A fast start ignited the visiting Dowling Catholic baseball team to a 13-1 victory at Ankeny in five innings on Wednesday.
The Maroons took a 4-0 lead in the first inning and then scored four more runs in the second. They tacked on another run in the third, three in the fourth and one more in the fifth.
“We gave up five walks, two (hit by pitches), and we made six errors,” said Ankeny coach Joe Balvanz. “That’s how you create a line score like that.”
Jackson Molloy (1-2), the first of four Ankeny pitchers, took the loss. He allowed three earned runs on three hits in the first inning.
Relievers Brayden Kern, Ryan Buffington and Ryan Tomlinson tried to stop the bleeding, but Dowling went on to finish with 11 hits.
Blake Lawson went 3-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs. Jimmy Nahas went 2-for-4 with a double and also drove in two runs.
“We didn’t execute pitches, and we didn’t execute plays in the field,” Balvanz said. “Things just kind of snowballed on us.”
Samuel Sandvig and Brady Carter each went 2-for-3 with a double for Ankeny. Carter knocked in Sandvig for the Hawks’ only run in the bottom of the first, but Dowling starter Jack Barrett then settled down and allowed just four hits over four innings.
“Their pitcher did a good job of throwing strikes,” Balvanz said. “We need to do a better job of hitting the ball where people aren’t.”
The Maroons improved to 2-6 in the CIML Conference and 6-7 overall. Ankeny’s records dropped to 3-8 and 5-12.
The Hawks will host a non-conference doubleheader against Ames (11-8) on Thursday.
“We just aren’t playing at a level that is going to win very many games right now,” Balvanz said. “But (Thursday) is a new day, and we’ll show up and try to win two games.”
