WEBSTER CITY – With a firm grasp on his ball club’s demeanor, Webster City head baseball coach Mark Fisher knows the right buttons to push at the appropriate times.

At times he has consoled. At times he has stroked egos.

But there have also been times, like following Wednesday night’s 14-3, 5-inning loss to North Central Conference rival Humboldt, that he has taken off the kid gloves.

For more than five minutes following the abbreviated contest, Fisher spoke in a raised voice – not yelling, but firm – as he explained where he felt the game was lost.

And it wasn’t only on the field. It was between the ears, too.

“This wasn’t a situation where we were young, this was more of the culture that baseball has been at Webster City, this was an example of us fighting that a little bit,” Fisher said. “We had guys that were just in awe of what Humboldt was … we played scared. We didn’t play with a chip on our shoulder and that’s something we’ve got to fight through.”

Winners of 10 of its last 11 games, Humboldt (16-5, 8-2 NCC) applied the pressure with a potent lineup that bashed 10 hits. But the Wildcats were also patient enough to draw nine walks – five coming from Lynx starter Dylan Steen and four more from reliever Collin Oswald.

Steen, an eighth grader, was charged with 11 runs, eight of them earned, in 31?3 innings. He struck out four before departing with the bases jammed with Wildcats in the fourth.

“I think he let that lineup get in his head a little bit,” Fisher said of his young hurler. “He was trying to be finer with his pitches instead of just trusting his stuff and going after them. But that’s a lesson he learns.”

Humboldt lead-off stick Chris Witzke was a perfect 4-for-4 with three runs scored and two RBI. His first base knock – a spinner that looked like an easy put-out for shortstop Romel Martinez before it took a hop straight left and into left field – was an early sign of the long night the Lynx were about to endure.

Witzke stole second and third before racing home on a wild pitch to put the Wildcats in front for good.

Devon Clark went 2-for-4 with a RBI right behind Witzke, and Austin Zylstra was 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI in the No. 3 spot.

Zylstra spanked a run-scoring single in the second to help Humboldt build a 5-0 edge. WCHS (6-12, 5-6 NCC) drew to within 5-3 in the third, but the Wildcats immediately went back on the attack with six runs in the fourth, keyed by Zylstra’s RBI double into the gap in right-center.

After getting the first out of the inning on a strikeout, Steen was touched for three hits and issued three free passes before handing the ball over to Oswald in the fourth.

“We showed really good fire and composure getting it back to 5-3, but then we let the wheels fall off,” Fisher said. “Make no mistake, they are a good hitting team. But at the same time, we’ve got to be able to battle and compete and stay in the game.”

The Wildcats tacked on three more runs in the fifth off three walks and a Brady Shelgren base hit.

Connor Vitzthum added a single for Humboldt, which sits just one game behind sixth-ranked (Class 2A) Clear Lake in the race for the league title.

Vitzthum was the beneficiary of the offensive assault, as he went the distance on the bump to pick up the win. He limited WCHS to just three hits and walked only one while fanning six.

Two of the Lynx hits came in their three-run third inning. After a lead-off walk to Steen and a one-out beaning at the expense of Martinez’s elbow, Noah McKinney laced a line-drive single to left to plate one run. Cal Zahn followed with a towering shot down the line in right that was misplayed by Humboldt’s Tyler McKibban; it fell in for a double that brought in two more runs.

Lynx designated hitter Jordan Tanner added a two-out base hit up the middle in the fourth.

Following last night’s non-conference road game at Pocahontas Area, WCHS will make the trek to Clear Lake tonight to face the Lions. The league leaders will no doubt have motivation with the memory of a 7-3 loss to the Lynx on June 16 in Webster City.