Ankeny Christian Academy’s Landon Curtis promised that he would be better on the mound than his previous outing.
The junior righthander delivered a masterpiece.
Curtis tossed a one-hitter and had 10 strikeouts to lead the Eagles to a 6-0 victory over Baxter in a Class 1A district baseball final on Saturday at Lynnville-Sully.
“We played great,” said ACA coach Konrad Christensen. “Landon was incredible after struggling against Southeast Warren (on Tuesday).”
The Eagles (15-10) took a 2-0 lead in the second inning. They added three runs in the fifth and one more in the seventh.
That was more than enough support for Curtis (4-1), who allowed only a double by Jace Bottorff. The Bolts finished the season at 17-7.
“Brody Butler saved a run with an incredible diving play in left (field),” Christensen said. “The defense was perfect and made great play after great play.”
ACA’s offense got a huge lift from its No. 7 through 9 hitters, who combined for seven of the team’s 11 hits. Tyson Fincham went 3-for-4, scored a run and drove in another, while Braley Miller and Conner Crosby each went 2-for-4 and had an RBI.
“Our bottom of the order sparked us again, and we ran the bases aggressively to manufacture some runs,” Christensen said.
Andrew Mora also went 2-for-4 in the win. Butler and Tyler Davis each scored a pair of runs, and Davis added an RBI.
Colton Moffit took the loss, allowing two earned runs on eight hits over the first five innings.
The Eagles will play defending state champion Lynnville-Sully (23-2) in the substate final on Tuesday at Newton at 7 p.m. The Hawks used an eight-run fourth inning to beat North Mahaska, 10-1, on Saturday.
Lynnville-Sully has ended ACA’s season in each of the last two years. The Hawks posted a 1-0 win in nine innings in last year’s substate final.
Lynnville-Sully’s Carson Maston boasts an 8-0 record with a 1.10 ERA. He had 12 strikeouts over the last five innings in last year’s substate final.
The Eagles are expected to counter with Lucas Erickson, who is 6-4 with a 2.35 ERA.
“If we can keep it close, I think we can get them,” Christensen said.