Dodger Baseball Falls In Playoffs, Three Area Softball Teams Punch Ticket To State, Dodger Softball Could Be The 4th Tonight

Fort Dodge Baseball ran into a bit of a “buzzsaw” Monday Night falling to 5th ranked Sioux City East on the road 10-0 in 5 innings. The Black Raiders got 4 in the 1st inning after CF Tristan Thompson tripled with the bases loaded and then would score. They added 3 in the 3rd and 3 more in the 4th. Dodgers had some tough breaks in the game as they committed a couple uncharacteristic errors and had a bad bounce or two. Dodgers couldn’t get anything going offensively they managed just one hit against East’s Alec Patino which came in the 5th courtesy of 2B Eli Elsbecker. Dodgers conclude their season with the playoff loss they finish over. 500 at 13-10 an improvement from last year. They also had a playoff win and a win vs #1 Urbandale in the regular season.

Three Area Softball teams punched their tickets to next week’s state tournament here in Fort Dodge. Algona will be making a 2nd consecutive trip after they clipped previously undefeated Crestwood 2-0. Algona was able to scratch 2 across in the 5th against Crestwood stand out pitcher Lakin Lienhard who has given up just 7 runs all season in 93 innings of work. Algona pitcher Kam Etherington a complete game shutout in the circle.  Algona is seeded 6th in the Class 3A state bracket and will face #3 seed Williamsburg next Tuesday at 1 PM. Humboldt punched their ticket holding serve on their home field beating MOC-Floyd Valley 3-0. Ellie Jacobson with another shutout in the circle for Humboldt she has yet to allow a run in the postseason. Coach Doug Van Pelt’s squad is making their 3rd trip in 4 years to state after he won his 600th game at Humboldt earlier this season. Humboldt is the 4 seed at state and they take on Mount Vernon Monday Night at 7:30 PM. Newell-Fonda came out strong Monday Night against Exira-EHK scoring 6 in the 1st. Mustangs would never look back from their and would finish EXira-EHK off 10-0 in 5 innings. Newell-Fonda is the 2 seed in Class 1A and faces Lisbon next Tuesday at 7 Pm in the State Quarterfinals. Emmetsburg and Bishop Garrigan both fell shiort in their bids to state losing Monday Night. Emmetsburg fell 4-1 to Central Springs and Bishop Garrigan fell 10-0 to Newman Catholic.

Tonight (Tuesday) Class 5A’s #1 team Fort Dodge hosts Sioux City North with a bid to state on the line. The Dodgers have lost just 3 times all year and all were 2nd games of road double headers. The playoffs are single games per day and sometimes with days off in between. Dodgers haven’t played since last Tuesday in their regular season finale downing Indianola 4-1. Dodgers looking for their 3rd Straight appearance in the State Tournament. You can hear the game tonight a 7 PM 1st pitch on “Sunny” 99.7 and here on our website.

Also tonight a couple of area baseball teams could earn a bid to the State Tournament. In Class 2A, Pocahontas Area takes on Dike-New Hartford at West Fork-Sheffield, Pocahontas Area has lost just once all year. in Class 1A 16-2 Newell-Fonda takes on unbeaten Remsen-St. Mary’s for a bid to state.