbill. They improved to 4-4 in the conference and 5-4 overall, while Ames’ marks dropped to 4-2 and 8-3.
“We came out and took care of business,” said Ankeny coach Dave Bingham. “We only had one error all night, and when we do that we’re going to get a lot of sweeps.”
Ankeny sophomore Abby Rusher had a big night in the pitcher’s circle. She tossed three scoreless innings of relief in the opener, then threw a two-hitter with 14 strikeouts in the nightcap.
Rusher (1-1) fanned 20 batters overall.
“Abby was just a good matchup for them with what she throws,” Bingham said. “She did a really good job.”
Kendra Winfrey (3-1) earned the win in the first game. She had five strikeouts over the first four innings.
Ankeny snapped its two-game losing skid while also ending the Little Cyclones’ seven-game winning streak.
“They scored first (in the second inning), but we answered right back (in the bottom of the frame),” Bingham said.
Mariah Parton hit a two-run triple in the third inning to put the Hawkettes ahead for good. She went 3-for-3 and drove in three runs.
“That triple was big,” Bingham said. “It changed the tone of the whole game.”
Kennedy Palmer went 1-for-2 and also had three RBIs for Ankeny. Larissa Miller and Ashtyn Billings each scored a pair of runs.
In the second game, Rusher dominated the Little Cyclones, giving up only singles to Ellie Lynch and Nora Morken. She needed only 82 pitches to get through seven innings.
“We are blessed to have as many good pitchers as we do,” Bingham said. “The matchups are going to be extremely important going forward, but we’ll probably ride the hot hand at times, too.”
Alysa Lowe went 2-for-2 with a double and two RBIs for the Hawkettes. Reagan Enright also doubled and drove in two runs, while Winfrey added a double and one RBI.
The Little Cyclones, meanwhile, were held scoreless for the first time this season.
“They’re a very solid club,” Bingham said. “They’ve got a lot of veterans, and two or three high level kids. We just played really good defense tonight and didn’t give them a lot of opportunities.”
Ankeny will travel to Marshalltown on Wednesday for an Iowa Conference doubleheader against the Bobcats (0-6).
