Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

FORT DODGE – Sometimes you have it sometimes you don’t.

Class 5A sixth-ranked City High picked the most inopportune time to not have it on Tuesday.

City High issued six free passes and had just three hits in a 2-0 loss to No. 10 Ankeny Centennial (32-9) on Tuesday in a state quarterfinal at Harlan Rogers Sports Complex in Fort Dodge.

“I didn’t have it tonight,” City High senior Ella Cook said. “This is a bad place to not have it.”

Meanwhile Ankeny Centennial senior Sam Klug certainly had it going on Tuesday.

Klug struck out nine in a three hitter as Ankeny Centennial returned to the Class 5A semifinals for the second consecutive season.

The Jaguars will face fifth-ranked Pleasant Valley (34-7) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Pleasant Valley defeated No. 12 Southeast Polk 11-10 in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.

City High dropped to 33-8 and will face No. 12 Southeast Polk in a consolation contest on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m.

“She is a very good pitcher,” City High senior Ayana Lindsey said. “She moved the ball in and out of the zone pretty well and got some good calls and went high when she had two strikes and that kept us off balance.”

For most nights over the past four summers City High has been on top of its game.

The Little Hawks have won 113 games over the past four seasons while reaching the state tournament three times during that span.

Tuesday was an uncharacteristically quiet night for a City High offense that entered hitting .340 as a team while averaging nearly eight runs per game.

“I think we squared the ball up pretty well and they made some good plays,” Cook said. “We just missed a few. We weren’t striking out a lot and we were hitting it hard and that’s all we can ask for but tonight they didn’t fall.”

Ankeny Centennial took an early 1-0 lead when Addi Starr led off the game with a walk, moved to second on an Anna Christiansen single, advanced on a Sydney Morris sac bunt and scored on an Ella Schulz sacrifice fly.

The Jaguars tacked on a run without a hit in the third.

Lauren Solis drew a leadoff walk, advanced to second on a wild pitch moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on another wild pitch.

In all, Centennial took advantage of six walks and three wild pitches.

That was enough for Klug who entered with a 9-5 record and a 2.38 ERA in 94 innings.

The senior right-hander scattered three hits and didn’t walk a batter on Tuesday.

“She moved it around a little bit and we weren’t ready for it,” Lindsey said. “I think she got some calls but in the end we didn’t string hits together.”

Koenig had a two-out triple off the left field fence in the first but was left stranded at third when Cook flew out to center field.

A two-out single by Lindsey in the third and a one-out double down the left field line by Cook in the fourth accounted for all the City High hits.

Klug retired the final 11 batters she faced after the double by Cook.

A deep fly ball by Lindsey was caught at the center field fence leading off the sixth.

“We were squaring them up right to them which is unfortunate,” Lindsey said. “You can’t really change anything, you are hitting the ball and you can’t ask for anything more than that.”

City High senior starters Koenig, Cook, Lindsey and Cynthia Hull will cap their prep careers on Wednesday.

“I don’t think I’m ever going to forget it,” Cook said. “I got to play with my three best friends for five years and three times at the state tournament so if it had to end I wanted it to end here.”

Ankeny Centennial           101  000  0  –  2  2  0

City High                               000  000  x  –  0  3  0

W – Sam Klug                                    L – Ella Cook

2B – ICH: Ella Cook

3B – ICH: Carey Koenig

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