-Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Rylan Kingrey of Fort Dodge connects for a single against Mason City on Monday at Ed McNeil Field

It was a rough holiday afternoon at the office for the Fort Dodge baseball team against rival Mason City on Monday, as the visiting Riverhawks remained undefeated on the young season with a doubleheader sweep at McNeil Field.

Scores were 9-1 and 16-4 in favor of Mason City, which opened Iowa Alliance Conference Northern Division play with a pair of impressive Memorial Day victories.

The Riverhawks now sport a perfect 10-0 record, and have outscored their opponents 96-17 thus far.

Head coach Troy Rood’s squad belted eight home runs in all, including three each by senior Kaden Tyler and junior Justyn Rivera. Mason City delivered knockout punches late in both contests, plating five runs in the seventh inning of the opener and seven in the final frame of the nightcap.

“We just weren’t very sharp in any particular aspect of the game,” FDSH head coach Blake Utley said. “It’s not for lack of trying. We’re trying. We just need more practice time and more reps. I said last week (after a doubleheader loss to Waukee) that we have to take the feedback opponents are giving us. Same goes for this one.

“I’m a big believer in learning and progressing, win or lose. We can’t get too caught up in our success if we’re not doing the little things right, and we can’t beat ourselves up too much (in defeat) as long as we understand our mistakes and strive to keep getting better.”

Junior Karch Smith had two hits in game one for the Dodgers, who have now dropped five in a row since a 6-0 start. Sophomore Jase Nekvinda doubled and made a pair of impressive catches in right field.

Senior Dalton Rosalez recorded two hits and a pair of RBI in the second tilt.

Fort Dodge was plagued by shaky defense, as the home team committed three errors in the opener and four more in the nightcap. Seven Riverhawk runs were unearned.

Mason City, meanwhile, didn’t have a single miscue in the field.

The Dodgers return to action on Wednesday at Des Moines East.

“It hurts to lose, of course, but that’s the beauty of baseball: you don’t have much time to get too caught up in (the previous day’s result),” Utley said. “We have to keep working and keep grinding toward the ultimate goal, which is to play our best ball of the year once the postseason rolls around.

“As coaches, our job is to get them ready and get them confident for the next game. So we have to keep bridging the gap by shoring up the areas where we’ve struggled (the last five contests) and become a better overall ballclub this week than we were the week before.”

MASON CITY 9, FORT DODGE 1

Mason City 002 110 5 – 9 7 0

Fort Dodge 000 000 1 – 1 5 3

WP-Ethen Roberts (7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 9 K). LP-Dalton Rosalez (6.1 IP, 7 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 4 K). DP-Fort Dodge 1, Mason City 2. LOB-Fort Dodge 4, Mason City 4. 2B-FD: Jase Nekvinda; MC: Nolan Stiles, Jace Berding. HR-MC: Kaden Tyler 2, Justyn Rivera. SB-MC: Kale Hobart 2, Justyn Rivera.

MASON CITY 16, FORT DODGE 4 (6)

Mason City 422 017 – 16 15 0

Fort Dodge 000 031 – 4 6 4

WP-Breyden Baker (5 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 K). LP-Royce Pederson (4 IP, 7 H, 8 R, 8 ER, 4 BB, 7 K). 2B-MC: Ethen Roberts, Justyn Rivera. 3B-MC: Nolan Stiles. HR-MC: Justyn Rivera 2, Kaden Tyler, Kale Hobart, James Fingalsen. SB-FD: Brayden Reimers, Jaxson Dencklau; MC: Ethen Roberts 2, Kaden Tyler, James Fingalsen, Nolan Stiles, Eli Schultz.