Lefthander Gavin Weinschenk allowed just two hits over the first six innings to lead the seventh-ranked Waukee baseball team to an 8-1 victory at Ankeny on Thursday.
The win, combined with No. 6 Urbandale’s 5-4 loss at No. 10 Valley, allowed Waukee to move into sole possession of first place in the CIML Conference. The Warriors are now 10-4 in the league and 16-6 overall, while Ankeny’s records dropped to 2-10 and 6-17.
“Waukee is a pretty complete team,” said Ankeny coach Joe Balvanz, whose squad suffered its fourth straight loss. “I’d be shocked if they aren’t playing in a substate final or if they make the state tournament.”
Waukee got a two-run single from Brayden Moore in the first inning. Finn Faber hit a three-run double in the fourth, then Matt Meeker added an RBI triple to make it 6-0.
Brayden Kern (1-1) took the loss, allowing four earned runs on six hits over the first five innings. Paxton Wylie and Norman Ha each tossed an inning of relief for the Hawks.
“I thought we got some solid efforts from our pitchers,” Balvanz said. “But we’ve got to take better care of the baseball.”
Kern retired nine consecutive batters before Waukee’s outburst in the fourth inning, which began when Ryan Lengeling was hit by a pitch. Pete Craig then bunted for a single before Griffin Landholm followed with another bunt and reached on an error to load the bases.
After Zak Randall hit a pop fly to shallow center field for the first out, Faber ripped a drive to the left-field fence that cleared the bases. The Warriors then cruised to a sweep of the season series.
Ankeny struggled to generate much of an attack against Weinschenk. The Hawks loaded the bases with no outs in the fifth inning, but could only get an RBI grounder from Jack Romig out of it.
“That’s the second time we’ve seen (Weinschenk), and it was pretty tough sledding at the plate,” Balvanz said. “We would have had to play pretty well to stick with them with their athleticism and the way they play.”
The Hawks will travel to Council Bluffs Lewis Central on Saturday to play a pair of non-conference games against opponents with a combined record of 44-3. They will face No. 1 Sioux City East (26-1) at noon before meeting the host Titans (18-2) at 2 p.m.
“The guys want to win, but it’s just not happening right now,” Balvanz said. “It’s a tough league to win in, and things aren’t going to get any easier on Saturday.”