On paper, the ninth-ranked Ankeny softball team appeared to be facing an uphill battle against No. 4 Waukee Northwest in Monday’s Class 5A quarterfinals at the state tournament.
Ankeny coach Dave Bingham, though, had plenty of confidence in his squad.
“I don’t know if a team was more prepared for a game in all of my years of coaching,” Bingham said after the Hawkettes posted a 2-0 victory at Harlan Rogers Park in Fort Dodge. “(Coach) Amy (Farmer) and I had a team in 2012 that was really locked in for the first round, and it kind of carried over to 2013. But I could feel this. You could feel this with this group.”
Abby Rusher tossed a two-hitter and also hit a double to ignite a two-run fifth inning as Ankeny (22-20) avenged last year’s 6-4 loss to Northwest in a Class 5A consolation game. The Wolves, who dropped to 33-8, were held scoreless for only the second time this season.
“It feels amazing,” said Rusher. “It’s a really good feeling. One of the best I would say.”
The CIML Conference rivals had split a doubleheader on June 3 at Ankeny. Rusher threw a four-hitter and had five strikeouts in the opener to lead the Hawkettes to a 2-1 win in 10 innings.
“Me and Abby have worked together for a long time, so I think we just trusted each other,” said Ankeny catcher Ava Tomlinson. “We knew we played them earlier in the season, and we knew we could beat them. We just (attacked) their weaknesses, and we know that we’re strong in that area.”
Rusher (15-10) allowed only a pair of singles by Hazel Leinen. She walked four and had four strikeouts while throwing just 87 pitches to go the distance.
“The goal is to win a championship,” Bingham said. “We’re going to celebrate this (win) because that’s a great team, but it’s amazing what can happen when nobody cares who gets the credit.”
Ankeny is making its 29th state tournament appearance, tying Charles City for the second most in tournament history. This is the third straight trip to state for Northwest, which won the Class 5A crown in its inaugural season in 2022.
Rusher induced several popups and flyouts by the Northwest batters. Six of them were caught by sophomore centerfielder Avery Nelson.
“With Abby throwing riseballs, we mostly expect everything in the air and not too much on the ground,” said Nelson, who also went 2-for-3 at the plate.
Ankeny scored the game’s only runs in the top of the fifth. Rusher ripped a leadoff double against Northwest eighth grader Sophia Schlader (19-6) to start the rally.
“That was a game-changer moment,” Rusher said. “It even helped me with pitching–it just gave me that confidence that we could do it, we could hit her, and anything could happen.”
Courtesy runner Josie Parton stole third base, then came home when Autumn Leinen reached on an error by Northwest first baseman Laurel Richards. Pinch-runner Brylee Bach advanced to third on sacrifice bunts by Lily Hans and Grace Rood, then raced home on a wild pitch to Morgan Fisher.
“She’s just got amazing instincts,” Bingham said of Bach, an eighth grader.
In the bottom of the sixth, Rusher walked Schlader for the third time to lead off the inning. Schlader entered the game with 18 home runs, tied for the most in the state.
“I was pretty confident in myself in getting the next out if I were to walk her,” said Rusher, who then retired the next three batters. “I would give her a strike here and there, but never wanted to give her something that she could really barrel up off me.”
The Hawkettes went down in order in the top of the seventh, but Rusher was confident that she didn’t need any more insurance runs.
“When Abby was in the on-deck circle before her last at-bat, I told her, ‘Have fun at the plate. We don’t need a run, but if you knock one out that would be all right,'” Bingham said. “And she said, ‘We don’t need any runs!’ That’s just her mindset–and that’s why she’s always been special. I like having her on my side.”
Hazel Leinen hit a one-out single in the bottom of the inning before Maggie Allen drew a walk. Both runners advanced on a grounder by Alayna Schulte, but Rusher then retired Shay Davis on a grounder to first to end the game.
It marked the second straight contest that Aubrey Lensmeyer made the final out for the Hawkettes. She was in right field when she caught a fly ball to end the team’s 6-2 victory over Southeast Polk in Tuesday’s regional final.
“I was confident,” Nelson said. “I know my team, and (the Wolves) weren’t hitting Abby the best at the moment. They got a couple of runners on, but we shut them out.”
There were only six hits combined in the game. Schlader finished with a four-hitter and seven strikeouts in the loss.
Tomlinson had the Hawkettes’ other hit.
“We knew we had it going out there,” Tomlinson said. “It didn’t really matter who got on base. We knew we were going to finish it in the end.”
Nelson said the Hawkettes turned up the speed on their pitching machine to prepare for the hard-throwing Schlader, who racked up 11 strikeouts in the earlier loss to Ankeny.
“We really practiced hard,” she said. ” We just came out and fought, and we swung at the pitches that were low and right there.”
Ankeny played without two of its best players, senior catcher Cassie Johnson and sophomore shortstop Kensington Arringdale. They are both out of state playing in national events with their travel teams.
The Hawkettes were just 6-11 this season when neither Arringdale nor Johnson was in the lineup. They were 14-7 when Arringdale was in the lineup, including 7-2 when Johnson also played.
“We can take down anybody we want to if we really have that fight, and right now that’s what we have,” Tomlinson said.
Ankeny will play No. 1 Valley (37-4) in the semifinals on Wednesday at 10 a.m. The Tigers extended their winning streak to 24 games with an 11-1 win over Cedar Rapids Prairie in five innings on Monday.
“I think if we play like we did today, we’ll definitely be in that game and have a chance,” Nelson said.
Valley’s winning streak began on June 14 and includes a doubleheader sweep at Ankeny on July 1, 16-4 and 7-3.
“When we played them the first time, that doubleheader was a bit rough,” Rusher said. “We had some errors and some untimely things happen to us, but I think if we come and play our game we’ll do just fine.”
Bingham was thrilled to get another shot at the Tigers.
“We love it. We expected it,” he said. “We didn’t get on the bus (for Fort Dodge) thinking we weren’t going to get Valley. That’s exciting. I went over to talk to (Valley coach Tom) Bakey and I said, ‘We’re ready.’ I know they’re ready. He said he was just glad that we’re playing on Wednesday and not Tuesday (in the consolation game). That’s all you can ask for.”
No. 2 Pleasant Valley (38-3) will face No. 11 Urbandale (23-18) in the other semifinal game on Wednesday. The Class 5A third-place game will be played on Thursday at 3:30 p.m., with the championship game slated to follow at 5.
