The Ankeny baseball team got one more opportunity to play on its home field.
It didn’t go the way the Hawks were hoping.
Visiting Dowling Catholic got a brilliant pitching performance from a freshman lefthander and defeated Ankeny, 9-0, in a Class 4A substate semifinal on Monday.
Frankie Pagano (1-1) allowed just three hits and had nine strikeouts over the first 6 2/3 innings, throwing 68 of his 86 pitches for strikes. Vinnie Edwards then took the mound and got another strikeout to end the game.
Pagano had thrown just 11 1/3 innings prior to Monday’s contest, making only one previous start while posting a 9.26 ERA.
“He’s pretty talented,” said Ankeny coach Joe Balvanz. “I don’t know if we got to any three-ball counts all night.”
The Maroons (11-24) avenged three losses to Ankeny during the regular season. They have now won three straight games, including an 8-5 upset at ninth-ranked Urbandale in a substate quarterfinal on Friday, and are just one victory away from earning an improbable berth to the state tournament.
Dowling will play at No. 6 Johnston (24-11) in the substate final on Wednesday.
“Obviously, I’m disappointed it didn’t go our way, but this is a tremendous group of hard-working young men,” said Balvanz, whose team finished the season at 14-27. “They did whatever we asked of them. I know the wins and losses weren’t what they wanted, but they’re an enjoyable group of men to coach. I wish all those seniors moving on to bigger and better things the very best.”
Dowling took a 1-0 lead in the third inning against Ankeny starter Ryan Buffington on an RBI grounder by Nicklaus Delfrano, who went 2-for-4 with a double and four RBIs. The Maroons broke the game open with a four-run fourth, then added three more runs in the sixth and another in the seventh.
Buffington (2-4) allowed just one earned run on four hits and had three strikeouts over the first four innings. He had recorded 12 strikeouts in a win over Dowling on June 29.
“Buff looked good early, but then they kind of got on him and we couldn’t get off the field with two outs in the fourth,” said Balvanz, whose squad committed four errors in the loss. “We just had a two-out nightmare there.”
Jack Gaskell went 3-for-3 and drove in three runs for the Maroons, while Isaac Chappell doubled and knocked in a run. Jimmy Nahas went 2-for-3 and scored a pair of runs.
Buffington, Jack Romig and Ryan Wille each had a hit for the Hawks. Buffington led off the bottom of the second with a double, but was then thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple.
“Buff hit one to the wall, and he was playing hard and trying for third,” Balvanz said. “He’s been a leader for us all year, and he wants to win. Stuff like that happens if you play the game long enough.”
Ankeny had just three other base runners on the night. Easton Lowe, Ace Parton and Norman Ha each reached on an error, but were also left stranded.
Pagano allowed no walks as he consistently attacked the strike zone.
“We just couldn’t get that goose egg off the board tonight,” Balvanz said. “The Dowling kid threw exceptionally well. I was really impressed by him.”
