The ninth-ranked Ankeny softball team won two of three games on Saturday against ranked opponents at the Winterset Invitational.
The Hawkettes opened the tournament with an 8-1 win over Interstate 35, the No. 5 team in Class 2A. After dropping a 7-1 decision to ADM (Adel), Ankeny then rebounded with a 4-0 victory over Winterset.
ADM and Winterset are the Nos. 6 and 10 teams in Class 4A, respectively.
“We gave a lot of kids some opportunities,” said Ankeny coach Dave Bingham, whose team is now 6-1 on the season. “I don’t think we’ve used the same starting lineup twice.”
Cassie Johnson went 2-for-3 with a pair of home runs and five RBIs against Interstate 35 (2-2). She has hit three of the team’s five homers.
Larissa Miller went 2-for-2, stole three bases and scored twice. Kendra Lewis and Josie Parton each knocked in a run, while Reagan Enright and Aubrey Lensmeyer each doubled.
Kendra Winfrey (2-0) tossed a three-hitter to earn the win. She had seven strikeouts.
ADM (4-1) then handed the Hawkettes their first loss of the season. Addison Banse homered and drove in three runs, while Cameran Smith added a solo blast.
Lensmeyer (0-1) took the loss. She allowed four earned runs in 4 1/3 innings and had six strikeouts.
“I’m really proud of our defense, but we are still a work in progress at the plate,” Bingham said. “We did have some snafus in that game that we lost. We had an opportunity to score some runs, and we were too aggressive. I tried to get Kennedy Palmer to score and she got in a pickle–that was my fault. I think in these time-limit tournament games, you can start pressing a little bit. I thought Aubrey pitched really well, but it just didn’t work out.”
The Tigers built a 7-0 lead before Winfrey hit a solo home run in the sixth inning off freshman Lauren Hagedorn, who tossed a four-hitter with seven strikeouts.
Bingham said the momentum from Winfrey’s blast then carried over to the next game as Ankeny closed out the tournament with a 4-0 win over the host Huskies (2-4). Abby Rusher (4-0) threw a four-hitter and had seven strikeouts to remain unbeaten.
Johnson went 2-for-2 with a double and an RBI. Miller went 2-for-3 and drove in a run, and Winfrey also had an RBI.
Lewis doubled and scored a run in her return to the lineup after not starting against ADM.
“We are having a ton of fun,” said Bingham, whose team won the Johnston Classic on Friday. “With five games in two days, we’ll take where we’re at.”
Ankeny will host a CIML Conference doubleheader against No. 8 Johnston (1-1) on Tuesday.
