The St. Edmond softball team stood toe-to-toe with Class 3A’s seventh-ranked team in Saydel here Thursday night at Rogers Park.

And while the 12th-ranked (1A) Gaels were unable to secure the win, the fight they showed head coach Bill Shirbroun was important.

The Eagles scored two in the fifth off a home run by Addyson Mitchell and added two more in the sixth to claim a 4-2 victory and the fifth straight in the series with St. Edmond.

“We battled,” Shirbroun said. “I’m so proud of that. We didn’t play our best game, but we hung in there with a very talented team and against a talented pitcher.

“I liked a lot of what I saw from our girls.”

Dakota Lake picked up steam as the game wore on, striking out 13 including six of the final seven batters she faced. Lake allowed just three hits, walked two and struck out the side three times on the night.

“She is as good a pitcher as we have faced this year,” Shirbroun said, “and maybe as good as we will. But I thought we did a good job of attacking at the plate and trying to do a few other things to create runs.

“Even in the seventh, we were up there battling.”

Kaili Henning had four strikeouts and allowed just six hits for the Gaels (18-4 overall), while also driving in a run. Hadley Oswald had the other RBI, while Lauren Gibb walked, stole a base and scored a run.

Gracie Harvey had a double and scored, Faith Shirbroun stole two bases and Alyson Nieland had a hit.

Saydel started the year 20-0 before going 1-2 entering last night. The Eagles beat St. Edmond 4-1 last season and fell to state semifinalist Williamsburg in the postseason.

“That’s just a really talented, tough team,” Shirbroun said. “I’m just really happy with how competitive we were and how much we continued to grow.”

Rylee Carney had two hits and a stolen base for Saydel, while Ryley Pecina had a double and scored a run.

St. Edmond returns to North Central Conference play on Friday night when they host Clear Lake beginning at 7:30 p.m.

SAYDEL 4, ST. EDMOND 2

Saydel 000 022 0 — 4 6 1

St. Edmond 001 100 0 — 2 3 1

WP–Dakota Lake (7 IP, 2 R, 3 H, 13 K, 2 BB). LP–Kaili Henning (7 IP, 4 R, 6 H, 4 K, 2 BB). HR–S: Addyson Mitchell. 2B–S: Ryley Pecina; SE: Gracie Harvey. RBI–S: Caydance Sharp, Addyson Mitchell (2); SE: Kaili Henning, Hadley Oswald. SB–S: Rylee Carney; SE: Faith Shirbroun (2), Lauren Gibb. LOB–S: 4; SE: 5.