HUMBOLDT – The North Central Conference championship trophy is on its way to Humboldt.

The sixth-ranked (Class 3A) Wildcats seized outright ownership of the league crown on their home diamond Wednesday night by disposing of their closest rival Webster City by a convincing 7-0 margin. Humboldt swept the season series from the Lynx, outscoring them 17-3.

WCHS (12-17, 9-4 NCC) entered the week on a five-game high and with the potential to claim at least a piece of the title if it could take care of business. Instead, the Lynx lost to Algona on Monday to drop out of contention and Wednesday’s loss was their third straight in as many days.

“We need to have a short memory and come back stronger than before on Friday,” WCHS head coach Jess Howard said of her team’s regular season finale against Clear Lake.

Humboldt (24-6, 12-1 NCC) received a stellar pitching performance from eighth grader Ellie Jacobson, as she changed speeds and moved the ball around to frustrate the Lynx throughout the seven-inning affair. WCHS finished with just two hits – singles by Allie Flaws and Cynthia Whitehill. Jacobson finished with seven strikeouts.

“She kept our hitters off balance and then her defense backed her up,” Howard said “We hit some solid balls that they made the plays on.”

Flaws stole two bases to up her Class 4A lead to 50 on the season. She needs just one more to tie the school record held by Jenny (Flora) Vinzant, who swiped 51 in 2000 and again in 2001 when she was a first-team all-state infielder on the Lynx 2A state championship team.

Flaws has 161 career stolen bases, seven off the pace of Vinzant’s all-time record of 168.

Humboldt rattled off 10 hits – all singles – off Lynx senior pitcher Gabbi Hoversten. The Wildcats went the small-ball route in the first meeting, but Howard says they went with power on Wednesday.

“We did a much better job of handling (the small ball), but they were able to hit the ball hard into the gaps,” she said.

Humboldt scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning, added four more in the fourth and an additional run in the fifth.

WCHS will host Clear Lake this evening. The varsity contest will begin at approximately 7:15 p.m.