Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Tristin Doster of Fort Dodge makes a catch against Harlan at Rogers Park on Friday during the Fort Dodge Invitational. For more photos, please visit CU.messengernews.net

The Fort Dodge softball team got off to a hot start in their home tournament here on Friday, before inclement weather cooled their momentum during a game against No. 4 (Class 1A) Newell-Fonda at Rogers Park.

The Dodgers (10-10 overall) snapped a four-game losing streak with a 9-2 victory over Harlan (7-12) in the opening round of the tournament.

“It’s nice to get our confidence going after playing a brutal stretch of games,” said FDSH head coach Andi Adams. “When you compete against Top-10 opponents at the 5A level, you realize how much sharper you have to be as a program (to reach that point).”

Fort Dodge, which was the designated visitor against the Mustangs (18-5), will take a 1-0 lead with a runner on third base into the continuation of the quarterfinal at 9 a.m. on Saturday.

The Dodgers exploded with four runs in the first inning against Harlan in the opener. Senior Maggie Harvey socked a two-run home runm and Bre Tjebben also drove in a run in the frame.

“It was good to see us smashing the ball,” Adams said. “We have some young players and good leaders that helped push us along.”

The squads went scoreless for the next three innings before the Cyclones got on the board in the top of the fifth. Harlan’s Molly Gubbels hit a two-run blast to cut the Dodger advantage to 4-2.

Fort Dodge didn’t waste any time grabbing its runs back, though, as freshman Loghen Schnetzer led off the bottom of the fifth with a blast that bounced off the top of the fence for a double.

Meagan Hartman was then hit by a pitch, and Harlan loaded the bases by walking Harvey. Senior Mack Provin then cleared the bases with a ringing double to the fence.

Eighth-grade infielder Tristin Doster followed that with her first career home run, scoring Provin and giving the Dodgers their 9-2 edge.

Schnetzer finished the contest 3-for-4 at the plate. Provin drove in three, while Harvey and Doster had two RBI each.

Hartman picked up the victory for the Dodgers in the pitcher’s circle.

“Meagan looked strong,” Adams said. “She was able to keep them at bay, and just made one bad pitch.”

Against Newell-Fonda, Tjebben plated Pederson with an RBI single to start the contest and made it all the way to third on an error and a play at the plate.

Despite the weather delay on Friday evening, the schedule for the semifinals (3 p.m.) and finals (7 p.m.) should continue as scheduled on Saturday.

FORT DODGE 9, HARLAN 2

Harlan 000 020 0 — 2 5 1

Fort Dodge 400 050 x — 9 10 2

Meagan Hartman (W). 2B–FD: Mack Provin, Loghen Schnetzer. HR–FD: Maggie Harvey, Tristin Doster.