Senior first baseman Alex Cory went 2-for-3 and drove in five runs to lead the Ankeny Centennial baseball team to a 12-4 victory over visiting Dallas Center-Grimes in a Class 4A substate quarterfinal on Friday. He hit a two-run single in the first inning, then later blasted a three-run homer in the fourth that knocked Mustangs starter Brady Smith out of the game.
Cory is batting .327 with two home runs, four triples, three doubles and a team-high 27 RBIs on the season. He ranks second on the squad with 37 hits and 15 walks.
Here is some inside info on Cory:
Congratulations on the win over Dallas Center-Grimes. Had the team learned anything about the Mustangs during your 5-4 win at Dallas Center-Grimes on May 21, and did that win give you confidence that you could beat them again?
Yes, I think we had a good look at their lineup going into substate from playing them earlier in the season. I think that really helped Eli (Starr) out when it came to knowing how to pitch to certain guys for the Mustangs. That win gave us a lot of confidence because we played a very bad game and still came out on top, so we knew we just needed to play how we’ve been all season and we would be fine.
What was your approach at the plate against Smith, since you hadn’t seen him before?
Our scouting report was to hunt a fastball early and not get behind in counts. I used this but early on had trouble reading the ball out of his hand. I definitely had to make an adjustment after my first two at-bats.
You told my reporter Stephen that you knew your home run was gone as soon as you hit it. Were you looking for a pitch to drive, or did it just sort of happen?
Yeah, so I was behind on his fastballs the at-bats before and I knew one was going to come and was just ready for it.
Eli allowed three earned runs on seven hits and had six strikeouts over the first six innings. What can you say about his performance on the mound?
Eli pitched great, even though according to him it wasn’t his best outing and his velo was down. If that’s a down game, I believe we have a really good chance to beat Cedar Falls if we get there.
Your team will now play a semifinal game at CIML Conference rival Valley on Monday. You guys only played the Tigers once during the regular season because a doubleheader was rained out, but you did post a 10-1 victory at Valley on June 11 while handing Nebraska recruit Colton Roemmich his only loss thus far. Can you take much away from that game?
Yes, I can take away that our lineup is much better than the Tigers but it’s going to come down to pitching. I expect a very low-scoring game depending on who Valley pitches.
The Tigers didn’t use Roemmich (1-1) or two of their other top pitchers, Ryan Stedman (6-1) and Trent Grevengoed (4-2), in Friday’s 17-0 win over Des Moines East. I’m sure you’ve had to prepare for all of them, but who do you think they will start on the mound?
As of right now Stedman hasn’t been (selected in the MLB amateur draft) so we are expecting to face him, but there is a chance they save him for the final round so we are preparing for every possible outcome.
I know coach Hey has plenty of options for your starting pitcher as well. I don’t want you to give away the plan, but do you think the depth of your pitching staff could pay off in case you need to use multiple pitchers?
Yes, the depth of our bullpen will be very helpful in case whoever is pitching struggles early, we can go immediately to the bullpen.
The winner of this game won’t have much time to prepare for Wednesday’s substate final at 10th-ranked Cedar Falls (23-13). I know you are totally focused on Valley right now, but do you know much about Cedar Falls in case you get the opportunity to play there?
I don’t know much about Cedar Falls except they’re a good team, and we would have to play fearless baseball to be able to beat them.
The Class 4A state tournament will be held July 21-24 at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Cedar Rapids. As one of 13 seniors on your team, what would that mean to you if the Jaguars can become the first team in program history to qualify for state?
Being the first team to make state would be absolutely amazing and would set a precedent for the school’s future, which it needs.
Are you planning to play baseball at the next level, and what are you going to study?
As of right now I am not playing in college, and I will be attending the University of Iowa to study finance.