For five innings, the Ankeny Centennial baseball team didn’t have an answer for Waukee Northwest righthander Grant Miller.
In the end, though, the top-ranked Jaguars found a way to come out on top–just like they have all season.
Centennial rallied for three runs in the sixth inning to post a 3-1 victory that completed a sweep of Monday’s doubleheader against the visiting Wolves. The Jaguars won the opener, 13-0, in five innings.
“The defense has been amazing, and we have good bats up and down the lineup,” said Centennial junior Emerson Alberhasky. “Everything is just clicking.”
Alberhasky (3-0) tossed a one-hitter with six strikeouts in Monday’s second game. He lowered his ERA to 0.64.
However, the Wolves scored an unearned run in the first inning, and for much of the game it appeared that might be enough. Miller held Centennial to just one hit through the first five innings–a single by Nick Severson in the third.
“He had a good slider that he located well,” Severson said. “What made him most dangerous was on the 3-2 counts he never threw balls. He was dicing left and right. I felt like he knew the weaknesses of our batters. He threw a good game, but we just pieced something together that (sixth) inning and that’s what our team is about. Our hits all seem to come together.”
Severson ignited the rally when he singled with one out for his second hit of the game. He stole second, advanced to third on a grounder by Damin Churchman, then raced home on an infield hit by Kyle Miller–who fouled off several pitches from Grant Miller to extend the at-bat.
After Sean Stewart walked, Alberhasky blasted a triple to right-center that drove in the go-ahead runs. Alberhasky also scored on the play when the Wolves made an errant throw, but the run was taken away when the Centennial bench was called for interference.
“I saw a couple of pitches, and I just kept my head down and was looking for that fastball,” Alberhasky said. “I just kept my eye on it the whole time and drove it into the gap, which is exactly what I wanted.”
After circling the bases, Alberhasky immediately had to go back to the mound to close it out. And he did just that, although Drew Fitzpatrick provided an anxious moment when he flied out to deep right field with a runner on base to end the game.
“I was confident,” Alberhasky said. “They told me to take my time coming out, but I was ready and wanted to get back on the mound.”
The Jaguars won the first game behind Joey Oakie (5-0), who tossed a two-hitter for his third shutout of the season. He walked one and had eight strikeouts while lowering his ERA to 0.25.
“Joey’s allowed like one run (this season) on some bloop hit or something,” Churchman said. “He’s been dominant.”
Churchman went 2-for-3 and knocked in three runs. He hit a two-run homer in the first inning, his second of the season, for the only support that Oakie needed.
“It was a good, outside pitch,” Churchman said. “I hit it solid, and the wind was blowing a lot to right. I thought it was probably going to be a double, but the wind just took it over the wall.”
The biggest obstacle for Oakie was trying to stay loose during the bottom of the second inning, when Centennial erupted for 10 runs to blow the game wide open.
“It was kind of weird,” said Oakie, who has now racked up 58 strikeouts in just 28 innings. “We’ve had some long innings, but never like that. I stood in the dugout and just waited.”
Isaac Bruhl went 2-for-2 and had four RBIs for the Jaguars, including a three-run triple in the second inning. Cole Grider also tripled and drove in two runs.
Kyle Miller also had two RBIs.
“Whenever we get hot, we’re hot and it’s hard to get us out,” Oakie said. “That 10-run inning was really cool.”
Oakie needed 75 pitches to get through the five innings. He said he had no discussions with Centennial coach Mark Hey about leaving the game early due to the Jaguars’ big lead.
If he had done that, he maybe could have pitched again Thursday at Urbandale.
“Coach is really good about not having me throw twice in a week, which is not the greatest thing for your arm,” Oakie said. “He just wanted me to go the whole way.”
The Jaguars improved to 10-1 in the CIML Conference and 17-1 overall. Northwest’s records dropped to 3-8 and 10-13.
The Wolves have lost 12 of their last 15 games.
“We’re playing really well right now, and everything is going great for us,” Churchman said.
Centennial will host a non-conference game on Tuesday against Norwalk (5-12).
