Unbeaten but somehow unranked, Saydel continued its early-season dominance at Webster City’s expense in the form of an 8-3 victory Tuesday evening. After trailing early, the Eagles ripped off a five-run fourth inning to take control en route to their eighth victory in as many outings.

Saydel (8-0) has now outscored its foes 69-11. WCHS (6-2), meanwhile, saw its five-game winning streak end.

Lake, a tall, hard-throwing right-hander, had her way with the majority of the Lynx lineup. One of the 3A strikeout leaders, she added 15 more to her collection and fanned eight of the nine WCHS batters at least once.

Lake struck out 11 of 12 batters during the middle innings and twirled a five-hitter. Not only did she throw it by many of the WCHS batters, but she nipped at the corners and moved her pitches around to keep the Lynx guessing.

WCHS center fielder Adeline Tesdahl races up on a ground ball single against Saydel on Tuesday in Des Moines. The Lynx dropped to 6-2 on the season with an 8-3 loss. DFJ photo/Troy Banning

“She’s a good pitcher,” WCHS head coach Brad VanDeer said. “She throws hard and she moves it around. We were patient at the plate and sometimes that was a little bit of a disadvantage because we’d get down in the count and then she could throw her riseball or her curveball or her screwball.”

Kelly Stoakes, the Lynx three-time all-state lead-off hitter, got the better of Lake though. Stoakes opened the game by roping a one-hop double off the fence in right field, and her courtesy runner Sierra Steuerwald eventually scored on an Alayna Finucan bunt single and throwing error.

In the sixth inning, with WCHS trailing 5-1, Stoakes jumped on a Lake offering and sent it over the 210-foot sign in center field for a solo home run, her second dinger of the season. She finished 2 for 3 and was the only Lynx batter not to strike out.

“This is the first really good pitcher we’ve seen this year and (Stoakes) looked really comfortable against her,” VanDeer said. “She’s not afraid to hit with two strikes, and if they’re going to come at her, she’s going to do what she does.”

Finucan added two singles. She led off the seventh inning with a knock up the middle and eventually scored on Ava Peterson’s line-drive RBI double to left.

WCHS shortstop Alayna Finucan (left) snares a one-hop throw from catcher Cloe Savitski as Saydel’s Colbie Tenborg (12) slides into second with a stolen base Tuesday evening in Des Moines. DFJ photo/Troy Banning

Stoakes suffered the loss in the circle. She got through the initial three innings unscathed, but Saydel found its offensive rhythm in the third. A two-RBI double to right-center off the bat of Caydence Sharp put the Eagles in front for the first time, and Rylee Carney later added an RBI single to center. A WCHS error led to a pair of unearned runs.

“We got down a little bit and lost our composure that aided some of those runs,” VanDeer said.

Delainey Bargfrede came on in relief and got WCHS out of the fourth-inning jam, but Saydel again pounced in the sixth with three more runs. Lake deposited a Bargfrede pitch over the fence in right-center for a two-run home run as part of the flurry.

Lake, Carney and Kathryn Van Houten all had two hits for the Eagles, who tallied nine in all.

VanDeer is hopeful that his team learned from the loss, and he knows more tough opponents loom on the schedule.

Lynx right fielder Trinity Griffith makes a catch on a shallow fly ball in the second inning against Saydel on Tuesday. DFJ photo/Troy Banning

“Knowing we didn’t play our best and were still competitive, it shows us what we need to do to compete with teams that we want to battle with,” he said.

WCHS resumed its North Central Conference season last night against another unbeaten crew in St. Edmond. The Lynx will be at Hampton-Dumont/CAL tonight, followed by a home game against fourth-ranked (4A) Carlisle on Friday.

Saydel 8, Webster City 3

Tuesday at Des Moines

Webster City 100 001 1 — 3 5 2

WCHS catcher Cloe Savitski moves off the plate to block a relay throw against Saydel on Tuesday in Des Moines. DFJ photo/Troy Banning

Saydel 000 503 x — 8 9 1

Kelly Stoakes, Delainey Bargfrede (4), Stoakes (6) and Cloe Savitski. Dakota Lake and Hunter Tenborg. W — Lake. L — Stoakes. Multiple hits — WC: Stoakes, Alayna Finucan; SAY: Lake, Rylee Carney, Kathryn Van Houten. 2B — WC: Stoakes, Ava Peterson; SAY: Caydence Sharp. HR — WC: Stoakes; SAY: Lake. RBI — WC: Stoakes, Peterson; SAY: Lake (2), Sharp (2), Carney.