The Ankeny Centennial softball team’s march toward the all-time state home run record continued over the weekend at the Fort Dodge Invitational, where the second-ranked Jaguars blasted seven more homers and cruised to the tournament crown to extend their winning streak to 18 games.
Mady Ott hit three of the homers to lead the way, two of them on Saturday. She hit a solo blast for her 11th of the season as Centennial posted a 9-3 win over No. 5 Cedar Rapids Kennedy in the title game to improve to 25-1 overall.
The Jaguars raised their team total to 60 homers, just one shy of the all-time record. Pleasant Valley set the mark of 61 homers in 2024.
Mylie Hatfield (4-1) earned the win against Kennedy (21-7), allowing three earned runs on six hits. She walked one and had four strikeouts.
Kori Lincicum went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs, while Delaney Wyble also went 3-for-4 and drove in a run. Lauren Bartine went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.
Centennial earlier rolled to an 11-1 win in four innings in the semifinals over Fort Dodge (21-3), the No. 3 team in Class 4A. Ott went 3-for-3 with a homer, a double and five RBIs.
Lauren Sandholm went 2-for-3 and knocked in a run. Hatfield doubled and had two RBIs, while Jordyn Kennedy went 1-for-1 with a double and scored three times.
Peyten Spiegel (10-0) was the winning pitcher. She gave up one earned run on five hits and had three strikeouts.
Centennial opened the tournament on Friday with a 13-0 victory over Class 1A No. 15 Martensdale-St. Marys in four innings. The Blue Devils dropped to 8-7 on the season.
Spiegel tossed the first two innings to get the win. She combined on a perfect game with Lyla Hoeppner and Ashley Sterling as the trio fanned eight of the 12 batters they retired.
Ott went 2-for-2 with a homer and five RBIs. Her sister Emmy added a solo blast, her fourth of the season.
Hatfield went 2-for-2 with a homer, a double and three RBIs. It was her 10th homer of the year.
Sandholm went 2-for-2 with a double and three RBIs. Gracie Anderson also went 2-for-2, scored a run and drove in another.
The Jaguars later defeated Class 4A No. 7 North Polk, 8-6, in the quarterfinals. The Comets (10-10) scored six earned runs on seven hits off Sandholm (8-0), but Centennial held on for the win.
Sandholm, who had four strikeouts, went 3-for-3 at the plate with a double and one RBI. She went 9-for-10 in the tournament to raise her average from .303 to .442.
Lincicum went 2-for-3 with a homer, a triple and two RBIs. It was her ninth homer of the year.
Kennedy homered and had two RBIs. She now ranks third in the entire state with 15 blasts, two behind Addie Abens of Dallas Center-Grimes.
Kennedy now has 64 career homers. She needs seven more to tie the all-time record of 71 that was set by former Ankeny and Centennial star Kendyl Lindaman.
Ava Faber went 2-for-2 with a pair of doubles and one RBI, while Wyble went 2-for-3 and also had two doubles. Anderson knocked in two runs.
Centennial will host a CIML Conference game on Monday against No. 6 Southeast Polk, which is 5-8 in the league and 15-9 overall after recording back-to-back shutouts over ranked opponents on Saturday to extend its winning streak to six games. The Jaguars swept an earlier twinbill against the Rams.