Messenger photo by Britt Kudla St. Edmond teammates Erin Flattery (right) and Audrey Kolacia try to catch a fly ball at Rogers Park.

The St. Edmond softball team plated two runs in the eighth inning to break a scoreless tie, then hung on for a 2-1 North Central Conference victory over Iowa Falls-Alden on Thursday night at Rogers Park.

Sophomore Sydney Nelson delivered a two-run single up the middle to score Megan Flattery and Jacque Oberg, giving the Gaels (2-4 overall) a 2-0 advantage. Eighth-grader Ella Vratny did surrender a solo home run in the top of the seventh, but finished off the Cadets (3-2) to snap their three-game winning streak.

”I was really excited for the team,” SEHS head coach Nick Clark said. ”Our hitters showed great plate discipline and had really quality at-bats. And Ella had by far her best game so far. She threw strikes and kept their hitters guessing.

”I couldn’t be happier for them. This was a great team win.”

Audrey Kolacia doubled in the victory, while Oberg collected two hits each. Vratny didn’t walk a batter and struck out five.

”She’s really starting to trust her defense and see the value in getting ahead of hitters,” Clark said of Vratny. ”(Second baseman) Rylee Kinney played really well defensively behind her, as did everyone else.”

Vratny stranded the tying run in scoring position to end it.

St. Edmond returns to action on Saturday at the CYO Tournament in Carroll. The Gaels meet Le Mars Gehlen at 10 a.m.

St. Edmond 2, Iowa Falls-Alden 1

Iowa Falls-Alden 000 000 1 — 1 5 2

St. Edmond 000 002 x — 2 7 1

Ashley Bicknese and Lauren Keane; Ella Vratny and Kacey Kruthoff. 2B–SE: Audrey Kolacia.