The Ankeny Centennial baseball team just keeps rolling along.
The top-ranked Jaguars remained unbeaten by sweeping a doubleheader on Wednesday at Ankeny. They posted a 3-0 victory in the nightcap after winning the opener, 4-1.
Centennial improved to 8-0 in the CIML Conference and 13-0 overall. The Jaguars have won every game by at least three runs.
“This is a tough conference to say the least, but we’ve got a pretty good all-around team,” said Centennial pitcher Easton Pratt, who tossed a four-hitter and had five strikeouts in the second game. “We’ve just got to keep getting better and keep this going.”
The Jaguars snapped Ankeny’s six-game winning streak. The Hawks, who won three of the four meetings against Centennial last year, dropped to 4-4 in the league and 9-8 overall.
“That’s a team that is built for a deep postseason run,” Ankeny coach Joe Balvanz said of the Jaguars. “I think it’s the most complete team coach (Mark) Hey has had since I’ve been competing against him.”
Centennial again relied on its outstanding starters on the mound. Pratt’s gem was preceded by Emerson Alberhasky’s three-hitter in the first game.
Alberhasky (2-0) needed just 74 pitches to get through seven innings.
“That was the goal coming in,” said Alberhasky, who lowered his ERA to 0.93. “We knew they were going to be scrappy. They put the bat on the ball, and my job was just to keep the ball in the zone and let them get themselves out.”
The Hawks took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning. After Max Watson hit a leadoff double, courtesy runner Drew Taylor advanced to third on a grounder by Jack Clevidence and came home on a sacrifice fly by Carson Agan.
It marked one of the rare times that Centennial has trailed this season, but Alberhasky wasn’t worried.
“Up and down the lineup, we were all having really good at-bats,” he said. “We knew we were going to scratch some runs across.”
Ankeny starter Alex Griess (2-2) took a shutout into the fifth inning before the Jaguars manufactured a run to tie it. Isaac Bruhl reached on an error with one out, took second on a passed ball, moved to third on a balk, and then scored on another passed ball.
“I was proud of the way Alex pitched,” Balvanz said. “We’ve just got to be better at stringing three or four hits together, but that can be a tough task against good pitching.”
In the sixth, Centennial took the lead on the first of two doubles by Kyle Miller, whose hit down the third-base line drove in Damin Churchman. It was the first start of the season for Miller, who has been battling an injury.
“I have a knee brace on right now,” said Miller. “But first game back–I felt great. I love this team, and Emerson pitched great. You can’t throw any better than that.
“It just felt really good to come back and battle adversity, just stick through it,” he added.
The Jaguars extended the lead to 3-1 as Joey Oakie raced home from third on a delayed steal by Lucas Bruhl when Griess made an errant throw to second. Oakie then hit a sacrifice fly in the seventh to make it 4-1.
Nick Severson went 3-for-4 in the win.
“(The Jaguars) don’t try to do too much,” Balvanz said. “They’re ok with a line drive single or a ball in the gap. They just try to stay within themselves.”
In the nightcap, Pratt raised his record to 4-0 with another dominant outing. He has yet to allow an earned run in 21 innings.
Opponents are batting just .148 against the Centennial pitching staff, which has compiled an ERA of 0.84.
“It’s a race basically,” Alberhasky said. “We’re all super competitive, and we’ll all super proud of each other. It’s going great right now. We all have different (pitching) styles, but the results are the same.”
Churchman went 2-for-3 and scored twice for the Jaguars, who plated a run in each of the first three innings. Oakie also went 2-for-3 and had an RBI, while Cole Grider went 1-for-3, stole two bases and scored a run.
“That 3-0 lead almost felt like an 8-0 lead, especially the way Pratt was pitching and working ahead,” Balvanz said. “You’ve got to tip your cap to both (of the Centennial pitchers). They mixed and matched really well, and I thought they both had great tempo.”
The Hawks had two of their four hits in the seventh inning, but both runners were left stranded by Pratt.
Zach Halverson (0-1) took the loss for Ankeny. John Morris pitched five scoreless innings of relief, allowing just two hits.
“I was really impressed with Morris,” Balvanz said. “He kept us in the game and if we’d have been able to get a split and hand them their first loss, I’d have taken that. But it just didn’t work out.
“Fortunately, we get to play again (Thursday),” he added.
Both teams will face conference opponents. Ankeny will play at No. 10 Urbandale (10-7), while the Jaguars will host No. 5 Southeast Polk (15-6).
