Perhaps no team in the state will have to travel farther to make it to the state tournament than the Ankeny baseball squad.
The Hawks opened postseason play on Friday with a 5-2 victory over Council Bluffs Lincoln in a Class 4A substate quarterfinal at Iowa Western Community College.
“We were very confident as a team,” said winning pitcher Jack Clevidence. “We believe that we can beat anybody in this state. That being said, we also didn’t want to overlook our opponent. We knew that they were going to compete, and it was going to be a good game.”
After making the 120-mile drive to Council Bluffs, Ankeny (19-22) will take an even longer trip on Monday. The Hawks will play at Sioux City East (25-13) in the substate semifinal–and that’s a 149-mile trip.
With a win there, the Hawks would advance to Wednesday’s substate final at second-ranked Dallas Center-Grimes (34-3). The 13-mile trip would bring the three-game total to 282 miles–and that’s just one way.
“That’s ok. I was telling the coaches on the way (to Council Bluffs) that we’ve been to Davenport and we’ve been to Cedar Rapids,” said Ankeny coach Joe Balvanz. “We haven’t seen the west side of the state, but I guess we’ll see it in the postseason. You can’t control where you play, so I don’t worry about it.”
Blake Morgan went 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI in Friday’s win. Carson Riggs also doubled and drove in a run, while Samuel Sandvig tripled and scored a run.
The Hawks pounded out nine hits off Ellsworth Community College recruit Aidan Martin.
“(Martin) pitched backwards and made us hit some off-speed stuff, but our guys made a good adjustment,” Balvanz said.
Ankeny took a 2-0 lead in the second inning after loading the bases with one out. Morgan started the rally with a single, Henry Ha drew a walk, and Evan Irlmeier reached base on an infield hit.
After Morgan scored on a grounder by Riggs, Will Davies followed with an RBI single.
Lincoln got a run back in the bottom of the frame without getting a hit. Jackson Dilts was hit by a pitch with one out and eventually scored on a wild pitch.
In the third, Sandvig hit a triple and scored on a double by Morgan to make it 3-1. It was Morgan’s 12th double of the season.
Riggs hit a one-out double in the fourth to ignite another rally. Davies then reached base when his pop fly dropped between two Lincoln players for an error.
Kinnick Vos followed with an RBI single, and Davies also scored on another error to make it 5-1.
“We had some big hits when we needed them–just some timely hits, and we ran the bases well,” Balvanz said.
The Lynx (19-22) scored their second run in the sixth inning, but Clevidence was able to limit the damage. He was on track to go the distance until an error with two outs in the seventh inning forced Balvanz to replace him after 108 pitches.
“Clev was a competitor, and he pitched tough,” Balvanz said. “He probably should have finished the game. He got the last out, but we just couldn’t get it out of our glove and throw it across the infield. But Will did a good job of coming in and getting that last out.”
Clevidence allowed just six hits and had six strikeouts while raising his record to 3-5.
“My fastball was working well all game,” Clevidence said. “I could locate and had good velo on it. My slider got better as the game progressed, and I eventually got a really good feel for it–generating a lot of strikes and ugly swings from hitters. I also threw my changeup a little bit to keep hitters off-balance.”
Sioux City East advanced to the substate semifinal with a 3-2 victory over Valley. The Black Raiders are led by junior Jax Theeler, who is batting .353 with nine home runs and 35 RBIs.
Theeler is also one of the team’s top pitchers, boasting a 6-2 mark with a 1.71 ERA. Theeler or freshman Kason Clayborne (7-1, 3.21 ERA) could get the start after sophomore Bohdy Colling tossed a gem against Valley.
“They look like a young team on paper, but we’re still gathering some information,” Balvanz said. “We’re going to have Davies on the mound, and I’ll take him against anyone.”
