The surging Ankeny Centennial baseball team continued its winning ways on Wednesday.
The Jaguars’ latest victory came at the expense of their crosstown rival.
Sean Stewart and Colton Arndt combined on a seven-hitter as the fourth-ranked Jaguars posted a 4-3 win at Ankeny in a CIML Conference game that was briefly delayed by rain in the fourth inning.
“The mound got a little dirty and then they tried to fix it, and I think they just made it a little bit worse,” said Stewart. “But I was still able to find a few pitches to get out of a jam (in the fifth inning), so that was good to see. Our team responded pretty well to the little delay.”
The win was the fifth in a row for Centennial, which improved to 5-2 in the league and 10-2 overall. Ankeny dropped to 1-7 and 5-11 with its fifth consecutive loss.
“They’re an excellent ball club, and they’re very well-coached,” Centennial coach Mark Hey said of the Hawks. “I think coach (Joe) Balvanz does an outstanding job, and we knew they’d be ready. We were just very fortunate to scratch across one more run than they did.”
The Jaguars broke a 1-1 tie with three runs in the top of the fifth off Ankeny starter Jack Clevidence (0-2). After Preston Glatt hit a sacrifice fly to score Jackson Reed, Johnathan Carrasco later hit an RBI double and then came home on a single by Isaac Bruhl.
Clevidence allowed just four hits over the first five innings, but he also walked four batters. Two of those free passes came in the fifth inning, when he also threw a pair of wild pitches.
“Clev had to battle through some elements there that weren’t ideal,” said Balvanz. “He was having trouble finding the strike zone on a slippery mound with a wet baseball, but I thought the guys that came in behind him–Nick Meyer and Jack Goodwin–did everything that I asked them to do. I can’t fault the effort on the mound.”
In the bottom of the fifth, Ankeny loaded the bases with no outs before Evan Irlmeier hit a sacrifice fly to score Karsten Bernholtz. Blake Morgan eventually scored another run on the final out of the inning, when he apparently crossed the plate on a grounder by Carson Riggs before Centennial third baseman Emerson Alberhasky made a tag on another runner.
Stewart (3-0) racked up nine strikeouts over the first five innings before being replaced by Arndt, who had four more strikeouts over the final two innings.
“We knew (Ankeny) wanted us, so we were ready to go,” said Stewart, who struck out the side in the second inning. “We had a couple big games (against Johnston on Monday), and we’ve got a couple more (on Thursday). It’s just good to know that we’re on the right track at mid-week.”
Arndt, a sophomore, needed only 26 pitches to get the final six outs. The only hit he allowed was a bad-hop single by Morgan with one out in the seventh.
“I had a good defense behind me, so I had a lot of confidence,” said Arndt. “I was really relying on my fastball tonight. I threw a couple sliders, but it was mostly fastball.”
Ankeny took a 1-0 lead in the third inning. After shortstop Kinnick Vos turned an unassisted double play in the top of the inning, he led off the bottom of the frame with a single.
Vos eventually raced home on a grounder by Morgan back to the mound. Stewart’s throw to the plate appeared to be in time, but the ball eluded catcher Leyton Kolln for an error.
Henry Ha then tried to bunt for an insurance run, but Bernholtz was gunned down at the plate in a hard collision with Kolln.
“I was impressed by how hard our kids played,” Balvanz said. “It’s always going to be a battle against Centennial, and sometimes it can get emotional–and you saw that tonight.”
The Jaguars tied it up in the fourth inning. Joey Oakie hit a one-out triple and then scored on a sacrifice fly by Alberhasky.
“I didn’t feel like we had a letdown (after sweeping Johnston),” Hey said. “I felt pretty good about it. Our guys are all bloodied and bruised, and they just grinded out a tough win. I’m so proud of how our guys fought through that.”
The win kept Centennial in the thick of the conference race. Last year, the Jaguars tied Johnston for the league crown.
“(Winning the conference) is a huge deal,” Stewart said. “It’s the first step to a very successful season for us. Last year we got the tie, so this year we want to keep it to ourselves.”
The Jaguars will host a conference doubleheader against No. 6 Southeast Polk (13-4) on Thursday, while Ankeny will travel to Urbandale for another league twinbill against the J-Hawks (9-7).
