Hunter Minner pitched five strong innings, Jack Romig hit a go-ahead, two-run homer and the Ankeny baseball team opened postseason play with a 9-4 victory over Des Moines Roosevelt in a Class 4A substate quarterfinal on Friday at Dowling Catholic.
Things got even better for the Hawks as Ryan Buffington closed out the win with two hitless innings of relief. Word spread throughout the crowd that Dowling had posted an 8-5 upset at ninth-ranked Urbandale, which means that Ankeny (14-26) will get to host the Maroons in a semifinal game on Monday.
“It’s funny how this game works out sometimes,” said Ankeny coach Joe Balvanz.
Roosevelt (22-17) held a 4-3 lead after three innings before the Hawks rallied. Quin Somers hit a leadoff single in the fourth and eventually reached third base on a wild pitch with two outs.
Romig then blasted a curveball from Miles Lorentzen over the fence in center field for his first home run of the season. He had flied out to deep left field in his previous two at-bats.
“I’ve kind of been waiting for them to drop the last few weeks,” Romig said. “It’s been tough. I feel like I’ve had a lot of hits taken away from me, so I was due. And there it was–no better place than there.
“It was a full count, and I think it was my third or fourth curveball in a row. I just adjusted well to it. It was a little bit outside, but I feel like I stayed back and hit it well. I thought I was a little bit out in front of it, but rounding first I kind of saw the (centerfielder) give up on it and that’s what I knew (it was a homer),” he added.
The Hawks added an insurance run in the fifth when Norman Ha singled and then raced home on a triple by Somers, who went 2-for-2 and also scored a pair of runs.
“Quin was on base the whole night,” Balvanz said. “He just finds way to get on base.”
Minner (4-7) then cruised through his final inning in the bottom of the fifth, retiring the Roughriders in order. He fanned two of the three batters to finish with eight strikeouts.
“Those first few innings weren’t my best, but I was able to restore some energy and some confidence and come back,” Minner said. “I just had to trust my stuff. I really didn’t change much. I had some confidence in what I’ve been doing all year and what I can throw, and I had the guys behind me and at the plate.”
Minner allowed three earned runs on just two hits and four walks. He departed after throwing 105 pitches.
“The game plan was to give Hunter some run support,” Balvanz said. “We had that one inning where we had a couple defensive hiccups, but we were able to (limit the damage) there. Hunter got over that hump, and he has made every tough start for us this year. You can see it in him now. He’s pretty polished out there for a junior in high school, and I’m tremendously proud of him.”
Ankeny broke the game open with three more runs in the sixth off reliever Joey Ahrens. Ace Parton hit an RBI single, Drake Allison added an RBI double, and courtesy runner Dreighton Tate scored the final run when Ryan Wille reached on an error by Roosevelt shortstop Ethan Hall–his third of the game.
Four of the Hawks’ runs were unearned.
“The game went about as well as I could have drawn it up,” Balvanz said. “It’s a nice luxury to have a kid like Buffington in the chamber to come in and finish that. He probably threw a few more pitches than I would like, but he’ll be just fine.”
Buffington needed 44 pitches to get the final six outs. He walked three, but had four strikeouts–including one of Troy Wynn to close it out.
“The way he’s been pitching, there’s no one I would rather have coming in to end that game,” Minner said.
Lorentzen (4-4) took the loss. He allowed six runs–three of them earned–on eight hits over the first five innings.
Ankeny took a 3-0 lead in the second inning. An error by Hall opened the door for the Hawks, who eventually loaded the bases with two outs.
No. 9 hitter Maddux Boock then hit a line drive that popped out of Hall’s glove for a two-run single before Easton Lowe drove in a run with another single.
“I was ready for it. I was very excited,” Boock said. “I was just trying to get a line drive up the middle.”
It was just the third hit of the season for Boock, who has been used primarily on defense. He entered the game hitting .083 in 24 at-bats.
“I haven’t really let him rest,” Balvanz said of Boock. “He’s been getting as many at-bats as possible at the sophomore level, and you saw that tonight. He’s a hard-working kid, and it’s nice to see him get rewarded there.”
Roosevelt got both of its hits in the bottom of the inning. Hall led off with a single, Gabriel Bacehowksi was hit by a pitch with one out, and the Roughriders closed the gap to 3-2 when No. 9 hitter Maddox White matched Boock’s production with a two-out, two-run single.
Roosevelt then added two more runs in the third without getting a hit. The Roughriders loaded the bases with no outs on a pair of walks and an error by Romig.
“You can’t really sit on that,” Romig said of his error. “There’s not a guarantee that there will be a next game, so you’ve got to flush everything. Every play matters, every pitch matters. So you can’t dwell on that. That can cause a downfall on other plays.”
The Roughriders tied the game at 3-3 on a wild pitch, then took the lead when Myles Fulton raced home on a grounder to short by Sam Beck. But Minner then fanned the next two batters, and Romig put Ankeny ahead for good with a big swing in the top of the fourth.
“Hunter got us out of some tough spots, and he was great in that last inning,” Romig said. “He went out and kept Buff to be eligible (to pitch) for Monday.”
Dowling (10-24) used a six-run seventh inning to break a 2-2 tie against Urbandale. Vinnie Edwards and Edgar Perez each had a home run for the Maroons.
The Hawks won all three previous meetings against Dowling on back-to-back days in late June by scores of 11-6, 15-6 and 6-1. Buffington had a 12-strikeout performance in the second win over the Maroons and could get the ball again.
“We’re definitely not going to overlook them because they’ve been running hot,” Romig said. “We just have to keep doing what we’re doing.”
The winner will advance to the substate final on Wednesday at sixth-ranked Johnston (24-11).
“This is a fun group of kids to coach,” Balvanz said. “They’ve gotten better as the year went on, and hopefully we’re not done yet.”
