This time, there was no slow start by the Ankeny Centennial softball team.
Three days after the fourth-ranked Jaguars were forced to overcome a six-run deficit to beat Urbandale in their postseason opener, they never trailed in Tuesday’s Class 5A regional final at Centennial.
Coach Brett Delaney’s team got a two-run homer from Mady Ott in the bottom of the first and went on to beat No. 11 Cedar Rapids Kennedy, 12-3, in five innings to punch its ticket to next week’s state tournament.
“I feel like we came out with a lot more energy and so did our crowd,” said Centennial junior Kori Lincicum, who went 3-for-3 and had four RBIs in the win. “Everyone was excited to be there, and I feel like we all really wanted it tonight.”
It was the ninth straight victory for the Jaguars, who improved to 32-9 on the season. Kennedy (24-17) had posted four consecutive shutouts, but was unable to shut down Centennial’s high-powered offense.
The Jaguars pounded out 10 hits–five of them for extra bases.
“We faced a good Urbandale team on Saturday night, and we faced another really good team tonight in Kennedy,” Delaney said. “I knew at some point we were going to be able to put up runs in this game, and it started off with Mady in that first inning and I think that took a little bit of pressure off of everybody. To be honest, the game started with Peyten Spiegel setting the tone for us by striking out the first three batters of a really talented hitting lineup.”
Spiegel, a freshman, got her first postseason start. She racked up seven strikeouts over the first 3 1/3 innings.
“I think we all had confidence in Peyten tonight,” Lincicum said. “She did what we needed and hitting-wise we were all prepared and had her back.”
Ott got the ball rolling with her two-run blast off Kennedy’s Lily Knutson (15-6). It was her 13th homer of the season and the Jaguars’ 53rd, which ranks second in the entire state behind Indianola’s 56.
“One of our big goals was to score first this game,” said Ott, who went 2-for-2 and knocked in four runs. “The comeback against Urbandale shows that we really have confidence in our bats. That confidence carried (over) to tonight. We knew that (Knutson) had good pitches so we worked hard as a team this week in practice to attack.”
After the Cougars tied the game in the second inning, Centennial regained the lead for good in the third. The Jaguars loaded the bases without getting a hit, then Lincicum cleared them with a double to center field to make it 5-2.
That provided a little more cushion for Spiegel (10-2), who allowed three earned runs on two hits. She left the game with one out in the fourth and was replaced by Aubrey Scieszinski, who got out of a bases-loaded jam after Kennedy had closed the gap to 5-3.
Scieszinski had three strikeouts over the last 1 2/3 innings.
“We’ve got a five-headed horse in the dugout, and we felt like we had the opportunity to give Peyten the ball to start us off,” Delaney said. “I think she set the tone for us and then Aubrey came in and closed another game for us. It’s just pretty special to have a staff that is so deep with those two, Kori, Maisa (Kramer) and Ashley (Sterling).”
The Jaguars then broke the game open with a seven-run outburst in the bottom of the inning. Scieszinski ignited things with a one-out double to left field.
Mary Brantley and Ava Faber each had an RBI single, and they both scored on a double by Ott. Lincicum followed with an RBI single, then Makenna Foster capped the big inning with a two-run double.
“I love this team so much, and I’m so grateful we are able to be going back to state!” Ott said.
Centennial earned a trip to Fort Dodge for the fourth time in six years. The Jaguars won the Class 5A crown in 2023 after being upset by Linn-Mar (Marion) in a regional final one year earlier.
Now, history could repeat itself. Centennial was upset by Waukee in last year’s regional final.
“There’s only eight teams left, and there is still work ahead of us,” Delaney said. “It gives some of our younger kids a feel of what’s to come. Part of our dugout has been there, and part of our dugout hasn’t. We’re a little bit inexperienced heading up there, but the girls that have been up there will lead the way and I have all the confidence in the world in them. It’s kind of set the tone all year with our seniors having an #AsOne mentality. That’s just been the case all season long, and it was the case tonight.”
Centennial will play No. 5 Valley (29-11) in a Class 5A quarterfinal on Monday at 3 p.m. on the Iowa Central Field. The Tigers advanced to state with a 4-1 win over Waukee as Maddie Zlomke (20-5) tossed a five-hitter and had four strikeouts.
The Jaguars won all three meetings against Valley during the regular season. They swept a doubleheader at Valley on June 12, 8-0 and 8-4, and then posted an 8-6 win on July 3 at Centennial after winning two games at the Dallas Center-Grimes Invitational earlier in the day.
The Tigers are led by leadoff hitter Mackenzie Mohler, who boasts a .524 average with 20 homers and 53 RBIs. But it was Brynn Cibula who led the way against Waukee on Tuesday, going 3-for-3 with a solo homer.
The winner of Monday’s game will play either No. 1 Waukee Northwest (37-5) or Dowling Catholic (15-18) in a Class 5A semifinal on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. The loser will play in a consolation game on Tuesday at 12:15 p.m.
