Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Bryce Bradley of Algona makes a throw to first against St. Edmond on Monday at Rogers Park. For more photos, visit CU.messengernews.net

Coming off a productive week in North Central Conference action, St. Edmond head baseball coach Joe Shanks was hoping to see continued progress.

Instead, the Gaels took a step back here Monday night, falling to Algona at Rogers Park, 9-4.

Nick Stein had 11 strikeouts and allowed just two hits in six-plus innings of work for the Bulldogs (11-13 overall, 8-2 in NCC). Bryce Bradley was 3-for-5 with two RBI, a steal and a run scored from his leadoff spot, while Spencer Holmes and Nick Goche recorded back-to-back triples in a three-run second.

“We didn’t adjust and at this time of the season, you have to be adjusting and getting better,” Shanks said. “We just aren’t doing that right now. (Stein) is good, but we didn’t adjust to his fastball. We had too many kids get called out looking at the third strike.”

For St. Edmond (12-12, 6-5), Nick Bennett scored twice and stole a base, while eighth-grader Peyton Scott and freshman Noah Carlson each had an RBI.

Jake Szalat suffered the loss on the mound, allowing seven hits in five-plus innings of work. He did record a single and drew a walk at the plate.

“Jake didn’t pitch bad, we just didn’t give him any support,” Shanks said. “Credit Algona because they hit his fastball and had quality at-bats, but we have to do a better job of not getting down on ourselves and finding some energy.

“We’ve only got a few games left in the season and now is the time we have to be improving. Hopefully, we can do that this week and get better.”

Cael Kolacia had an RBI-double in the fifth for the lone extra-base hit of the night for SEHS, which had a four-game league win streak snapped.

Goche was 2-for-3 for Algona, which has now won three in a row and four straight in the NCC. Collin Sexton also had two hits, including a double, while Matt Grein recorded an RBI-double and scored twice from the No. 9 spot in the order.

Stein now has a team-high 47 strikeouts in just under 30 innings. He is 3-1 on the season.

The Gaels return to action on Wednesday when they head to Clear Lake. They follow that up with road dates Thursday at Bishop Garrigan and Friday at Webster City. For the Bulldogs, they host Humboldt on Wednesday.

ALGONA 9, ST. EDMOND 4

Algona 030 014 1 — 9 10 1

St. Edmond 000 112 0 — 4 2 3

Nick Stein (W, 3-1, 6ª IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 11 K, 5 BB), Matt Grein (• IP, 0 K, 0 ER, 1 K, 0 BB) and Nick Goche; Jake Szalat (L, 3-3, 5+ IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 5 K, 2 BB), Jackson Kochendorfer (2 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 K, 2 BB) and Jack McEvoy.

3B–A: Spencer Holmes, Nick Goche. 2B–A: Collin Sexton, Matt Grein; SE: Cael Kolacia. RBI–A: Bryce Bradley (2), Hunter Thompson, Grant Goche, Collin Sexton, Spencer Holmes, Matt Grein; SE: Peyton Scott, Noah Carlson. SB–A: Bryce Bradley, Nick Stein, Nick Goche, Noah Carlson; SE: Nick Bennett. LOB–A: 8; SE: 6.