Over the last five games, the Ankeny Centennial baseball team has struggled to score some runs.
Fortunately for the Jaguars, a combination of strong pitching performances, solid defense and a few timely hits has allowed them to go 2-3 during that stretch.
On Thursday, ninth-ranked Centennial posted a 3-0 victory at No. 7 Waukee Northwest in the first game of a doubleheader before the Wolves won the nightcap, 1-0, to salvage a split.
“We had two outstanding games from our pitchers and played excellent defense,” said Centennial coach Mark Hey. “Our hitting looked better against a couple of the better pitchers in the conference. I’m happy with the effort, but disappointed with the outcome of the second game.”
In the opener, Centennial’s Darin Severs won a pitchers’ duel against Northwest’s Will Bowen. Severs (3-0) allowed just two hits, walked one and had seven strikeouts.
“It was just the pitch calling,” Severs said of his catcher, freshman Brekken Miller. “A lot of my pitches I could throw for a strike consistently, and then my defense was working really well for me tonight. I was able to keep them off-balance, and we had a lot of great plays in the field. I gave up a couple of big hits, but my outfield was there for me.”
Centennial center fielder Jackson Reed made a running catch in deep left-center to end the sixth inning. He then caught another drive right in front of the wall to open the seventh.
“Having him in center is just like a safety net,” Severs said. “I don’t have to worry about a deep fly ball when I know him and Kohen (Bollwinkel) and Reed (Anderson) are out there. The speed in the outfield is incredible.”
Reed called it a team effort.
“My other outfielders are really good,” he said. “I just need to talk out there a little more. (Anderson) was giving me some crap for it.”
The three seniors also played big roles at the plate. The game was scoreless until the Jaguars scored all three of their runs in the top of the seventh.
Bollwinkel ignited the rally with a one-out single to center. After Anderson reached on an infield single, both runners moved up a base on a passed ball.
Reed then followed with a two-run triple into the gap in left-center. He came home on a sacrifice fly by William Nesler.
“He was pitching me inside, and I just had to keep fouling them off,” Reed said. “He finally pitched me one a little bit outside, and so I had to take it that way.”
Bollwinkel went 2-for-3 in the win. Bowen finished with a four-hitter and had eight strikeouts.
“His off-speed was really good, and he could throw it hard, too,” Reed said of Bowen. “We just had to see it and hit it. We were confident coming into the seventh inning. We just needed to time him up.”
In the second game, Northwest scored the only run in the fifth inning. Andrew Eastman doubled and was knocked in by Tanner Jackson.
Chuck Berdovich and Tyler Reynolds combined on a five-hitter for the Wolves. Isaac Bruhl went 3-for-3 in the loss.
“Our hitters had a good approach at the plate, and we got some hits late,” Hey said. “We had the bases loaded with no outs in the seventh and pinch-hitter Alex Cory hit a fly to center, but their outfielder threw our runner out at the plate.”
Trae Houser (0-2) went the distance for the Jaguars. He allowed one earned run on seven hits and had one strikeout.
“I’m proud of our guys,” Hey said. “Trae pitched an outstanding game. He was mixing his pitches well.”Centennial is now 4-4 in the CIML Conference and 6-5 overall. The Wolves’ records are 4-3 and 10-3.
The Jaguars will play a make-up doubleheader at Des Moines Roosevelt (5-8) on Friday.
