The Ankeny baseball team wasn’t satisfied with ending a 10-game losing skid on Saturday.
After rolling to a 10-3 victory over Class 3A No. 2 MOC-Floyd Valley in the Brent Prange Classic, the Hawks followed with a 9-5 triumph over Davenport West to start a winning streak of their own.
“The kids played hard,” said Ankeny coach Joe Balvanz, whose team is now 8-23 on the season. “We’re a little banged up right now, but it was great to see them respond.”
The Hawks used a six-run fifth inning to break open the game against MOC-Floyd Valley. The Dutchmen lost for only the seventh time in 24 games.
MOC-Floyd Valley starter Henry Heller entered the game with 39 strikeouts in just 16 innings. He departed after throwing 87 pitches in the first three innings, giving up four runs–two of them earned–on three hits.
Heller walked four and had six strikeouts.
“MOC-Floyd Valley lost to Boone before they played us because they saved Heller for the CIML team,” Balvanz said. “He’s got a very talented arm, but he was just having trouble locating and we were able to pitch count him up to the point where they took him out and we got to their bullpen. We beat a pretty good 3A team.”
Brayden Kern (2-2) earned the win on his birthday, combining with two relievers on a seven-hitter. He allowed just one earned run and had six strikeouts over the first 4 1/3 innings.
“Kern was outstanding, and Kyle (Clevidence) came in to finish it,” Balvanz said. “That’s a nice 1-2 changeup with those two.”
Easton Lowe had a three-run triple in the win. Drake Allison and Austin Hans each had two RBIs, while Max Wade and Kobe Behrens each drove in a run.
Ace Parton went 2-for-4 with a double. He also scored a pair of runs.
“Our guys looked comfortable with a guy that throws really hard, and they weren’t phased by it,” Balvanz said. “I was proud of them.”
Parton then doubled again and drove in three runs against Davenport West (8-13). Ryan Wille also doubled and had two RBIs for Ankeny, which used a seven-run second inning to take the lead for good.
Ryan Buffington and Clevidence each scored two runs and knocked in another. Cal Van Houten also had an RBI.
“We got some big hits in both games with guys on base multiple times,” Balvanz said. “It was nice to take a breather from some CIML action.”
Norman Ha (1-4) tossed the first three innings to earn his first victory of the season. He allowed two earned runs on five hits and had two strikeouts.
Reliever Ethan Poock closed it out, allowing just one earned run on two hits over the final 3 1/3 innings.
“We struggled to throw strikes in that game,” Balvanz said. “Norm was struggling with his command a little bit, so I brought Paxton Wylie in. He had a little trouble finding the strike zone, and then Ethan did a phenomenal job in relief to finish that one off. He’s been our steady guy out of the bullpen that I can rely on to get through the lineup at least once. He’s done an outstanding job.”
Ankeny will host a CIML Conference doubleheader against Dowling Catholic on Monday. The Maroons are 3-13 in the league and 7-19 overall.
The two teams will then play another game on Tuesday at Dowling to complete the season series.