Ankeny Christian Academy’s Eli Christensen struck out in his first at-bat of the high school baseball postseason.
The sophomore more than made up for it later.
Christensen hit a pair of two-run triples and also pitched a brilliant inning in relief to lead the ninth-ranked Eagles to a 9-3 victory over Baxter in a Class 1A district quarterfinal on Saturday at Urbandale.
“It was a tough at-bat,” Christensen said of his strikeout in the first inning. “But I just came back and kept my head in it the whole game, and it was a great game.”
Christensen broke a 2-2 tie in the third inning with his first triple. He then scored on a squeeze bunt by Brody Hoefle to make it 5-2.
Christensen tripled again in the sixth to drive in two more runs. He then came home on a grounder to produce the final margin.
Both of Christensen’s blasts went into the right-field corner.
“It just worked out that way,” Christensen said. “I actually wasn’t feeling great in those two at-bats, but with two strikes I just fought it off the other way and got some nice triples and drove in some runs.”
Christensen also combined with Malachi Johnson (9-0) and Tyler Mahoney on a six-hitter. Johnson allowed two earned runs on four hits and had nine strikeouts over 4 1/3 innings.
ACA coach Craig Dueker juggled his pitchers throughout the game in an effort to limit Johnson’s pitch count. The senior was relieved by Mahoney after pitching the first three innings, but then returned to the mound to get the final out in the fourth–leaving the potential tying runs stranded in scoring position.
“The hope was to keep Malachi under 65 (pitches) so he could go Tuesday, which we were able to do that,” Dueker said. “And when we were able to get a couple more runs on the board, we were able to go to Tyler. And we always had Eli in our back pocket.”
After Johnson pitched a scoreless fifth inning, Christensen came in and struck out the side in the sixth on just 11 pitches. Mahoney got the final three outs in the seventh.
“I’m still trying to build up my arm,” said Christensen, who missed some time on the mound last month due to an injury. “I’m not throwing too many pitches, so just the one inning was good for me.”
Christensen has yet to allow an earned run in eight appearances this season. He has recorded 48 strikeouts in 22 1/3 innings.
“He was very impressive,” Dueker said. “And yet when you look at that one inning, you know that’s not even his A-game. He’s fun to watch.”
Mahoney went 3-for-3 with a double and scored three times in the win. Johnson went 1-for-2 with an RBI and also scored three runs.
Landon Curtis and Matthew Welshhons each drove in a run as the Eagles improved their record to 25-1. Baxter finished the season at 6-15.
“We knew Baxter was going to give us a battle,” Dueker said. “They’re a good, solid club. They were a No. 8 seed with six wins, so there was nothing for us to look past. We had to be ready.”
The Eagles will face Madrid (10-12) in a district semifinal on Tuesday at Urbandale at 7 p.m. The Tigers rallied from an 8-0 deficit to beat Collins-Maxwell, 10-9, on Saturday.
Dueker said he may juggle his pitchers again in order to keep them all eligible for the district final, which will also be played at Urbandale on Saturday at 7 p.m.
“That would be the ideal thing, but we’ve got to win the next game first,” Dueker said.
