The Ankeny baseball team prevented 10th-ranked Valley from sweeping the season series by posting a 10-4 victory on the road in the second game of a doubleheader on Monday.
The Hawks bounced back after dropping an 11-1 decision in five innings in the opener.
“It was their Senior Night and they ran a bunch of different arms out there in game two, but our guys bounced back,” said Ankeny coach Joe Balvanz. “Ryan (Buffington) continues to throw really well. He was on a limited pitch count, but he was outstanding. Ethan Poock and Gavin Nuzum came in and finished it off to get everyone a little bit of work before the postseason.”
Buffington (2-3) allowed just two hits and had six strikeouts over five scoreless innings. He has compiled a 1.68 ERA over his last three starts.
Ryan Wille went 2-for-4 and had three RBIs for the Hawks, who used a five-run sixth inning to build a 9-0 lead.
“Wille came up big for us,” Balvanz said. “He’s been putting together some really good at-bats.”
Easton Lowe went 2-for-4 and scored a pair of runs. Kobe Behrens went 2-for-3 with a double, and Drake Allison added an RBI double.
Jack Romig was twice hit by a pitch and also reached on an error. He scored two runs and knocked in two more.
Lowe went 3-for-3 with a double and scored Ankeny’s only run in the first game, but it wasn’t nearly enough. He is now batting .372 on the season.
“Easton had a really good night at the plate,” Balvanz said.
Kyle Clevidence had the Hawks’ only other hit. Valley’s Colton Roemmich allowed just one unearned run on two hits over the first 4 1/3 innings while racking up 12 strikeouts.
Trent Grevengoed got the final two outs in the fifth inning for Valley, which then scored five runs in the bottom of the frame to end the game. Grevengoed had tossed a four-hitter to beat Ankeny, 6-0, on June 15.
“Roemmich was outstanding and then they went to Grevengoed, so we saw some tough pitching,” Balvanz said.
Hunter Minner (3-7) took the loss. He allowed three earned runs on two hits over the first two innings, then departed after throwing 35 pitches.
Minner will likely get the start on the mound when the Hawks face Des Moines Roosevelt in a Class 4A substate quarterfinal on Friday at Dowling Catholic.
“Hunter looked good,” Balvanz said. “We just had some trouble getting off the field with two outs, and hopefully that’s just a one-day thing. We were a little sloppy on defense. I don’t know if it was because we had some time off over the Fourth of July break or what, but we’ve got to do a better job on routine plays. That should not have been a 5-spot in the first inning.”
Max Anderson drove in three runs for Valley, while Cameron Lind doubled and had two RBIs. The Tigers are now 12-10 in the CIML Conference and 20-15 overall.
Ankeny’s records are 6-16 and 12-25.
The Hawks will close out the regular season on Tuesday by hosting a conference doubleheader against Southeast Polk, which is 10-12 in the league and 20-16 overall. The Rams have lost five straight games after being swept by Waukee Northwest on Monday.
The first game of the twinbill was suspended due to rain on June 4 with Southeast Polk holding a 4-0 lead in the first inning.
