WALL LAKE – Defensive breakdowns cost the Webster City softball team a chance at a non-conference victory on the road here Tuesday night.

East Sac County scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the sixth inning and then held on to knock off the Lynx, 5-4. WCHS (12-16) committed five errors that led to five unearned runs for the Raiders (15-9), who won their fifth straight contest.

“We had a lot of very well-played defensive moments, but there were just a few routine letdowns that allowed them to get runners on and they capitalized on that,” WCHS head coach Jess Howard said.

WCHS rattled off seven hits against East Sac County pitcher Ashton Blum. Allie Flaws went 2 for 4 and stole her 46th, 47th and 48th bases of the season. She needs just three more to tie the school record of 51 held by Jenny (Flora) Vinzant (2000 and 2001) and four to own the record outright.

Cassidy Nerland went 2 for 3 with a double and she touched the dish twice. Cynthia Whitehill, Chelsey Wagoner and Courtney Lampman all added singles.

Blum fanned nine and also had a RBI double for the Raiders, who touched WCHS pitcher Erin Bahrenfuss for six hits. Bahrenfuss walked and struck out one.

“(Bahrenfuss) did a great job of moving the ball and throwing strikes in a very tight strike zone,” Howard said.

WCHS went in front 3-2 in the fourth inning on a two-RBI base hit by Wagoner that plated Nerland and Whitehill. East Sac County jumped back in front 4-3 with two runs in the fifth, but Nerland’s extra-base shot and a RBI base knock by Lampman knotted the clash at 4.

The Lynx were in Humboldt to challenge the sixth-ranked (Class 3A) Wildcats last night. WCHS will close out the regular season at home against Clear Lake on Friday.