Ankeny Centennial’s perch atop the CIML Conference baseball standings only lasted about 14 hours.
After moving into sole possession of first place with a doubleheader sweep over visiting Ankeny on Wednesday night, the ninth-ranked Jaguars were back on their home field Thursday morning for a showdown against No. 6 Waukee Northwest, which gave coach Jeremy Heinen his 300th career victory during a sweep over Valley one night earlier.
The Wolves rallied from a 3-0 deficit to post a 7-3 win, allowing them to leapfrog Centennial and take over the league lead. They are now 12-6 in the conference and 21-7 overall, while the Jaguars’ records fell to 11-6 and 16-8.
“They’re playing very well right now,” said Centennial coach Mark Hey. “(Will) Bowen is an outstanding pitcher–probably their No. 1, I would guess. We played well against him over there, and I thought we had some good at-bats against him here. So I’m not dissatisfied with our approach.”
The two teams had split a doubleheader at Northwest on June 5. Bowen was outdueled by Darin Severs in the opener of that twinbill, dropping a 3-0 decision.
On Thursday, Bowen tossed a five-hitter and had five strikeouts. He allowed no earned runs while needing just 79 pitches to go the distance.
Centennial took advantage of an error by first baseman Cayden Kitzman to score three unearned runs in the third inning. Will Morris hit a two-run single with two outs, then Reed Anderson followed with an RBI single.
However, Northwest immediately answered with four runs in the fourth off Elijah Starr (1-2). Reid Miller hit a two-run triple for the Wolves, who took the lead for good on a sacrifice fly by pinch-hitter Jack Hilgenberg.
Northwest then added a single run in each of the next three innings, including an RBI double by Jonah Sweeney in the sixth. Starr allowed five earned runs on eight hits over the first six innings while walking one and recording nine strikeouts.
“We just had a couple of mistakes defensively in an inning where we probably didn’t need them,” Hey said. “But I thought Eli threw very well. You don’t like losses, but we’ll regroup from here and get back at it.”
Miller went 3-for-4 for the Wolves, and Ryan Woodruff also drove in two runs. Drew Fitzpatrick went 2-for-4 with a double and scored a pair of runs.
Morris and Isaac Bruhl each went 2-for-3 in the loss. Morris hit a leadoff double in the sixth inning, but was left stranded.
The Jaguars played without senior outfielder Kohen Bollwinkel, who sat out the second game of Wednesday’s doubleheader due to tightness in his leg.
“This time of year, we’d rather use caution,” Hey said. “Kohen could have played today, but we just want to make sure that he’s not going to pull something if he has to push himself.”
Hey said the early start time was not a factor in his team’s defeat.
“We were both in the same boat, but I do think the heat affected a couple of our guys,” he said.
Centennial will host a pair of games in the Brent Prange Classic on Friday. The Jaguars will face Van Meter (18-5) at 12:15 p.m. and Ballard (18-5) at 2:30 p.m.
