‘We needed those bats’: Jaguars pound out 11 hits in 9-5 victory at Dowling

Ankeny Centennial’s Makenna Foster heads for first base after hitting a single during Wednesday’s game at Dowling Catholic. She went 2-for-5 with a double to help the Jaguars to a 9-5 victory. (Photo by Dan Holm)

On a night when the Ankeny Centennial softball team committed three errors, the Jaguars’ bats more than made up for the defensive mistakes.

Third-ranked Centennial pounded out 11 hits, four of them for extra bases, and posted a 9-5 victory at Dowling Catholic on Wednesday to complete a sweep of the season series.

“It was another quality opponent in the CIML,” Centennial coach Brett Delaney said of the Maroons. “We needed those bats because we didn’t play the cleanest defensive game that we’ve played before, but we found a way offensively to keep us in the game. We just had some quality at-bats throughout the game.”

Jordyn Kennedy hit a two-run homer in the first inning to give the Jaguars an early lead. It was her 15th home run, which tied the single-season school record held by Kendyl Lindaman.

**Ankeny Centennial’s Camden Starr is forced out at second base during Wednesday’s game. She went 3-for-4, scored a run and had one RBI in the Jaguars’ win. (Photo by Dan Holm)**

Mady Ott later hit a solo blast in the sixth, her ninth of the year, to complete the scoring. She had two RBIs in the game.

Makenna Foster went 2-for-5 with a double. Lauren Bartine also doubled and drove in two runs.

Camden Starr went 3-for-4, scored a run and knocked in another.

“Cami continued to swing a good bat and was able to roll our lineup over those three times,” Delaney said.

**Ankeny Centennial’s Kori Lincicum throws a pitch during Wednesday’s game. She combined with Aubrey Scieszinski on a nine-hitter. (Photo by Dan Holm)**

Centennial used a four-run fourth inning to break a 4-4 tie. Kori Lincicum (8-4) earned the win despite allowing four earned runs on six hits over the first three innings before being replaced by Aubrey Scieszinski, who fanned five over the final four frames.

The Jaguars improved to 16-5 in the conference and 25-9 overall. Dowling’s records dropped to 4-15 and 8-16.

Centennial will play a pair of games in the Dallas Center-Grimes Invitational on Thursday. The Jaguars will face Indianola (18-12) at 11 a.m. and No. 15 Des Moines Roosevelt (23-10) at 12:30 p.m.

**Ankeny Centennial’s Mady Ott looks on from center field as Kori Lincicum pitches to a Dowling Catholic batter during Wednesday’s game. (Photo by Dan Holm)**

Centennial will then return home to host a conference game against No. 4 Valley at 7 p.m. The Tigers are 12-9 in the league and 25-9 overall.

The Jaguars swept a doubleheader at Valley on June 12.

“It’s going to be a busy day,” Delaney said. “We know it’s going to be hot, but the girls are mentally prepared for the challenge and they’re ready to go.”