(Story by Stephen McDaniel)
The Ankeny Centennial softball players have been around the postseason block enough to know that they can’t afford to overlook any opponent.
The second-ranked Jaguars were well prepared for Saturday’s matchup against visiting Sioux City East, and it showed.
Centennial pounded out 13 hits and every player got a chance to contribute in a 17-3 victory in four innings in a Class 5A regional semifinal.
“We talk about taking it one game at a time, and that’s all we can control right now,” said Centennial coach Brett Delaney. “We were just fortunate we were granted the opportunity to play tonight, and we’ll have another chance to play on Tuesday. It’s just one (game) at a time, and that’s all we’re focused on and the girls are focused on.”
Centennial (37-3) wasted little time putting the game out of reach.
The Jaguars jumped out to a 5-0 lead as the first six batters reached base. Kori Lincicum scored on a passed ball, Mady Ott hammered a two-run triple, and Mylie Hatfield hit an RBI double before scoring on a passed ball.
An RBI grounder from Lauren Sandholm extended the margin to 6-0, and Lincicum drove in two more runs on a triple in her second at-bat of the inning.
Centennial then erupted for nine more runs in the second inning to build a 17-0 lead. Sandholm drove in a run with a single and was soon followed by back-to-back two-run singles from Cami Starr and Lincicum to make it 13-0.
“We made a good adjustment, we were sitting back in the box really well and we were thinking of driving oppo because the pitcher was throwing away,” Lincicum said. “We had a whole practice dedicated to outside, and I think that helped a lot.”
After an Ava Faber RBI single to make it 14-0, the Jaguars turned to the dugout for pinch-hitters to close out the game.
Addi Frederick and Lauren Bartine both made contributions in their first at-bats. Frederick hit an RBI single, and Bartine followed with a two-run double to complete the team’s scoring.
Ten different Centennial players had hits in the win, including two apiece by Lincicum, Faber and Starr. Lincicum had a team-high four RBIs.
“We just have to keep looking at it like each team (we play) is the best team we are going to see so that way we show up and play the way we normally do,” Lincicum said. “You don’t want to overlook anyone.”
Centennial’s pitching trio of Peyten Spiegel, Sandholm and Ashley Sterling didn’t give East (14-27) much to work with.
Spiegel (16-1) picked up the win and posted five strikeouts in her two innings in the circle, giving up just one hit and one walk. Sandholm had two strikeouts in a scoreless third inning before Sterling took over and closed out the game, allowing just one earned run in the fourth.
“Our pitchers came in and got a little bit of work in,” Delaney said. “That was the hope was to get a few of them some innings in, some light work, be ready to go and figure out a rotation for Tuesday.”
The Jaguars have been a prime contender for the Class 5A crown all season, but they still have one more roadblock separating them from a return to the state tournament.
Centennial will host Muscatine (20-15) in the regional final on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The Muskies used an 11-run sixth inning to beat Iowa City Liberty, 14-6, on Saturday.
This will be only the second meeting ever between the two programs. The Jaguars defeated Muscatine, 10-0, in five innings in the Class 5A third-place game in 2020.
“This team is 1 through 24 and they talked about it at the beginning of the season that their motto was ‘Our Journey’, and together it takes all of them,” Delaney said. “It’ll take all 24 of them (against Muscatine) to take that next step.”
