And for missing the majority of the 2016 season with a leg injury, WCHS junior Haley Flaws didn’t appear to miss a beat.

It was Flaws’ speed and aggressive base running that enabled the Lynx to fend off North Central Conference rival Fort Dodge St. Edmond, 10-9, even if no one thought at the time that one play in the bottom of the sixth inning would be the difference.

With WCHS (1-0, 1-0 NCC) in front 9-6 in the sixth, Flaws — a right-hander who hits from the left side to exploit her speed — led-off with a base hit to left and promptly swiped her third base of the night. Standing on second when Courtney Lampman popped up in foul territory, Flaws tagged up and took off for third on the catch. The Gaels (0-2 0-1 NCC) threw wildly to third, allowing Flaws to trot home to up the Lynx lead to 10-6.

Why was that so crucial? St. Edmond put up three runs in the seventh and had the tying and go-ahead runs on base when Lynx pitcher Erin Bahrenfuss induced a pop-up to shortstop Taylor McKinney to end the game.

WCHS sophomore Cynthia Whitehill takes a letters-high pitch and parks it over the fence in left-center field for a two-run home run in the second inning against St. Edmond on Wednesday. DFJ photo/Troy Banning

“You’ve got to get every run you can get … you can score on foul balls,” WCHS head coach Jess Howard said. “It was being able to be coached and that was a huge run. When (Flaws) has got the speed that she does, it’s going to be hard for teams to make the plays.”

Flaws, who went 3 for 4 at the top of the lineup, could have said she was tagging up the whole way. But she admitted it was the shouts from Howard that allowed the play to occur.

“She was yelling,” Flaws said. “I wouldn’t have gone.”

The offenses dominated the night. The two teams combined to belt 21 hits, seven of which went for extra bases. St. Edmond found the gap for four doubles; Macey Mason collected two of them, one in the sixth and another in the seventh inning. Taylor McKinney laced a two-run double for the Lynx, and Cynthia Whitehill and Cassidy Nerland both blasted two-run home runs.

Not bad for the first game.

WCHS shortstop Taylor McKinney (left) attempts to get the tag down on St. Edmond’s Jaque Oberg in the first inning on Wednesday. DFJ photo/Troy Banning

“Wow, it felt pretty cool,” Whitehill, who went 2 for 2, said of her second-inning two-run shot to left-center field that put WCHS in front 2-1. “I’ve been working on trying not to drop my shoulder so I can get under the ball, and we’ve been practicing our hitting a lot. That’s definitely been a big focus for us.”

The work at the plate overshadowed what was a rough first outing defensively for the Lynx. They committed seven errors — there were booted grounders, wayward throws and a dropped fly ball — that led to five unearned runs.

“They’re not always pretty. Sometimes they’re ugly, but it was a win,” Howard said. “It’s tough to come out with that conference game right away and not have one of those games to get the jitters out, but it’s also not an excuse. But the mistakes that we made are mistakes that are easily correctable.”

Flaws also scored runs in the third and fourth frames. WCHS took control for good in the fourth with a five-run outburst to push its lead to 9-4. The first four batters reached base, and with two outs McKinney smoked a double into the gap in left-center to score courtesy runner Stacey Meyer and Zoey Woodle. Nerland followed with a low screaming line drive that cleared the fence in right field for the 13th home run of her career.

“Once we got through the lineup once, we came through and produced,” Howard said after her club rattled off 11 hits against St. Edmond pitcher Ella Vratny. “The girls have put in a lot of time in the offseason. They’ve been doing a lot of weights and hopefully that will pay off for us so that we can have those extra base hits to be able to produce runs with fewer hits and not have to get base hit after base hit.”

WCHS senior third baseman Courtney Lampman whips the ball to first for the out during the Lynx 10-9 win over St. Edmond Wednesday. DFJ photo/Troy Banning

Seven Lynx players finished with at least one hit. Nerland joined Whitehill with two, while Lampman, Bahrenfuss and Taylor Schnathorst all connected for singles.

Bahrenfuss earned the complete-game win in the circle for the Lynx. The senior right-hander was touched for 10 hits. She walked four and struck out four, three of them coming in the opening inning.

WCHS will face an important early season game this evening when it travels to Humboldt to face the No. 4-ranked (Class 3A) Wildcats (2-0, 1-0 NCC). Both teams are expected to be contenders for the league crown this summer.

Webster City 10, St. Edmond 9

Wednesday at Webster City

DFJ photo/Troy Banning

St. Edmond 103 002 3 — 9 10 2

Web City 022 501 x — 10 11 7

Ella Vratny and Kacey Kruthoff. Erin Bahrenfuss and Cynthia Whitehill. W — Bahrenfuss. L — Vratny. 2B — SE: Jocy Timmerman (2), Audrey Kolacia, Macey Mason; WC: Taylor McKinney. HR — WC: Whitehill, Cassidy Nerland. RBI — SE: Timmerman (2), Mason, Megan Flattery, Jaque Oberg, Devyn Scott; WC: Whitehill (2), Nerland (2), McKinney (2), Haley Flaws.