FORT DODGE – A 14th-place finish in the 16-team Fort Dodge Invitational wasn’t exactly what the Webster City softball team had in mind when the tournament got underway from the Rogers Sports Complex on Friday, but the difficulty of the field had a lot to do with the Lynx 1-3 record.

WCHS (9-14) opened with a 5-3 loss to sixth-ranked (Class 4A) Winterset on Friday and later dropped an 8-7 decision to Harlan. The Lynx lone victory came in a 12-3 thrashing of Emmetsburg Saturday morning, but they were unable to follow it up in the 13th-place game and lost to No. 8-ranked (2A) BCLUW, 11-4.

“There were a lot of good things that happened, but I thought we had chances to win all the games we lost,” WCHS head coach Jess Howard said. “We played really well against Winterset and we were able to go toe-to-toe with them.”

Winterset slapped 11 hits off pitcher Erin Bahrenfuss and took control with three runs in the fifth inning. Grace McDonald bashed a home run, as did Cassidy Nerland and Maddie Anderson for the Lynx.

Kali Dawson added a pair of singles, while Allie Flaws and Hannah Myers had one each in the loss.

Harlan seized control of its clash with WCHS during its six-run fourth inning. Lynx hurler Gabbi Hoversten was touched for 10 hits and was also hurt by two defensive errors.

“We weren’t as sound defensively against Harlan as we were against Winterset,” Howard said.

Flaws went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and a RBI at the top of the order. Nerland hammered a double and plated a run, and Dawson and Catie Boyd both singled.

WCHS smacked 14 hits off Emmetsburg pitchers Ashton Connelly and Hali Noll and dominated the match-up with multiple runs in three of the six innings played.

Courtney Lampman caught fire near the bottom of the order and went 3-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBI. Myers was 2-for-3 with three RBI, Flaws 2-for-5 with two runs scored, and Kenady Highland chipped in a pair of base knocks and drove in one.

Dawson, inserted into the lineup in the No. 2 hole behind Flaws, had the team’s only extra-base hit – a triple.

“She’s been hitting the ball for us really well,” Howard said of Dawson. “We’ve been looking for someone to fill that No. 2 spot and she did a good job.”

Hoversten picked up the win with a complete-game seven-hitter. She walked two and struck out four.

The BCLUW bats caught fire against Bahrenfuss in the first inning, as the Comets roped seven hits and scored eight runs to take complete control. WCHS didn’t do itself any favors with two first-inning errors and six in all.

Flaws found the gap for a triple and went 2-for-4 with a RBI and two runs scored in the Lynx final game of the tournament. Nerland put together a 2-for-3 game with two RBI, and Dawson continued to impress at 2-for-4 with a run scored and RBI.

No. 2-ranked (3A) Solon won the tournament title with a 12-3 romp over No. 4 (4A) Fort Dodge Saturday night.

WCHS will return to North Central Conference play tonight with a road game against Hampton-Dumont at 7:15 p.m.