The Ankeny baseball team’s four-game winning streak came to an end on Monday with a 6-0 loss to visiting Valley.
Colton Roemmich homered twice and drove in three runs for Valley, while Trent Grevengoed tossed a three-hitter and had 11 strikeouts.
The Tigers improved to 7-4 in the CIML Conference and 11-7 overall. Ankeny’s records dropped to 2-7 and 6-14.
“Grevengoed pitched really well,” said Ankeny coach Joe Balvanz. “I thought he got stronger as the night went on, and he’s like their No. 3 (pitcher). They have some tremendous arm talent, and the first four or five batters in their lineup are pretty challenging to deal with. That looks like a team that could make a deep postseason run if they’re playing well in all facets of the game.”
Roemmich hit a solo homer to center in the second inning. He later added a two-run blast in the seventh, capping a 3-for-4 night.
Valley’s Aidan Plum went 2-for-4 with a homer and a triple. He knocked in a pair of runs.
Drew Snook went 2-for-3 and had one RBI for the Tigers, who pounded out 10 hits off four Ankeny pitchers and stole four bases–two of them by Nathan Popovich.
Hunter Minner (2-4) took the loss. He gave up just two earned runs on five hits and had five strikeouts over the first five innings.
“It was 2-0 in the fifth when Minner came out,” Balvanz said. “I thought he looked really good at times.”
Quin Somers went 2-for-3 in the loss. Ryan Wille had a double for the third straight game.
However, the Hawks seldom threatened to score against Grevengoed, who was helped by a defense that turned two double plays and did not commit an error.
“We’ve got to be a little better catching up to fastballs and fouling off some pitches,” Balvanz said. “Our offense just wasn’t able to get to Grevengoed. You’ve got to be a pretty good high school hitter to get to the stuff he had tonight.”
Ankeny will host a conference doubleheader against Johnston on Wednesday. The Dragons are 6-5 in the league and 8-8 overall.
