(Story by Stephen McDaniel)
The Ankeny Centennial baseball team knew that it was going to be facing a gauntlet heading into the week.
A six-run conference loss wasn’t the way that the Jaguars were hoping to begin their first of eight games over a five-day stretch.
Some errors, miscommunications and stranded runners burned the Jaguars as they suffered a 7-1 loss to eighth-ranked Urbandale amidst a close race at the top of the CIML Conference standings on Monday.
“It just wasn’t our night,” said Centennial coach Mark Hey. “The thing about baseball is that you don’t have to wait a week. You turn around tomorrow and you got two more (games) that you have to be ready for.”
The J-Hawks got things started in the second inning when a hard grounder took an awkward bounce in front of Centennial second baseman Ryder Wignall to put two runners on base.
It opened the door for Urbandale’s Brayden McCraney to line a two-run double into the right-center gap after Centennial starting pitcher Connor Williams had recorded back-to-back strikeouts.
The Jaguars got a run back when Alex Cory grounded out to first base in the top of the third, but a rough fourth inning ended up derailing things for Centennial.
With two on and two outs in the bottom of the fourth, some miscommunication on a fly ball in the outfield allowed a run to score and a throwing error at second base allowed Urbandale to plate two runs on what could have been a third out.
“We didn’t play terribly,” Hey said. “We had one inning where we had some miscommunication things and leadoff walks hurt us.”
The J-Hawks got a two-run triple from Brody McInville a few batters later, and a second throwing error on the Jaguars turned a 2-1 deficit into a 7-1 hole.
Williams (3-1) took the loss after being charged with six earned runs and six walks. He gave up just four hits and recorded six strikeouts.
Owen Gasperi took over in the fifth inning and recorded all three outs with two strikeouts in just eight pitches. Brady Stewart came in for the sixth and recorded three outs with another strikeout and just one hit allowed.
The Jaguars are more than confident that Williams will rebound from his first loss of the season.
“I thought Connor threw well at times, I just don’t think it was his night and I don’t think he felt real comfortable,” Hey said. “There’s some positives there. We got a good inning out of Owen and a good inning out of Brady. We’re happy with that.”
Centennial had a couple of chances to chip into Urbandale’s lead throughout the game, but just couldn’t find the one extra hit needed to drive in some runs.
The Jaguars left plenty of runners stranded, which included having two in scoring position in the top of the fifth, and they couldn’t find the base knock to score them.
Cory was the lone Centennial player to have a multi-hit game as the senior first baseman went 2-for-4 with two singles and one RBI. Will Nesler, Trae Houser, Will Morris and Nolan Powell each added one hit.
“We took some pitches in some counts where I thought we should’ve been moving the bat a bit,” Hey said. “That kind of got us in some two-strike hitting situations where I would’ve liked to see us be a little more aggressive earlier in the count. That’s a learning experience for our guys.”
The win allowed Urbandale to remain tied with Waukee for the conference lead. The J-Hawks are now 8-3 in the league and 17-5 overall, while Centennial’s records dropped to 6-6 and 10-7.
The Jaguars will head to Pleasant Valley on Tuesday to make up a non-conference doubleheader against the No. 6 Spartans (14-3) before heading to Waukee on Wednesday for a CIML twinbill against the Warriors (14-5).
Centennial will travel to Johnston (8-8) on Thursday for its ninth straight road game before returning home to host Davenport North (13-6) in a non-conference doubleheader to close out the busy week on Friday.
“Tough losses are tough losses, but what is really telling is how (the team) shows up the next day,” Hey said. “If we show up tomorrow, put our best effort forward regardless of the outcome and play our best game, then that’s a big sign that these guys are maturing and starting to play baseball the way we want to.”