Ankeny Centennial baseball coach Mark Hey hasn’t had to make too many pitching changes in the first 15 games of the season.
With one of the deepest pitching staffs in the state, the Jaguars have already thrown several complete games. They had two more on Monday from Elijah Starr and Colton Arndt in a doubleheader sweep over visiting Dowling Catholic.
Centennial posted a 5-4 win in the first game, then completed the sweep with a 2-0 victory. Six of the team’s last nine games have now been decided by one or two runs.
“This is just a real gritty team,” said Hey. “Nothing really gets them down when things aren’t going their way. They’re never going to give up. They just keep grinding until the game is over.”
Arndt (1-1) tossed a four-hitter and had seven strikeouts in the nightcap. He needed just 86 pitches to throw the shutout.
“Colton was really kind of dominant,” Hey said. “He was locating his fastball extremely well and pitched a great game.”
Dowling’s Dylan Webb was almost as effective. The lefthander scattered six hits and racked up eight strikeouts.
“He throws in the upper 80s, and he was keeping us off-balance,” Hey said.
The Jaguars scored both of their runs in the third inning. Trae Houser and Will Morris hit back-to-back singles, then Reed Anderson and Jackson Reed later had RBI singles.
“Both games were definitely close,” Hey said. “Dowling has a great tradition and is a very good ball club. It was good to get a couple wins.”
Starr (1-1) allowed three earned runs on seven hits in the first game. He had a pair of strikeouts.
Each team scored a run in the first inning and three more in the second. The Jaguars made five errors, while Dowling had three.
“We usually don’t make very many (errors). Our defense has been pretty good all year,” Hey said. “It was just one of those nights that started off a little rough, and (Dowling) was kind of having trouble fielding the ball, too.”
Isaac Bruhl went 2-for-4 and had three RBIs for the Jaguars, who scored the go-ahead run in the fifth. Anderson and Nolan Powell each doubled and drove in a run.
Starr is one of six Centennial pitchers who has made multiple appearances on the mound this season. All of them have an ERA of 3.00 or better.
“Even the hits that Eli was giving up just found holes or were soft bloopers, and then he settled in and shut them down from the third inning on,” Hey said. “He was just outstanding.”
The Jaguars improved to 6-4 in the CIML Conference and 10-5 overall. Dowling’s records dropped to 1-6 and 5-7.
Centennial will host a non-conference doubleheader against second-ranked Pleasant Valley (13-1) on Wednesday. The Spartans swept Davenport Central on Monday to extend their winning streak to 10 games.
