Baseball: Top-ranked Johnston outlasts Ankeny Centennial in substate final on walk-off walk

The top-ranked Johnston baseball team outlasted a late-game surge to beat fifth-ranked Ankeny Centennial in the Class 4A Substate 2 final on Wednesday night.

The Dragons won, 3-2, to improve to 33-4 overall this season and advance to the Class 4A state tournament, set for next week at Duane Banks Field in Iowa City. The Jaguars, walk-off winners on Monday against Mason City, ends their summer 25-14-1.

Unlike Centennial’s walk-off single to right, the Dragons won on a walk-off … walk.

Johnston led 2-0 after three innings, on Tyne Weeden’s RBI double in the second and Michael Siemer’s RBI double in the third. The Jaguars came within 2-1 on Lincoln Lacey’s RBI grounder in the sixth and tied the game on Nick Severson’s grounder to short in the seventh.

In the bottom of the seventh, after Centennial ace Joey Oak left the game — he struck out 11 over 6.1 innings — Johnston loaded the bases with one out. Sam Hesselman grounded into a force-out at home for the second out, but a walk to pinch-hitter JT Garcia allowed the Dragons to win.

Johnston will head to the state tournament for the ninth time in the last 10 years, a stretch that includes state titles in 2013, 2017 and 2020, and title game appearances in both 2019 and 2021. They will be among the heavy favorites in Iowa City next week.

Class 4A substate baseball results and notes

Johnston was one of four Central Iowa teams to qualify for the Class 4A state baseball tournament on Wednesday night. Here's a rundown of the other Class 4A substate final results from around the state:

• #4 Waukee 9, Southeast Polk 4 — The Rams were led by Lawson DeWeerdt, who went 1-for-2 with 3 RBI; Noah Van Wyk, who went 2-for-3 with two doubles and three RBI; and Camden Kaufman, who struck out nine over six innings.

• #7 Dowling Catholic 9, Linn-Mar 2 — Dowling's Evan Curran struck out five over five innings while Trever Baumler went 2-for-2 with three RBI and Cooper Nicholson and Blake Larson both hit homers.

• #3 Cedar Rapids Prairie 2, Cedar Rapids Kennedy 1 (9 inn.) — Prairie's walk-off win started with Maddux Frese's double to left to leadoff the ninth. Cal Cullivan and Noah Day both walked to load the bases, then Brandon Vlcko lined a 1-0 pitch to right, scoring Frese. On the mound, Frese allowed three hits total and struck out eight. Kennedy’s Jace Scott allowed two hits and struck out five over seven innings.

• Iowa City Liberty 5, #9 Pleasant Valley 4 — Liberty takes down the defending Class 4A state champs. Luke Ramsey went 3-for-3, stole two bases, and scored three runs, including the game-winner in the top of the seventh.

• #2 Iowa City High 8, Bettendorf 0 — Cade Obermueller struck out 13 over 5.1 innings and also went 2-for-4 with a double and RBI. City High collected 12 hits total.

• Indianola 8, #10 Urbandale 6 — Indianola scored runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings to turn a 3-2 deficit into an 8-3 lead in the middle of the fifth. Brady Blake struck out seven over five innings and also went 2-for-4 with a double and a HR. Jack Strong also hit a solo shot. Indianola is headed to state for first time since 2010.

• #6 Waukee Northwest 1, W.D.M. Valley 0 — Waukee Northwest advances to state in their first season. Anthony Watts struck out 11 and allowed three hits on just 88 pitches in seven innings. Wolves scratched a run across in the sixth to win.

Class 3A substate baseball results and notes

The Class 3A substate finals also took place Wednesday night and featured high-octane offense, stellar defense and extra-inning upsets. The winners qualified for the 3A state tournament, which will also be held in Iowa City next week.

Here's a rundown of the results:

• Sergeant Bluff-Luton 8, Spencer 3 — Warriors broke it open with a 5-run fifth inning. Freshman Brayden Kerr went 2-for-3 with 2 RBI. Bryce Click struck out four and allowed four hits over 6.1 innings.

• Winterset 19, Webster City 5 — A nine-run first inning ultimately fueled a five-inning pummeling for the Huskies. Eighth-grader Ben Porter went 3-for-5 with five RBI. Justin Hackett and Jensen Kaldenberg both knocked in three runs each, and Hackett struck out 11 over five innings.

• #6 Western Dubuque 5, Clear Creek-Amana 1 — Western Dubuque scored two in the third and three in the fifth. Caleb Klein went 2-for-4 with two RBI. Isaac Then allowed two hits and struck out seven over seven innings.

• #7 West Delaware 3, Central DeWitt 0 — Central DeWitt totaled just four hits, and the Hawks are headed to the state tournament for the first time since 2008.

• #2 Davenport Assumption 11, #8 Marion 1 — Knights broke it open with four runs in the third and iced it with six more in the sixth. Chance Dreyer struck out eight over six innings and also went 2-for-4 with a double and 3 RBI. In the sixth inning, Assumption's Noah Mack reached over the left-field wall and robbed a 3-run homer from Trey Franck. Would’ve made it 5-4, Assumption, at the time.

• #9 Independence 5, #5 Xavier 4 (8 inn.) — Independence scored three in the fourth and led 4-1 in the middle of the sixth, then Xavier scored one in the sixth and two in the seventh to force extras. Mustangs scratched another one across in the eighth to advance. Freshman Sam Hamilton hit a 3-run homer and Independence is headed to state for the first time since 2010.

• Pella 2, #3 Grinnell 0 — Entering this postseason, Pella hadn’t won a postseason baseball game since 2016. They won three this summer and are now headed to the state tournament for the first time since 2016 and just the fourth time ever.

• #1 Lewis Central 10, Glenwood 0 — Lewis Central's JC Dermody struck out 11 and allowed five hit on 67 pitches over six innings. Payton Fort went 1-for-2 with a homer and five RBI. Titans are headed to state for the first time since 2005.

Cody Goodwin covers wrestling and high school sports for the Des Moines Register. Follow him on Twitter at @codygoodwin.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Johnston baseball beats Centennial in substate final on walk-off walk