Junior infielder Damin Churchman has helped the Ankeny Centennial baseball team to a 14-9 record, including a 10-4 mark in the CIML Iowa Conference. He is batting .500 with two home runs, six doubles and 23 RBIs.
Churchman hit both of his homers during the second game of Thursday’s doubleheader against visiting Marshalltown, when he went 3-for-3 and knocked in five runs as the Jaguars completed a sweep of the twinbill with an 11-2 victory. It was the team’s third sweep in four days.
Here is some inside info on Churchman:
How is the season going thus far?
The season has definitely had its ups and downs, but I think the team has really been gelling together as of late and it has given us more ups than downs recently.
To what do you attribute your success at the plate?
I think the work our coaches put in with us in the cages really has made all the difference in not just my hitting but the whole team’s success at the plate.
Did you pull the ball on both of your home runs, and did you know right away that both of them were out of the park?
i pulled both home runs out to left field. I didn’t know for sure either of them was gone. I thought the first one was but not 100 percent sure. The second one, though, I didn’t really think at all that it had enough air to leave the yard.
It’s not easy to hit home runs in your home ballpark. You can’t really go up to the plate looking to hit it out, can you?
No, it is not easy to hit it out. Our lineup looks to hit line drives to all parts of the field and when you have an approach to have a simple swing and hit the ball on a line, good things happen.
Your team is now riding a seven-game winning streak following Saturday’s 13-3 win over Davenport North in six innings. What has been the key to the team’s turnaround?
I think as a team we have just gotten tired of losing games, especially in the late innings, and over the past week we have really came together as a team and have come to practice every day with a different mindset and have worked our tails off. Good outcomes have come from that.
Your team started last week three games out of first place in the conference behind co-leaders Ankeny and Waukee Northwest, but you have now moved into a second-place tie with Northwest and are just one game behind the Hawks. Do you feel like your team is capable of winning the league title?
I believe that we have very talented players and coaching, and if we get better every day and play to our ability I think we can finish at the top of our conference.
Your team has allowed just 12 runs during the winning streak, getting strong pitching performances from seven different starters. Are you surprised at how deep your pitching staff has turned out to be?
Not at all. Almost all of our starting pitchers returned this year and on top of that we have multiple sophomore pitchers that have stepped up this year at a varsity level. I think everyone on the team can see the potential of our pitching staff.
At this point, do you have a lot of confidence that all of your pitchers will get the job done?
Yes, in our eyes any one of our pitchers that steps on the mound will get the job done, and it’s a calming feeling to know that any of our pitchers can beat teams.
You posted a 3-4 record with a 3.84 ERA on the mound last year, but have not made any pitching appearances this season. Have you had some arm issues, or did you just decide to focus on your hitting?
Yes, I would really love to be on the mound again. I have had some shoulder problems since early fall of this year and might not be able to pitch at all this year, but it has given me more time for me and my coaches to focus on my hitting.
Your team faces a challenging week ahead with eight games, including doubleheaders at home against seventh-ranked Northwest on Wednesday and No. 3 Dowling Catholic on Friday. You could see one of the state’s top pitchers in Northwest’s Anthony Watts, who tossed a two-hitter and had 10 strikeouts in a 2-1 win over the Jaguars on June 6–when you went 0-for-2 at the plate. What makes Watts so tough to hit?
We have a tough week ahead for sure. I think what makes Watts so dominant is his pitch sequencing and placement. Obviously, he has a plus fastball that he can place anywhere in the zone. His off speed gives you a very different pitch to see and when he comes back with his fastball he can blow it past anyone. We had some good swings off of him and made adjustments late into the game. I think we would like to have another opportunity against him probably because he’s such a dominant pitcher and beat us last time.
Are you planning to play baseball in college, and have you looked at any schools yet?
I do plan to play baseball in college. So far I haven’t looked at many schools. I think I’ll start doing that more toward the end of the season or early next school year. I’m focused on high school right now.