LIVIA KASCH of webster city slides safely into second base against Hampton-Dumont/CAL. (DFJ photo by Jodie Casey)

HAMPTON — At the beginning of the 2023 season, the Webster City softball team was projected to battle for the top of the North Central Conference. After stumbling out of the gate, the Lynx are back in the hunt — trailing No. 6-ranked (Class 1A) St. Edmond by two games.

The purple and gold picked up their second straight, their sixth win in eight games, by blanking Hampton-Dumont-CAL by way of a 12-0 final score in an NCC matchup held this past Monday on the campus of Hampton-Dumont-CAL High School.

Junior Ava Peterson smacked a home run — her second of the summer — for the winning cause, while teammate and Western Kentucky verbal commit Delainey Bargrede fanned six Bulldog batters to pick up another win from within the circle.

According to Brad VanDeer, WCHS head softball coach, the Lynx put it all together against a conference opponent.

“I thought this was our most complete game of the season,” VanDeer said. “We were very good defensively at every spot. We executed at the plate, on the bases and kept putting more pressure on Hampton-Dumont-CAL’s defense, as the game went on. It’s nice to see the ball put in play consistently throughout the lineup, like we did (on Monday).”

From the win, the Lynx improved to 8-10 overall with a 5-2 record within the NCC. The Bulldogs dipped down to 2-4 within the league and 3-9 overall.

This past Tuesday, Webster City returned home and stepped out of conference play, as they hosted Boone at Lynx Field in Webster City. At 7:30 p.m. tonight, the Lynx jump back into their NCC slate with a matchup against Algona, which also takes place at Lynx Field.

Recaps from both matchups against the Toreadors and the Bulldogs will be posted in an upcoming edition of the Daily Freeman-Journal.

Plating three to start the game, the Lynx went scoreless for the next two innings before adding one insurance run each in the top of the fourth and fifth frames. Webster City then broke the game open in the top of the sixth by scoring two runs, and ended the game by plating five runs in the top of the seventh.

Peterson paced Webster City with a single, a stolen base and three RBIs to go along with her roundtripper. Senior Trinity Griffith went 3-of-4 with a single, double and one RBI, as junior Bonnie Nohrenberg went 2-of-3 with an RBI and two stolen bags.

Junior Addy Tesdahl collected two base hits and a stolen base, as senior Livia Kasch picked up a single, three stolen bases and an RBI. To complement her win, Bargfrede recorded a base hit and an RBI.

Sophomore Breanna Bahrenfuss and senior Chloe Andersen each tallied one single and an RBI. Junior Ellie Weinschenk and sophomore Cloe Savitski each collected a stolen base.