After suffering its worst loss of the season, the Ankeny softball team rebounded on Thursday with a victory over the No. 1 squad in Class 5A.
The 14th-ranked Hawkettes snapped Waukee Northwest’s 11-game winning streak with a 6-4 triumph in the second game of a doubleheader at Ankeny. The Wolves had allowed just nine runs in their previous 11 contests combined.
“It was good to see us bounce back,” said Ankeny coach Dave Bingham. “We haven’t had a game like the first one all year, so that happened and we moved on from it, so that was a good sign.”
Kendra Winfrey (6-2) allowed two earned runs on five hits over the first 6 1/3 innings. She had two strikeouts before being replaced by Aubrey Lensmeyer.
“Kendra pitched really well, and then Lensmeyer came in to get the last two outs with a couple of runners on,” Bingham said. “The freshman got the save, so that was good.”
Ankeny took a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Winfrey hit a sacrifice fly, then Ashtyn Billings followed with an RBI single.
Eva Fulk added a two-run single in the second to increase the margin to 4-0.
“We got some runs early, then we held them off,” Bingham said.
Larissa Miller went 3-for-4 and drove in a run. She raised her average to .322.
“Miller was really tough,” Bingham said. “She basically had four quality at-bats, so she’s really one of those kids that is going to come on strong. She’s a phenomenal player, but I think her best is yet to come, so that’s exciting for us.”
Billings went 2-for-3, while Jadyn Filling also went 2-for-3 and knocked in a run. Rylee Riesberg went 2-for-3 and had two of the Hawkettes’ five stolen bases.
Northwest won the opener, 10-1. Maddie Oetzmann (12-0) tossed a five-hitter to remain unbeaten.
“She does a nice job,” Bingham said of Oetzmann. “We’re up for that challenge, but we just weren’t on our ‘A’ game tonight. We look forward to the opportunity (to face her again) if we ever get another one. That’d be nice.”
The Wolves took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on RBI singles by Emily Klaiber and Ava Smith. They then capitalized on three Ankeny errors in the second inning, scoring two more runs when a grounder by Haley Boyd resulted in a pair of throwing errors.
“If you don’t play clean right now in our league, it’s tough to win,” Bingham said.
Billings (4-3) took the loss. She allowed four earned runs on nine hits over the first 4 1/3 innings.
Filling went 1-for-3 and scored Ankeny’s lone run in the bottom of the seventh.
The Hawkettes are now 8-6 in the CIML Iowa Conference and 13-6 overall. Northwest’s records are 12-2 and 17-3.
Ankeny will compete in the Fort Dodge Invitational this weekend. The Hawkettes will play Sioux City Heelan (15-6), the No. 15 team in Class 4A, in the first round on Friday at 12:30 p.m.
