The Ankeny Centennial baseball team remains one of the hottest squads in Class 4A.
The Jaguars swept a doubleheader against visiting Marshalltown on Thursday for their third sweep in the last four days. They have won six straight games and seven in a row in CIML Iowa Conference play.
“They’re playing well,” said Centennial coach Mark Hey. “We certainly don’t want to take things for granted, but they’re working hard and that’s good.”
Centennial won the first game, 10-0, in five innings. The Jaguars then completed the sweep with an 11-2 victory.
Centennial improved to 10-4 in the conference and 13-9 overall. The Jaguars are now tied for second place in the league with seventh-ranked Waukee Northwest, trailing No. 10 Ankeny by just one game.
Marshalltown, meanwhile, saw its losing skid extended to 13 games. The Bobcats’ records fell to 0-14 and 3-21.
The Jaguars have outscored their opponents, 65-9, over the last six contests.
“Up and down the lineup right now, we’ve got a lot of guys swinging well,” Hey said.
Nobody was hotter in Thursday’s second game than Damin Churchman, who went 3-for-3 and drove in five runs. He hit his first two home runs of the season.
“He had a great game,” Hey said. “He’s been hitting the ball really well lately, and it was nice to see him get into his groove.”
Ian McGhiey doubled and knocked in two runs for the Jaguars. Easton Miller went 2-for-3 with a double, a triple and one RBI.
Kyle Miller doubled and drove in a run, while Sean Stewart went 2-for-3. Cole Grider tripled and had one RBI in both games.
Emerson Alberhasky (1-2) was the winning pitcher in the nightcap. He tossed a two-hitter with just one walk and had 12 strikeouts.
“He was throwing harder in the seventh inning than he was all game,” Hey said. “He got better and better as the game went on. He kind of scuffled a little bit in the sixth, but then came out and struck out all three guys in the seventh. When he’s on, he’s a really good pitcher. It was nice to see him limit his walks and get ahead in the count. When he’s doing that, he’s one of our best.”
In the opener, Joey Oakie (1-3) threw a three-hitter for the Jaguars. He walked one and had seven strikeouts.
“Oakie pitched ahead in the count, too,” Hey said. “That was really the key to both guys’ success.”
Nick Severson went 3-for-3 and had four RBIs in the win. Lincoln Lacey went 2-for-2 and drove in two runs.
“We’ve got a lot of guys hitting their stride right now,” Hey said. “I appreciate the fact that they come out and work hard every day and try to improve daily.”
Centennial will host Davenport North (6-11) in the Tim Heggen Invitational on Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
