After scoring 17 runs in its season opener on Wednesday, the Ankeny softball team managed just three hits in a 4-1 loss to visiting ADM (Adel) in a non-conference game on Tuesday.
ADM got a combined 11 strikeouts from Makenna Pitlick and Lauren Hagedorn. Pitlick tossed three perfect innings to earn the win.
It was the season opener for the Tigers, who are No. 1 in the Class 4A preseason rankings from the Iowa Girls’ High School Athletic Union.
“They have a strong pitching staff and threw well tonight,” said Ankeny coach Sarah Saladino, whose team dropped to 1-1. “Facing this type of pitching just continues to prepare the lineup for what we will see nightly in the CIML. Every at-bat is just another opportunity to get one percent better.”
The Tigers took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Reese Vande Noord drove in a run. Hagedorn then hit a three-run homer in the third for what proved to be the difference.
Hagedorn went 3-for-3 with a walk. Addison Siedelmann went 2-for-3.
“We played well defensively and got a very good performance on the mound by a young pitcher,” Saladino said of eighth grader Taylor Hinshaw, who allowed three earned runs on six hits.
The Hawkettes scored an unearned run in the sixth to avoid a shutout. Brylee Bach reached on an error and eventually came home on a single by Kensington Arringdale.
Tenley Heidemann and Reagan Hogan had Ankeny’s other hits. Hogan, a third baseman, also had five assists in the field.
“At the plate we have to continue to make adjustments and produce sooner in the game,” Saladino said. “We did some good things at the plate tonight. We just need to be more consistent in the approach.”
Ankeny will travel to Johnston on Wednesday for its CIML Conference opener against the 11th-ranked Dragons (0-0).