PERRY — The Webster City softball team finished as the runner-up here on Saturday at the Paul and Mary Ann Graves Classic.

After besting host Perry, 10-6, the Lynx (3-5 overall) fell to No. 5 (Class 3A) Van Meter in the finals, 9-1.

“Like we have through most of the early part of the season, we responded very well after a tough loss (on Friday to sixth-ranked (1A) St. Edmond),” WCHS head coach Brad VanDeer said. “We hit the ball well against Perry and put pressure on them when running bases. It was another sign of progress as we have a lot of first time starters learning on the fly.

“We were missing a couple of regular starters, which forced us to move some players around. I thought Kylee Fortune played extremely well defensively as she stepped up into a starting role. Izzy Weinschenk started at catcher for the first time and was very solid.”

Morgan Tempel was 3-for-4 with two doubles, three RBI and a home run to lead the Lynx vs. Perry. Alivia Burns had two hits, scored a run and drove in a run, Amanda Lahr was 3-for-3 with two RBI, and Jakaela Cherry scored twice with a double.

Briley VanDeer worked three-plus innings, striking out four while earning the win. Cherry recorded four outs inside the circle.

“Morgan Tempel is starting to find her groove swinging the bat, which we really need,” VanDeer said. “Going against Van Meter with a very irregular defensive lineup, we played pretty well.

“We had some mistakes, but the big thing we took away from this game was not giving up the huge inning. Unfortunately, we gave up runs in each inning that ended up putting the game out of reach before we could start a rally.”

Burns and Lahr each had a hit vs. Van Meter, and Izzy Weinschenk scored the lone run.

After visiting Algona on Monday, Webster City now hosts Hampton-Dumont/CAL on Wednesday night.