Only one more victory separates the Ankeny Centennial softball team from a berth in the Class 5A championship game.
The second-ranked Jaguars pounded out 10 hits and got a three-hit shutout from Lauren Sandholm to beat No. 6 Southeast Polk, 8-0, in six innings in a winners’ bracket second-round game in the state tournament on Tuesday at Harlan Rogers Park in Fort Dodge.
“With this new double-elimination bracket, it’s interesting but we’re just looking to go out and win as many games as we can,” said Sandholm, a junior. “Starting off 2-0 is a pretty good feeling and gives us confidence going into (Wednesday).”
The Rams (25-17) will now face No. 3 Valley (34-9) in an elimination game on Wednesday at 11 a.m. The winner of that game will play Centennial (40-3) at 3:30 p.m., needing to beat the Jaguars twice in order to reach Friday’s title game.
A second game, if necessary, would be played at 8 p.m.
“Anytime you come up here, it’s one at a time,” said Centennial coach Brett Delaney. “It took us a little while to get some momentum going today, but the bats came alive and Lauren was lights out in the circle from the first pitch. We were excited about our opportunities, but it’s always nice to know that you might only have to play one (game) on Wednesday.”
Sandholm (12-0) was named the player of the game after remaining unbeaten on the season. She retired the first six batters that she faced and 11 of the first 12.
Sandholm also beat Southeast Polk, 5-3, in the first game of a doubleheader on June 3. She faced the Rams again on June 22, when Centennial fell behind, 3-0, as Southeast Polk’s Karter Price took a no-hitter into the sixth inning before the Jaguars rallied for a 5-3 victory.
“We faced them three other times, and we knew that going in,” said Sandholm, who walked one and had one strikeout. “Being in the CIML, you face a lot of teams multiple times. Coming here it was just another game I think, and I’m going to attack whoever is in the batter’s box and whoever is in the other team’s dugout.”
Price (13-11) lost to Centennial for the third time this season. She allowed seven earned runs on eight hits and had five strikeouts over five-plus innings.
After Price got out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the first inning, the Jaguars scored the only run they needed in the bottom of the second. Sandholm was hit by a pitch and replaced by her twin sister Audrey, who went to second on a bunt by Gracie Anderson and then came home on a two-out double by Kori Lincicum.
In the third, Jordyn Kennedy led off with a single and went to second on a wild pitch, then moved to third on a one-out single by Mylie Hatfield. Delaney Wyble followed with a perfect squeeze bunt on a 2-2 pitch, allowing Kennedy to race home for a 2-0 lead.
Kennedy went 2-for-2 before drawing a one-out walk in the fifth. Mady Ott then blasted a two-run homer to left field to extend the margin to 4-0.
In her previous at-bat, Ott twice hit balls out of the park that landed just foul beyond the left-field fence.
“I was just going forward with the same plan,” Ott said. “I knew that I could straighten one out eventually.”
It was Ott’s career-high 15th homer and Centennial’s 88th of the season. She hit a three-run blast off Price in the Jaguars’ come-from-behind win a month ago, allowing Delaney’s team to tie the all-time single-season home run record of 61 at the time.
“I knew what I was expecting, and I knew not to change my plan too much,” Ott said of Tuesday’s homer. “I just had to keep trusting the work.”
Southeast Polk tried to rally in the top of the sixth, when Halle Clark led off with a single and advanced to second on a bunt. With two outs, Price hit a line drive to left field that was snagged on a diving catch by Hatfield, who likely preserved Sandholm’s shutout.
“I just saw it coming, and I knew that letting it drop would definitely affect the momentum of the game,” Hatfield said. “I knew I couldn’t let it drop.”
The Jaguars then erupted for four runs in the bottom of the inning to end the game before Southeast Polk could record a single out. Sandholm was again hit by a pitch and replaced by Audrey, who went to second on a single by Anderson and came home on a single by pinch-hitter Addi Frederick.
“Karter’s a great pitcher, and that’s a great team over there,” Delaney said. “We talked about it during batting practice today what we would see, and she was really good today. We had to make some adjustments, and we were also able to take advantage of some of her mistakes. We finally hit some fair balls and some hard-hit grounders, and that was good.”
After Price was replaced by Reese Curphy, Lincicum greeted her with a two-run double down the left-field line to make it 7-0. Lincicum, who went 3-for-4 at the plate, then raced home with the winning run on a single by Ava Faber.
While Centennial got its offense untracked, the Rams were held scoreless for only the third time this season. Sandholm allowed her teammates to do most of the work–Kennedy had a busy night at third base with three assists and a pair of putouts.
“Jordyn and Mylie, it’s awesome to play alongside them,” Sandholm said. “Having them as seniors just makes me want to go out and win these games even more. As a pitcher you always want your defense to make the plays, so that’s what I’m working toward.”
Delaney opted not to use Peyten Spiegel in the circle after the sophomore tossed all four innings in a win over Dowling Catholic in Monday’s opening round. That game was played in stifling conditions.
“We felt confident going with Lauren today,” Delaney said. “She came out ready to go. She was ready (Monday), and she’ll be ready (Wednesday) and the rest of the week too. Today was her day.”
After outscoring their first two opponents by a 20-2 margin, the Jaguars are starting to resemble the 2023 Centennial squad that cruised to the Class 5A crown. Both Kennedy and Ott were breakout stars on that team, which outscored its three foes at the state tournament by a 29-2 margin.
“Lauren did amazing, and I’m so proud of her,” Ott said. “She was outstanding, and of course the defense was great behind her. And the bats just kept it going, so it was amazing all around.”
Delaney said he’ll wait for the 11 a.m. game to be completed before determining his pitching plans for Wednesday.
“We’ll kind of figure that out,” he said. “We’ll get to see that game in the morning, and then we’ll know who we’re playing. But no matter who pitches, we’ve just got to find a way to make every routine play and come up with the big hits when we need them.”
