It took a dominant pitcher to bring an end to Ankeny Centennial’s record-shattering softball season.
Waukee Northwest star Sophia Schlader tossed a two-hitter and had nine strikeouts to lead the top-ranked Wolves to a 3-1 victory over No. 2 Ankeny Centennial in the Class 5A championship game on Friday night at Harlan Rogers Park in Fort Dodge.
Hazel Leinen hit a tie-breaking, two-run homer in the sixth inning for Northwest (40-4), which captured its second consecutive state title and its third Class 5A crown in five seasons. The Jaguars finished with a 41-4 record.
“I knew it was going to be close. I knew it was going to be a good game,” said Centennial senior Mady Ott. “Especially in these type of games with all the adrenaline flowing, you knew both teams were going to bring it.”
It was the fourth meeting of the season between the CIML Conference rivals. The Jaguars had faced Schlader once before on June 4 and pounded out four doubles among their seven hits in a 6-5 loss to Northwest.
But on Friday, the hard-throwing Schlader (29-0) shut down an explosive offense that entered the game with a state-record 92 home runs.
“We knew what we were going up against,” said Centennial senior Kori Lincicum. “I mean, the last time we had five runs against her, so we were expecting a little bit more. But sometimes you can’t win them all.”
Centennial starter Lauren Sandholm (12-1) matched Schlader’s brilliance for much of the game. Neither Sandholm nor Peyten Spiegel had faced the Wolves this season, and coach Brett Delaney elected to give the ball to the Mississippi State commit.
“I found out (Thursday) I’d be starting,” said Sandholm. “We’ve been alternating a lot, and Peyten has done some amazing things. We could have gone either way, and it would have been a heck of a game just like it was.”
The Jaguars got off to a good start, taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Lincicum led off the game with a nine-pitch at-bat that resulted in a walk.
Lincicum battled back after getting down in the count a pair of strikes.
“It was pretty hard to lay off some of her pitches,” Lincicum said. “I swung at a couple of rises because I was just in attack mode. I wasn’t really trying to be in defend mode, so that’s where I got sidetracked on a couple of those pitches. I thought I could kind of set the tone, especially if I would have gotten a hit. I feel like we would have really had the energy from the start.”
Lincicum advanced to second on a bunt by Ava Faber. She then came home on a single by Jordyn Kennedy, who had both of Centennial’s hits.
“Obviously, we scored first and that was important,” Lincicum said. “We did have that energy, but just toward the end it shifted a little bit.”
Northwest also used a leadoff walk to tie the game in the third. Maggie Allen received a free pass and went to second on a bunt by Shay Davis, then came home when Alayna Schulte hit an infield single with two outs.
Faber, Centennial’s second baseman, made a diving stop behind the bag. Her throw to the plate, however, was not in time to get Allen.
The Jaguars nearly regained the lead in the top of the fifth after Cami Starr was hit by a pitch with two outs. After pinch-runner Lydia Lacey stole second, Lincicum hit a blooper to center field that looked like it was going to drop–until Davis made a diving catch.
In the bottom of the fifth, Sandholm worked a quick 1-2-3 inning to keep the game tied. She picked up her fourth strikeout before eventually retiring Schlader, the Wolves’ most dangerous hitter, on a foul popup to end the frame.
“Lauren did great,” Ott said. “I think that’s the most I’ve seen her ball move from center field. She also does great under the pressure. I’m really proud of her, and I’m glad that she was able to come and play with us this year.”
Centennial also threatened in the sixth before Schlader pitched her way out of the jam. Faber led off with a walk and pinch-runner Audrey Sandholm advanced to second on a wild pitch before Kennedy lined out to second.
After Ott was intentionally walked, the runners advanced to second and third on a grounder by pinch-hitter Lauren Bartine. Delaney Wyble then popped out to second to end the threat.
In the bottom of the inning, Schulte hit a leadoff single for the Wolves. She then tagged up and moved to second on a fly ball by Kenley Sanger.
Sandholm’s next pitch proved to be her last one of the night.
Leinen took a big swing and sent the ball over the fence in center field for the game-winning blast. It was just her second career home run.
“We just missed one pitch, and they just happened to hit one,” Delaney said. “Otherwise, it was a tie ballgame still.”
Spiegel then came in and got the next two outs to get out of the inning, working around a double by Leela Appeldorn to leave a runner stranded at third.
“Lauren pitched lights out all night long,” Delaney said. “We had a plan going in, and she executed it. We had a plan to go to Peyten too–maybe not in the situation that we did–but Lauren pitched great and had them off-balance all night. It was just a great night out of her.”
Centennial needed to pull off one of its trademark comebacks in the top of the seventh, but it wasn’t meant to be. Schlader retired the Jaguars in order to close out the game, picking up her 300th strikeout of the season along the way.
“We have some pretty talented players here and some pretty special players,” Delaney said. “(Schlader) is a really good pitcher, but we’ve got some really good hitters too and some great athletes. Even if they didn’t get them tonight, I had confidence in them to get hits tonight.”
Delaney will now have to replace nine seniors, including a first-team all-American in Kennedy. Second-team all-region pick Ott, who was named to the all-tournament team for the third time in four seasons, will also depart along with Lincicum and Mylie Hatfield–who were also selected to the all-tournament team.
“All the numbers they did put up, it was a great season and they should be proud of that,” Delaney said. “Forty-plus wins, we won the CIML, big things happened with this group. The nine seniors left the program in a better position from when they came in five years ago. They gave a building block for those juniors and sophomores in the dugout and all the little girls who were in the stands tonight. That’s what it’s all about too–to promote this great program at Ankeny Centennial.”
Sandholm will be among the returnees next year along with Spiegel, who was the fourth Jaguar named to the all-tournament team.
“When you look at the two of us, we’re a hard duo to beat,” Sandholm said. “It didn’t work out in our favor this time, but I’m excited to play with Peyten again next year.”
