The Ankeny Centennial softball team couldn’t recover from a slow start.
The sixth-ranked Jaguars gave up four runs in the first inning and went on to drop a 6-4 decision in a non-conference game on Tuesday at Carlisle, the No. 4 team in Class 4A.
The Wildcats (11-3) extended their winning streak to five games. Centennial fell to 10-7 on the season.
Cora Boyle (1-1) took the loss for the Jaguars. She allowed five earned runs on six hits in 2 1/3 innings before being replaced by Jadeyn Stahr, who went the rest of the way and allowed just one hit while fanning four over the final 3 2/3 innings.
Payton Drefke and Claire Suarez each had two hits and scored a run for Centennial. Sydney Morris hit a two-run single in the seventh inning to cut Carlisle’s lead to 6-4, but that was as close as the Jaguars could get.
Addi Starr and Lizzy Klunder each had an RBI in the loss.
The Jaguars will play a CIML Iowa Conference doubleheader at Mason City (5-9) on Wednesday.
