The Ankeny baseball team rebounded from a 4-1 loss to North Polk with an 11-1 victory over Davenport North in five innings in the Tim Heggen Classic on Saturday at Ankeny.
The Hawks pounded out eight hits in the win over Davenport North (2-5). They scored four runs in the first inning, two in the second, one in the third, one in the fourth and three more in the fifth to end the game.
“We scored in every inning,” said Ankeny coach Joe Balvanz, whose team improved to 4-6 on the season. “I was happy with the way we bounced back.”
Carson Agan doubled and drove in four runs to lead the way. Jack Clevidence went 2-for-2 with an RBI and two runs scored.
Ben Sandvig went 1-for-1, scored three runs and knocked in another. Blake Morgan and Karsten Bernholtz each had a double, while Max Watson and Kinnick Vos each drove in a run.
Will Davies (1-1) was the winning pitcher. He allowed just two hits in four scoreless innings and had three strikeouts before fellow freshman Ryan Buffington had three more strikeouts for the last three outs in the fifth.
“I thought Carson made some college-level plays at third base,” Balvanz said. “He and the rest of the infield and Ben in center field really did a nice job on defense of making our two freshman pitchers comfortable. They knew that our guys would make the routine plays.”
Earlier, North Polk scored two runs in the fourth inning and two more in the fifth to raise its record to 5-1. Nick Meyer (1-2) took the loss, allowing two earned runs in 3 2/3 innings while racking up six strikeouts.
Reece Wrage allowed just three hits over the first 6 1/3 innings and had 10 strikeouts for the Comets, who are ranked seventh in Class 3A. Wrage also doubled and knocked in a run.
“North Polk looks like a 4A team when they come to the plate with their size,” Balvanz said. “I was tremendously impressed with them.”
The Comets are coached by Wyatt Zoske, who used to be Balvanz’s coach in Little League.
“It’s a fun experience to play them,” Balvanz said. “In Wyatt’s first year as head coach we put a big number on them, but he came back and got us a couple of years later. They’re just very fundamentally sound. I think they’re a state championship caliber team.”
Ryan Maire drove in Ankeny’s lone run. Evan Irlmeier went 1-for-3 and scored a run.
The Hawks will host a CIML Conference doubleheader against third-ranked Johnston (8-2) on Tuesday. The Dragons defeated Ankeny at the Class 4A state tournament in 2019-21.
“I’d be lying if I said we haven’t been looking forward to this doubleheader,” Balvanz said. “This is one of those dates that you have circled on the calendar.”
