Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Drake Miller pitches for Fort Dodge on Thursday against West Des Moines Valley at McNeil Field. For more photos, please visit CU.messengernews.net

Blake Utley had one question for his Fort Dodge baseball team following a split with West Des Moines Valley Thursday at Ed McNeil Field.

Which CIML Iowa Conference opponent is too much for the Dodgers to handle?

FDSH scored a 5-2 victory in the opener over the Tigers, who rebounded to claim the nightcap, 4-2.

“We’ve seen everybody now in our league, so I asked the kids who they are concerned about playing,” Utley said. “They answered as a team, ‘nobody.’

“We are right there. We’ve had our ups and downs just like everybody else, but we are starting to put things together.”

Freshman Jace Ulrich hit a two-run homer as part of a five-run second for the Dodgers to support senior left-hander Drake Miller on the mound.

Miller went all seven innings, striking out six with one walk, eight hits and one earned run.

“What a big spot for Jace to come up and launch one over the wall,” Utley said. “And Drake, he’s just the kind of senior pitcher you want. He came off the mound in the sixth saying there was no way he was coming out of the game.”

Drew Callon, Brycen Bell and Mason Bockoven all had two hits in the contest for the Dodgers (9-12 overall), with Bockoven also driving in a run.

“I thought we had some really quality at-bats, but we’ve got to keep applying pressure and scoring runs,” Utley said. “We used what Valley gave us and the kids executed.”

The Tigers struck first in the nightcap, plating a pair of runs in the second and two more in the fourth before the Dodgers scratched across two runs of their own.

Alex Ling had a no-hitter for much of the night, finishing with six strikeouts, no walks and three hits allowed in six innings for Valley. Ling’s earned run average is under 1 for the season.

“Ling pitched a great game,” Utley said. “We had a chance there to tie it as Drake just missed a two-run homer. Still, I thought we had really good approaches and our defense played great all night.”

Anthony Wagner and Carson Peterson each drove in a run. Callon, Nick Bice and Bell finished with hits. Bice and Bell scored.

“Anthony stepped up like a senior and got the run in,” Utley said. “We’ve got a lot of guys doing what we’re asking of them.”

Dylan Zimmermann had five strikeouts over four innings on the mound for the Dodgers, with Nelson Cone pitching the final three without allowing a hit or a walk. Cone struck out one.

The Tigers are now 9-10.

Fort Dodge returns to action on Saturday when they travel to Johnston to face North Scott at 12:15 p.m. and LeMars at 2:30 p.m.

FORT DODGE 5, WDM VALLEY 2

WDM Valley 002 000 0 — 2 8 2

Fort Dodge 050 000 x — 5 8 1

WP–Drake Miller (7 IP, 8 H, 1 ER, 6 K, 1 BB). LP–Ben Detaeye (5 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 4 K, 1 BB).

HR–FD: Jace Ulrich. 2B–FD: Mason Bockven RBI–WDMV: Ben Detaeye; FD: Jace Ulrich (2), Mason Bockoven.

WDM VALLEY 4, FORT DODGE 2

WDM Valley 020 200 0 — 4 7 2

Fort Dodge 000 020 0 — 2 3 1

WP–Alex Ling (6 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 6 K, 0 BB). LP–Dylan Zimmermann (4 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 5 K, 1 BB). S–Blake Grevengoed (1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 2 K, 0 BB).

HR–WDMV: Sam McCune, Nick Buttolph. RBI–WDMV: Tanner Krist, Sam McCune, Nick Buttolph, Gabriel Miller; FD: Anthony Wagner, Carson Peterson.