WEBSTER CITY – It was a loss that was earned. Why? Because of so many unearned runs allowed.

Webster City didn’t necessarily have a disastrous night defensively on Monday at Lynx Field, but an error here and an error there eventually added up in a 9-7 setback against North Central Conference rival Hampton-Dumont.

It was quite a reversal from the first meeting – a 12-0, 5-inning rout won by WCHS. But this time the Lynx were unable to overcome their four errors that translated into eight unearned runs.

“It wasn’t necessarily that they drilled us or that we made a lot of mistakes, but it was in the execution,” WCHS head coach Mark Fisher said. “They’re a very aggressive base running team and they made us pay.”

It was the second consecutive loss and ninth in the last 11 outings for a Lynx team that played with six freshmen and sophomores for the majority of the night. Equally inexperienced, Hampton-Dumont (6-10, 2-2 NCC) showed flashes of a dangerous team by lacing 11 hits.

“They’re young and they’re in the same boat as us where they’ll look terrible one night and great another night,” Fisher said of the Bulldogs. “They hit the ball a lot better (on Monday than in the first encounter) and we didn’t hit the ball nearly as well.”

Bulldogs’ clean-up stick Nate White tormented WCHS all night. He went 4 for 4, highlighted by a fifth-inning solo home run just inside the foul pole down the left-field line off Lynx reliever Cameron Moen. It was the only earned run that WCHS allowed.

Justin Kent went 2 for 4 with a RBI for the visitors and winning pitcher Caleb Chaney drove in two runs.

Three walks issued by WCHS starting hurler Dylan Steen was followed by a three-run error that staked the Bulldogs to a quick 3-0 lead in the top of the first.

Moen took over with two outs in the first and held Hampton-Dumont scoreless until White’s blast that knotted the game at 4. The Bulldogs scored the go-ahead run in the sixth and took advantage of two more WCHS errors to plate four in the seventh.

Moen was on the hook for six of the runs. He struck out four and walked one in six innings of work.

Back-to-back singles by Romel Martinez and Ty Schnathorst in the bottom of the first put WCHS in business. A line-drive base hit by Corey Wagner brought Martinez to the dish and Schnathorst scored on a RBI ground ball by Steen to cut the Bulldogs’ early lead to 3-2.

WCHS went ahead in the fourth inning with two runs. Jordan Tanner, aboard on an error, and Schnathorst, on with his second base hit, both scored to make it 4-3 in the Lynx favor. Max Hackbarth was responsible for one of the runs with a RBI single.

Trailing 9-4 in the seventh, WCHS made some noise by loading the bases with nobody out. After a pitching change, Bryan Ferrell drove in one run on a hard grounder up the middle and Collin Oswald followed with a two-RBI single to right to bring the Lynx within two runs. But Jacoby Mutschler was able to finish off the save by getting Tanner to fly out to deep left and Martinez to pop up on the dirt.

Cole Reigelsberger joined Schnathorst with two hits in the loss. Ferrell added a single.

Chaney gave up six hits, struck out four and walked two in his six-plus innings on the mound.

Following last night’s non-conference road game against South Central Calhoun, WCHS returns to conference play this evening with a road date against Fort Dodge St. Edmond at 7:30 p.m.