Ankeny Christian Academy’s Katie Quick enjoyed a night to remember on Wednesday.
The senor hit a grand slam and also tossed a no-hitter to lead the 11th-ranked Eagles to a 15-0 victory over AGWSR in four innings in a Class 1A regional softball quarterfinal at North Polk Middle School.
“It feels really good,” said Quick, who finished with five RBIs. “I think that might be my first no-hitter.”
Quick (10-2) retired 12 of the 13 batters she faced and had six strikeouts. Her only blemish came in the second inning, when Cali Buseman led off and was hit by a pitch.
Buseman never advanced, though, as Quick struck out the next two batters and then made the catch herself on an infield fly by Kaesyn Slifer.
“She’s pretty special,” ACA coach James Crosby said of Quick. “We’re going to miss her quite a bit (next year), but she’s not done yet.”
The Eagles (16-2) took advantage of nine walks and two AGWSR errors to turn the game into a rout. AGWSR starter Brylea Metzger walked three consecutive batters with one out in the third inning before Quick greeted reliever Leah Beving with a blast to center field for her 12th home run of the season.
The grand slam ignited a nine-run outburst for ACA. Breeze Bentz followed with a double off the top of the fence, and then two batters later, Sicily Crosby ripped a three-run blast for her third homer of the year.
Crosby, a junior, went 3-for-3 with four RBIs as the designated player. She dislocated her right knee during practice earlier this season and has yet to fully recover.
Wearing a heavy brace, Crosby hobbled around the bases on her home run trot.
“It was really unfortunate that I got hurt, but I’m working my way back. I’m working with PT,” said Crosby. “It doesn’t hurt when I hit.”
Metzger then returned to the circle for AGWSR (9-24). She walked two more batters before the Eagles eventually scored their final two runs on an error.
Katelyn Weathers went 2-for-3 and scored three times for the Eagles. Abby Farrand went 1-for-1 and had two RBIs, while Brynley Luce walked twice and scored a pair of runs.
“We didn’t know a lot about them because they don’t play the same teams we play,” coach Crosby said of the Cougars. “But we did some scouting, and obviously the stats are out there. We knew they had some girls that could hit the ball, and we’d probably have a chance to hit some balls on them.”
The Eagles will play BCLUW (20-7) in the regional semifinal on Friday at 7 at North Polk. The Comets advanced with a 5-3 win over GMG.
Last fall, ACA defeated BCLUW in the Class 1A championship match to win a third straight state volleyball title.
“I think it’s really funny,” said Quick, who is headed to Drake in the fall to play volleyball. “We see AGWSR quite a bit too, so these are just the volleyball teams we always face.”
No. 10 Mason City Newman (22-5) will host Martensdale-St Marys (17-13) in the other semifinal game. The highest remaining ranked team will host the regional final on Monday.
“This is a special group,” coach Crosby said. “They can do it. They can put it together. As long as we’re playing our game, we can stick with anybody.”
Sicily Crosby said the Eagles just have to play with confidence.
“I think we can do it if we believe it,” she said. “I think we have a lot of girls that are right on the cusp of believing in themselves, and I think if they just put it in their brain that they can do it we’re going to do it.”
