The top-ranked Ankeny Centennial baseball team just couldn’t get out of the fourth inning.
Waukee erupted for nine runs in the frame–all of them unearned–and went on to defeat the visiting Jaguars, 10-4, in the CIML Conference opener for both teams on Monday.
“Waukee played really well, and we didn’t play so well,” said Centennial coach Mark Hey. “That was a bad combination for us.”
Joey Oakie made his season debut on the mound for Centennial. He had nine strikeouts over the first 3 2/3 innings but allowed five walks and hit a batter.
Oakie was relieved after reaching his pitch limit.
“Joey was going to be 60-70 pitches no matter what, and I thought he threw extremely well,” Hey said. “It was 1-0 until the fourth, and we maybe should have gotten out of the inning. There was a tough popup, and we didn’t make a play on it. After that, we walked a guy and hit a guy and then we took Joey out. And our bullpen wasn’t able to get anybody out for awhile.”
Leyton Kolln went 2-for-3 in the loss. He hit a three-run homer in the fifth to prolong the game.
Preston Glatt drove in another run in the sixth.
“I was really proud of how our guys battled back,” Hey said.
Grant Sorensen and Gavin de Jesus had the only two hits for Waukee. They each drove in a pair of runs.
The Warriors improved to 3-1 on the season. Centennial’s record dropped to 2-1.
The Jaguars will host North Polk (2-1) at 11 a.m. and Davenport North (3-1) at 1:30 p.m. in the Tim Heggen Classic on Saturday.
