The Ankeny Centennial baseball team ended top-ranked Johnston’s 22-game winning streak on Monday night.
But the No. 4 Jaguars were hardly satisfied.
After posting a 5-2 victory in the first game of a CIML Conference doubleheader, Centennial completed the sweep with a 4-2 win over the Dragons in the nightcap.
“I think it was important (to beat them),” said Centennial outfielder Kohen Bollwinkel, whose two-run single proved to be the game-winning hit in the opener. “We came into the season ranked No. 1, and now they’re No. 1. So we needed to prove something.”
Johnston, the two-time defending Class 4A state champion, had won every game this season by an average of 6.4 runs. The Dragons dropped to 7-2 in the league and 14-2 overall, while Centennial raised its records to 4-2 and 9-2.
“I think we came together as a team and had a lot of energy,” said Centennial pitcher Joey Oakie. “We just worked together as a team to win those games.”
Oakie (2-1) turned in another dominant performance in the first game, tossing a one-hitter with 13 strikeouts. The only Johnston hit was a leadoff single by Tyne Weeden in the fourth inning.
“With Joey out there, he’s pitched a few games already this season and did a great job,” Bollwinkel said. “He gets a lot of strikeouts, so there’s nothing really to worry about on the defensive part.”
Oakie helped his own cause by going 2-for-4 at the plate with a double. His single in the first inning loaded the bases for Emerson Alberhasky, whose grounder scored Johnathan Carrasco before a throwing error allowed Isaac Bruhl to race home for a 2-0 lead.
In the fifth, Carrasco and Bruhl hit back-to-back singles to start another rally off Johnston starter Adrian Broadus. With two outs, Bollwinkel lined a single to drive in both runners.
“I was looking for a fastball that I could hit so I could score my buddies on second and third,” Bollwinkel said. “That’s what I got. I just did my job.”
Johnston scored both of its runs in the sixth without getting a hit. Weeden had an RBI grounder, then another run scored on a wild pitch before Oakie got a strikeout to get out of the inning.
“I let one slip out and hit (Blake Lundholm), but other than that, I felt like I controlled pretty much the whole game,” Oakie said. “My team got a lot of runs for me, so it was nice and easy.”
Centennial added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth on a single by Carrasco, who went 2-for-3 in the win. Preston Glatt also went 2-for-3 for the Jaguars, who took advantage of three Johnston errors in the first game and four more in the nightcap.
“They’re obviously a great team,” Centennial coach Mark Hey said of the Dragons. “Getting two from them is quite an accomplishment. We just really focused on ourselves and took it one pitch at a time, and I thought we did a good job with that. Sometimes that helps when you’re not thinking too far ahead in the game.”
In the nightcap, Alberhasky and Carrasco combined on a six-hitter. Alberhasky (2-0) allowed two earned runs on five hits and had nine strikeouts over the first six innings.
Carrasco then came in and needed 29 pitches to get the final three outs. Johnston loaded the bases with two outs, but failed to capitalize on a wild pitch that would have scored a run.
Carrasco then fanned pinch-hitter Caleb Hanson to earn a save.
“I was thinking in the bullpen, ‘Who do I got (coming up)?'” Carrasco said. “And they were like, ‘The heart of the order.’ And I was like, ‘Alright, let’s go!’
“It’s fun. I like to do it. I like to close it out. It gets pretty intense,” he added.
Glatt had an RBI double for the Jaguars, and Leyton Kolln also knocked in a run. Bruhl went 1-for-3 and scored a run.
Weeden went 2-for-2 with a double and an RBI in the loss. Adam Kayko went 2-for-3 with a double and also drove in a run.
“I think we have a really good team,” Hey said. “I have a lot of confidence in these guys. Tonight, they just went out and played the way we know they can play. We got great pitching and defense and good, timely hitting. That’s winning baseball.”
Centennial will travel across town to Ankeny on Wednesday for a conference game against the Hawks (1-6, 5-10).
