Sioux City’s East Jax Theeler homered on the first pitch in the bottom of the first inning and the Black Raiders went on to beat visiting Ankeny, 8-1, in a Class 4A substate baseball semifinal on Monday.
Sioux City East (26-13) advanced to Wednesday’s substate final at second-ranked Dallas Center-Grimes (34-3). The Hawks finished the season at 19-23.
“The guys played hard like they always do, but we just didn’t execute in certain spots,” said Ankeny coach Joe Balvanz. “It just wasn’t our night.”
The Black Raiders took a 2-0 lead in the first inning against Will Davies (2-5), but Ankeny answered with a run in the top of the second. Karsten Bernholtz scored on a sacrifice by Carson Riggs.
However, Sioux City East responded with two runs in the bottom of the frame to make it 4-1. Davies later left the game with two outs in the fourth after taking a line drive off the back of his head.
The Black Raiders added four more runs in the sixth off Ankeny relievers Travis Gerstel and Jack Goodwin.
“They’ve got some nice players on that team,” Balvanz said.
The homer by Theeler was his 10th of the season. The junior also earned the win on the mound, tossing a five-hitter with five strikeouts while raising his record to 7-2.
“He’s a big lefty,” Balvanz said. “He’s a pretty good player.”
Theeler went 2-for-3 in the win, while Cal Jepsen went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and three RBIs. Christopher Ford and Dane Milton each added two hits apiece and combined to score three runs.
Ankeny was trying to reach the substate final for the second straight year. The Hawks had some opportunities to get back into the game, but couldn’t capitalize.
Henry Ha hit a double in the fourth inning, but was later erased on a double play. The Black Raiders then turned another double play in the fifth.
Ankeny also lost shortstop and leadoff hitter Kinnick Vos after he suffered a cut while colliding with outfielder Jacob Mohrfeld in an effort to catch a pop fly.
“We just didn’t have many things go right tonight,” Balvanz said.
After suffering a six-game losing streak from May 30 to June 6, Ankeny eventually righted the ship and closed out the season by winning six of its last eight games.
“The guys played hard,” Balvanz said. “The effort and the attitudes were there.”
