The drought is finally over for the Ankeny softball team.
The second-ranked Hawkettes held on for a 4-3 victory over No. 14 Waukee in a Class 5A regional final on Tuesday, allowing them to qualify for state for the first time since 2015.
“It feels great,” said Ankeny shortstop Kendra Lewis. “I love this team so much. It’s a great opportunity for us and I’m just so excited, and we’re going to kill it when we get to Fort Dodge.”
Lewis and fellow seniors like Kendra Winfrey were in the fourth grade the last time Ankeny advanced to state under coach Dave Bingham.
“It’s a fantastic group of girls, and it’s well-deserved,” said Winfrey, who allowed just one earned run on three hits over the last four innings. “It’s our time right now. We’re ready.”
The Hawkettes (31-6) extended their winning streak to 11 games with a hard-fought triumph. Waukee (17-23) put runners at second and third with two outs in the seventh inning before Mara Yokiel grounded back to Winfrey to end the game.
Winfrey (11-0) felt a sense of relief when she fielded the ball.
“I thought, ‘Oh, this is my time,'” she said. “Here we go. Let’s shut it down.”
The two teams had split a doubleheader at Ankeny on June 15. Waukee’s Lily Rand tossed a two-hitter in a 3-0 win over the Hawkettes, and she got the start again on Tuesday.
“That’s a good Waukee team,” Bingham said. “They’re scrappy, and they’re always going to play us well. But we just hung in there. It was kind of fun to win it that way.”
Ankeny took a 2-0 lead in the first inning. After a pair of singles by Larissa Miller and Lewis, both runners came home when Winfrey delivered a two-out single to right field.
“We scouted for many hours for this,” Winfrey said. “We came in prepared and knew what (Rand) was throwing. I was looking to go for the 43 hole because of the running situation, and she gave me middle in so I took it that way. It was what our team needed at the time.”
In the third, the Warriors cut their deficit in half with a run off Ankeny starter Abby Rusher. Ella McGee hit a two-out triple, then scored on a single by Brynn Herren.
Waukee then tied the game in the fourth. After Rand led off with a walk and Talia Lavorato followed with a double, Bingham brought in Winfrey to replace Rusher.
“I’m so confident in Kendra and all of our pitchers,” said Rusher. “Any of us could have done it tonight. I’m glad she got to do it.”
With one out, Zana Zeleke reached on an error that allowed courtesy runner Ella Daniel to score the tying run. The Warriors had a golden opportunity to take the lead, but another grounder by Allison Lair then resulted in an unusual inning-ending double play.
One Waukee runner was tagged out at third base by Lewis after being caught in a rundown. Lewis then chased down another runner who was heading back to second and tagged her out, too.
“That was big,” Winfrey said. “Kendra deserved that. She knows her position and what she’s doing, and she was ready for that play before any of us were.”
Lewis could have thrown the ball to second baseman Kennedy Palmer, but elected to get the final out herself.
“I’m happy that I made the decision not to throw the ball,” she said. “I took it myself, and it paid off in the end.”
In the fifth, Ankeny’s Cassie Johnson hit a one-out single to deep left-center field. The ball bounced once and caromed off the fence.
“(Rand) was throwing me a lot of change ups all night, so my mentality was kind of sit on the change and look for the fastball,” Johnson said. “She threw me that change up, and I sent it where it needed to go.”
After courtesy runner Katie Kirschman advanced to second on a wild pitch, Miller drew a walk. Then, with two outs, Rusher singled to right-center field to drive in both runners for a 4-2 lead.
“I was looking high and away, and I saw that and hit it where it was pitched,” said Rusher, who also hit a double in the fourth. “It happened to go our way that time.”
Waukee got a run back in the sixth. Rand hit a leadoff double, and Marin Jacobsen later hit an RBI grounder to pull the Warriors within 4-3.
After Palmer doubled in the bottom of the frame, the Hawkettes eventually loaded the bases when Waukee elected to intentionally walk Johnson with two outs. Miller then lined out to left field to end the inning.
“I know my teammates behind me are going to get the job done, but obviously I’d like to do it for them, too,” Johnson said. “But I have a lot of confidence in them, too.”
In the seventh, Waukee’s Sam Shepard hit a one-out single and was replaced by Daniel, who moved to second on a chopper by McGee that she beat out for an infield hit. After Herren grounded into a fielder’s choice for the second out, the runners advanced to second and third on a wild pitch.
Yokiel then grounded out to Winfrey to end it.
“I knew we were going to get out of it,” Lewis said.
Winfrey combined with Rusher on a seven-hitter. The duo had five strikeouts.
“I’m always ready,” Winfrey said. “Abby did fantastic that game. We complement each other so well, and we’re just unhittable right now.”
Bingham said he wasn’t worried when the Warriors threatened to take the lead.
“We’ve had some issues with this game (the regional final) in the past with the mental part, but this group is extremely sound,” he said. “You could see it when we got in some trouble that it was their game. The results were going to be up to them, and they stayed steady. There’s a lot of grit out there, and I’m proud of them.”
Ankeny will play No. 7 Muscatine (32-6) in the Class 5A quarterfinals on Monday at Harlan Rogers Park at 1 p.m. The Muskies advanced with a 2-0 win over Iowa City Liberty, getting a two-hitter and nine strikeouts from Maura Chalupa.
“It’s surreal,” Johnson said. “We dreamed about this all season, and I think as a team we just came together this game and showed our love and our strength. And we’re going to Fort Dodge.”
Bingham said the sky is the limit for his squad.
“There’s only one external goal, and that’s to win a championship,” he said. “When you’ve got 13 (titles) and you’ve got all this energy on this side of town, this is where the championship needs to come. And that’s what our goal is.
“I like the fact we’ve had some tight games, and we’re not going to melt down. We needed one like this, I do believe, if we’re going to win a championship,” he added.
