WCHS senior Kelly Stoakes (right) nearly tackles Delainey Bargfrede after Bargfrede delivered the game-winning, walk-off two-RBI single in the Lynx come-from-behind 3-2 win over St. Edmond Wednesday night at Lynx Field. Photo by Jodie Casey

WEBSTER CITY — Delainey Bargfrede says there are very few things that make her cry, but the Webster City sophomore was a blubbering mess as she packed her glove and shoes away in her backpack that was hanging from the Lynx dugout fence Wednesday night.

These were happy tears though. Tears that came from seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years of work. In the span of a few seconds — or however long it took for the ball to leave her bat and rocket into center field — it was all so worth it.

The biggest hit of her budding career gave WCHS its biggest win of the season.

After striking out in each of her first three at bats, Bargfrede delivered a bases-loaded, two-out, two-RBI walk-off single back up the middle to give the Lynx a stunning 3-2 victory over previously unbeaten North Central Conference rival and ninth-ranked (Class 1A) St. Edmond. The Gaels led 2-0 entering the last half of the seventh, but WCHS was able to string three hits together in its final at bat to prevail.

“It’s one of those moments where everything just pays off,” Bargfrede, who was still wiping tears out of her eyes five minutes after

her game-winning hit, said. “All of the hours, it all comes together and pays off.

“We wanted this one so bad. It got frustrating when we were down, but we knew every pitch that we could do this and we just had to keep fighting.”

WCHS (7-2, 4-0 NCC) won its 13th consecutive conference game dating back to last season, but more importantly took sole ownership of the NCC lead with the win over St. Edmond (9-1, 4-1 NCC). The Gaels and Humboldt (6-1, 3-1 NCC) are a game behind.

“This was huge because they’re good,” WCHS head coach Brad VanDeer said. “As well as we’ve been playing, we haven’t beaten a team of this caliber yet. We’ve played with confidence all year, but maybe this game is proof of what we’re capable of.”

But it was how the Lynx pulled it off that made the latest victory so memorable. St. Edmond jumped out to a 1-0 lead right away on a Kalli Henning RBI single in the first inning, and Henning spent most of the initial six innings making WCHS look foolish at the plate from her defensive spot inside the pitcher’s circle. Henning struck out 12 batters in all, including eight in the opening four innings.

WCHS also missed some opportunities. It left a runner stranded at third in the second inning, two more in scoring position in the fourth, and yet another in the sixth after the Gaels had doubled their lead to 2-0 in the top half of the frame.

That all changed in the bottom of the seventh though. Ava Peterson breathed life into the Lynx chances with a lead-off single and No. 8 hitter Chloe Andersen followed with a laser double to put the tying runs in scoring position.

Following Henning’s final strikeout, St. Edmond opted to intentionally walk three-time all-state player Kelly Stoakes, a gamble to put the potential winning run on base and it didn’t pay off. WCHS eventually got its first run across on a pick-off attempt and then Bargfrede delivered to score Andersen with the tying run and Sierra Steuerwald, who was on the bases for Stoakes, with the winning run.

“If it wasn’t for the girls in front of me, my hit would have been nothing,” Bargfrede said. “If she was giving me anything close, I was swinging. That’s what I told myself.”

VanDeer said the rally was all about the team. He pointed out that he had Breanna Bahrenfuss pinch-hit for Andersen two innings before she laced her double.

“To have that mindset to come back and have the confidence to do it, the girls know that everybody has their role on the team,” he said.

WCHS finished with seven hits. Alayna Finucan went 2 for 2 with a pair of stolen bases. Bonnie Nohrenberg and Adeline Tesdahl also had singles.

Bargfrede’s offensive heroics helped her out defensively, as she remained unbeaten in the circle. The hard-throwing right-hander limited the Gaels to just three singles and she struck out 10 batters herself.

Alyson Nieland and Anna Kolacia had singles for St. Edmond.

WCHS SOFTBALL GETS BY HDC: Keyed by a two-run sixth inning, the Webster City softball team stayed unbeaten in the North Central Conference with a 4-3 victory over Hampton-Dumont/CAL last night in Hampton.

The Lynx (8-2, 5-0 NCC) won their 14th consecutive conference contest and they currently own the outright league lead.

Ava Peterson cranked a second-inning solo home run, her second of the season, for WCHS.

In the third, Trinity Griffith roped a double and Delainey Bargfrede followed with an RBI double.

WCHS finished with five hits, two of them by Griffith. Kelly Stoakes added a double.

Bargfrede allowed six hits and struck out nine en route to the win in the pitcher’s circle.

Webster City 3, St. Edmond 2

Wednesday at Webster City

St. Edmond 100 001 0 — 2 3 2

Webster City 000 000 3 — 3 7 1

Kalli Henning and Hadley Oswald. Delainey Bargfrede and Kelly Stoakes. W — Bargfrede. L — Henning. Multiple hits — WC: Alayna Finucan. 2B — WC: Chloe Andersen. RBI — SE: Henning; WC: Bargfrede (2).