Ankeny baseball coach Joe Balvanz continues to see signs of improvement from his team.
“The defense looked great, and the pitching is coming around,” said Balvanz. “We just have to find a way to be more productive consistently on offense. That can be tough against some of these teams in the CIML.”
The Hawks dropped a 5-2 decision on Thursday at seventh-ranked Waukee, which completed a sweep of the season series. The Warriors improved to 8-5 in the CIML Conference and 17-6 overall, while Ankeny’s records dropped to 3-10 and 6-17.
Waukee got off to an 11-1 start this season, but had played just .500 ball (5-5) over the last 10 games.
“That’s a highly-ranked team in the state with a whole bunch of future college players starting for them,” Balvanz said. “I thought our guys played well. We just didn’t have enough offense to claw back into it.”
Kinnick Vos went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI for the Hawks. Easton Lowe went 2-for-3 and scored a run.
Waukee starter Cyler Kaufman needed 36 pitches to get the first four outs before being replaced by Brayden Moore, who allowed just three hits and held Ankeny scoreless the rest of the way.
“We got their starter out right away, but they made a switch and I thought (Moore) had great tempo and executed multiple pitches in the zone,” Balvanz said. “We just didn’t have the firepower to chase that lead after it got past one (run).”
Kyle Clevidence (0-2) took the loss. He allowed five earned runs on five hits over the first 4 1/3 innings.
Carter Johnson went 2-for-2 with a double and a two-run homer for the Warriors. Will Biggs went 2-for-4 and scored a run.
Grant Sorensen went 2-for-3 and had an RBI double in the second inning to break a 2-2 tie. Matt Meeker added a two-run single in the fifth.
“I don’t think we’re playing poorly,” Balvanz said. “We’re just playing good teams, and it’s not going to get any easier next week. We’ve just got to keep working.”
Ankeny will travel to Urbandale on Monday for another conference game against the J-Hawks (2-11, 7-13), who ended an eight-game slide with a 2-1 win over Valley on Thursday. The two teams split a twinbill on June 4.