S.E. Polk’s Medina tosses 3-hitter, hands No. 1 Jaguars their first loss of season

Ankeny Centennial third baseman Kyle Miller makes a throw to first during Thursday’s game against visiting Southeast Polk. The Rams posted a 5-1 victory to hand Centennial its first loss of the season. (Photo courtesy of Jerrad Downer)

The winning streak has finally ended.

The top-ranked Ankeny Centennial baseball team suffered its first loss on Thursday as visiting Southeast Polk posted a 5-1 victory over the Jaguars. The No. 5 Rams used a three-run second inning to build a 4-0 lead and then held on for the win behind Carson Medina, who tossed a three-hitter and had nine strikeouts in a 114-pitch outing.

**Ankeny Centennial’s Joey Oakie crosses home plate to score the Jaguars’ lone run in Thursday’s game. (Photo courtesy of Jerrad Downer)**

Medina allowed five walks while improving his record to 4-0. His ERA is now 0.59.

Jack Casey went 2-for-4 and scored two runs for the Rams. Ean McDaniel and Karson Keesey each doubled and knocked in a run.

**Ankeny Centennial first baseman Damin Churchman tries to tag out a Southeast Polk runner during Thursday’s game. (Photo courtesy of Jerrad Downer)**

Damin Churchman, Joey Oakie and Jack Compton each had a hit for Centennial. Lucas Bruhl drove in Oakie for the Jaguars’ lone run in the fourth inning.

Cole Grider (0-1) took the loss. He allowed four earned runs on six hits over the first two innings.

**Ankeny Centennial reliever Ross Crawford throws a pitch during Thursday’s game. He allowed one earned run on two hits and had two strikeouts in 2 1/3 innings. (Photo courtesy of Jerrad Downer)**

Centennial’s records dropped to 8-1 in the CIML Conference and 13-1 overall. Southeast Polk is now 6-4 and 16-6.

The Jaguars will play Davenport Central (8-11) and No. 4 Cedar Rapids Kennedy (15-5) on Saturday at Mount Mercy University.