The race for the CIML Conference baseball championship is far from over.
Top-ranked Ankeny Centennial romped to a 12-1 victory in six innings in the first game of a doubleheader on Thursday at Urbandale, but the J-Hawks rebounded with a 2-1 win in the nightcap.
Centennial continues to lead the league standings with a 12-2 record, but No. 3 Johnston remains within striking distance at 10-3. The Jaguars will play a doubleheader at Johnston on June 26.
“There’s a lot of games left,” said Centennial coach Mark Hey, whose team is now 20-2 overall. “Our goal is always to win and just take what comes along with those wins. Conference titles are goals, but we don’t change what our plans are to try to win a conference title.”
The Jaguars won the opener behind Sean Stewart (1-0), who tossed a two-hitter in his first start on the mound this season. He walked none and had four strikeouts.
After giving up a leadoff homer to Sam Harris in the bottom of the first, Stewart then allowed a one-out single later in the inning. But that runner was erased trying to steal, and Stewart did not allow another runner the rest of the way.
The junior also helped his own cause at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a double and one RBI.
“We just played really well in the first game,” Hey said. “Stewy was outstanding.”
Centennial used a seven-run outburst in the second inning to break a 1-1 tie. The Jaguars later scored three runs in the sixth to end the game via the mercy rule.
Nick Severson went 4-for-4 and had two RBIs to lead the team’s 14-hit attack. He is now batting .541 on the season.
“Nick’s a phenomenal hitter,” Hey said. “He stays back so well. There was one swing I think if that was me my head would have flown off my shoulders. He just stayed back on it so well. He’s just a real mature hitter.”
Damin Churchman went 3-for-4 with a double and drove in three runs. Emerson Alberhasky went 2-for-4 and had three RBIs.
Kyle Miller knocked in a pair of runs. Joey Oakie doubled and had one RBI.
Harris’ home run was his 13th of the season, which leads the entire state. The Duke recruit is expected to leave the J-Hawks’ squad at the end of the week to head to Durham.
“I think (Friday) is his Senior Night,” Hey said of Harris. “I talked to him a little bit, and that seemed to be his plan–to play one more game (against Davenport West).”
Urbandale (6-9, 14-12) salvaged a split of the twinbill as Jacob Barnes tossed a five-hitter in the second game. He outdueled Miller (1-1), who allowed just one earned run on five hits and had four strikeouts.
“Barnes just pitched a really good game,” Hey said. “It wasn’t that we had a poor approach at the plate or anything. He was just really tough, and we just got beat.”
Lucas Bruhl went 2-for-3 with a double in the loss. Churchman had a triple.
Centennial had three errors in the loss, but Oakie made the defensive play of the game in the fifth inning, when he leaped high at the fence to make a catch in left field, leaving two J-Hawks stranded on base.
The Jaguars will host a conference doubleheader against No. 7 Dowling Catholic (17-6) on Monday. They won the first meeting at Dowling, 6-1, on May 30.
