(Story by Dom Tornabane)
Ankeny Centennial honored its 13 baseball seniors on Tuesday night at home against Fort Dodge, hoping for a non-conference win over a talented opponent.
Unfortunately, it was the Dodgers who came away with a 7-2 victory, spoiling the Senior Night festivities and defeating Centennial for the first time since 2022.
Fort Dodge (29-8) scored three runs in both the second and fifth innings, getting some clutch hits and taking advantage of three Jaguar errors.
“They know what they’re supposed to do,” Centennial coach Mark Hey said of the defensive mistakes. “It just felt like very passive on their part.”
Both teams finished with six hits, but Centennial (17-14) was unable to capitalize on its scoring opportunities. Fort Dodge’s Mason Frevert went the distance on the mound and allowed just one earned run while recording six strikeouts.
“That’s haunted us all year,” Hey said about his team’s lack of clutch hitting. “It’s something we have to get turned around before the postseason.”
Will Nesler and Will Morris each went 2-for-4 with a double for the Jaguars. Trae Houser and Alex Cory each drove in a run.
Colton Arndt (0-3) took the loss, allowing six earned runs on six hits over the first five innings. He walked one and had nine strikeouts.
Tru McBride tripled and had two RBIs for the Dodgers, who are enjoying their best season since the 2012 Fort Dodge squad posted a 37-7 record.
The Jaguars, meanwhile, are starting to look ahead to the postseason. They will host Dallas Center-Grimes in a Class 4A substate quarterfinal on July 10.
Hey has little concern about his squad because of the group of seniors on the roster.
“I think we are going to be in a good spot because we have 13 natural-born leaders out of the senior class,” he said. “They have their eyes set on something special at the end.”
Centennial will host a CIML Conference game against Dowling Catholic on Wednesday at 5 p.m. The game time was moved up due to the threat of rain later in the evening.
The Maroons are 3-16 in the league and 7-22 overall after losing three games to Ankeny over the last two days, extending their losing streak to eight. The two teams split a doubleheader on June 8 at Dowling.