After falling into a 5-0 hole against visiting Davenport North on Friday, the Ankeny Centennial baseball team appeared to be in danger of dropping below the .500 mark for the first time this season.
But the Jaguars didn’t quit.
Centennial rallied for four runs in the fifth inning and erupted for seven more in the sixth to post an 11-7 victory in the first game of a non-conference doubleheader. The Jaguars then completed a sweep with an 11-1 win in five innings in the nightcap.
“We played a lot of high leverage games this week,” said Centennial coach Mark Hey, whose team is now 13-11 overall after going 3-5 over the last five days. “The players responded great after (Thursday’s 13-12 loss at Johnston in eight innings) with a complete team effort on Friday.”
Will Nesler went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBIs in the opener. Will Morris also knocked in three runs.
Owen Gasperi went 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs. Trae Houser also went 2-for-3 and drove in a run.
Tyler Majeski (1-1) earned the win in relief of Owen Lorenz. He allowed two earned runs on four hits over the final three innings.
In the second game, Brady Stewart (2-0) needed just 66 pitches to throw a complete game. He walked one and had seven strikeouts.
The Wildcats dropped to 15-8 on the season.
“We had some great pitching performances from some guys who hadn’t gotten a lot of innings yet,” Hey said. “Owen and Tyler threw great in the first game, and Brady was awesome with a two-hitter in the nightcap.”
Nesler had another huge game at the plate, going 4-for-4 with a double and two triples. He scored four runs.
Alex Cory went 3-for-4 with a double, a triple and four RBIs. Houser and Morris each drove in a pair of runs.
“All nine hitters had great games,” Hey said. “I’m very proud of the effort everyone gave during the entire eight-game week.”
The Jaguars will host a CIML Conference game against Southeast Polk on Monday, looking to complete a sweep of the season series. The Rams are 5-7 in the league and 15-9 overall.