ALGONA — A familiar foe stands opposite the Webster City baseball team as they begin their postseason march.

The Lynx take on North Central Conference rival Algona here Friday night in the opening round of Class 3A substate play.

First pitch is set for 7 p.m. at Algona High School.

The winner between Webster City (17-13 overall) and the Bulldogs (25-7) advances to the semifinals and a date with either Boone (18-14) or another NCC team in Humboldt (17-8) on Monday.

Senior Keegan Hisler is hitting .382 with 32 runs, 24 RBI, 20 steals, seven doubles, two triples and a home run to lead the Lynx while Matthew Tesdahl has a .271 average with 26 RBI and 22 runs scored.

On the mound, Hisler has recorded 44 strikeouts and owns a 2.69 earned run average while Josh Griep is 5-3 with 25 strikeouts.

The Bulldogs are led by junior Tate Slagle, as the University of Iowa commit it hitting .500 with seven homers, 43 RBI, 10 doubles and 31 steals while also going 7-0 on the mound with a 0.99 earned run average and 99 strikeouts in 49-plus innings.

Algona, winners of the NCC, won both meetings earlier this year by scores of 6-3 and 9-0. Webster City had won nine straight in the series prior.

North Polk (23-6) is the No. 1 seed in Substate 2 and hosts Greene County (2-19) while Ballard (15-14) and Adel-ADM (15-14) also square off.