(Story by Stephen McDaniel)
The Ankeny Centennial softball team has been on a major hot streak since suffering its first and only loss of the season against Waukee Northwest on June 4.
Not even the third-ranked Valley Tigers could derail the No. 2 Jaguars from the tear they’ve been on in their current six-game winning streak.
Centennial mashed four home runs and scored double-digit runs for the fourth time in the last week as the Jaguars routed Valley, 11-2, in six innings on Thursday in West Des Moines.
“We were thankful that Valley was able to flip us sites so that way we could play and get this game in today,” said Centennial coach Brett Delaney, whose team will now host a doubleheader against the Tigers on July 2 instead. “Anytime you get a CIML win, you’re thankful. You just know night in and night out they’ll put their best out, we’ll put our best out, and it’ll be a fight to the end.”
Senior third baseman Jordyn Kennedy had a big day at the plate for Centennial as the future Minnesota Golden Gopher accounted for two of the team’s four home runs and had four RBIs.
Kennedy set the tone early for the Jaguars when she got underneath a pitch from Valley’s Tealey Schwingendorf and easily cleared the left field fence for a solo homer in the top of the first inning.
She came back up to the plate in the second inning and hit another bomb for a two-run blast that gave her team a 5-0 advantage after two innings.
“We’re very fortunate to have Jordyn,” Delaney said. “She’s been in the lineup for a few years for us, and her and all the hitters we have for us come to the park every day asking questions, wanting to get better, challenging us as coaches and challenging themselves as hitters to be the best that they can.”
The only reason why Kennedy didn’t take sole possession of second place on the team in home runs with her sixth of the year is because fellow senior Kori Lincicum hit her sixth of the year on a two-run shot just two at-bats before her.
Kennedy now has a team-high 26 RBIs this season and is tied with Iowa City High’s Iyana Merino for the lead in Class 5A. Those two are also part of a six-way tie for sixth in the state across all classes.
Cami Starr got hit by a pitch before Lincicum’s homer. Ava Faber then drew a walk and scored on Kennedy’s blast.
“It’s crazy how much just one hit can do for a team,” said Centennial pitcher Mylie Hatfield, who leads the Jaguars with eight homers. “It can bring everything for us.”
Mady Ott led off the fifth inning with her fifth homer of the season to give the Jaguars a 6-1 lead, with all of those runs courtesy of the long ball.
Centennial then tacked on five more runs in the sixth, beginning with a sacrifice fly by Kennedy for her fourth RBI of the night.
Hatfield drew a bases-loaded walk to bring home Emmy Ott, Delaney Wyble beat a throw to first with two outs to bring in Lincicium, and Gracie Anderson hit a two-run single to right to make it 11-1.
“We talked throughout the game, we had a few fly outs early in the game and we just had to find a way to hit that hard ground ball and finally get those balls through,” Delaney said. “When we’re hitting the ball hard, it’s going to be hard to defend whether it’s line drives or ground balls.”
For Hatfield, getting that much run support reduced some of her stress in the pitching circle.
Hatfield (2-1) went the distance to pick up the win. She allowed two earned runs on 10 hits, but gave up no walks and held the Tigers to their third-lowest run total of the season.
“(Getting the win) felt really good, and it’s really nice that we actually got to play today because I knew that was questionable,” Hatfield said. “We came in here with a lot of confidence, and it showed.”
A big part of the Jaguars’ success was the defense backing Hatfield.
In the first three innings, the Tigers led off with hits which included doubles in the first and third innings. Hatfield responded by retiring three straight batters in all three innings to keep Valley off the scoreboard.
“The defense does a lot for me for sure,” Hatfield said. “On nights where not everything is working exactly how you want it to, you kind of just have to play around and have trust in our coaches calling pitches.”
Valley’s Brynn Cibula hit a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth for the Tigers’ first run. Press Roemmich later added an RBI double in the sixth, but it wasn’t enough to prolong the game.
The win allowed Centennial to remain in a first-place tie atop the CIML Conference. The Jaguars are 9-1 in the league and 13-1 overall, while Valley’s records dropped to 8-2 and 11-4.
Centennial now shares the conference lead with No. 1 Waukee Northwest. The Wolves swept a doubleheader at Johnston on Thursday.
The Jaguars will travel to No. 15 Cedar Falls (10-5) on Friday before hosting No. 9 Linn-Mar (Marion) (9-3) on Saturday in a pair of non-conference doubleheaders.
“We knew this was going to be a busy week, and we’ve talked about it,” Delaney said. “We’ve managed it health-wise and taking baby steps. (Facing Cedar Falls and Linn-Mar) is a good opportunity to see someone outside of the CIML, and that’s exciting too.”
