-Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Meah McCaleb of Fort Dodge slides into home plate against Mason City on Thursday

The second-ranked (Class 4A) Fort Dodge softball team showed plenty of patience at the plate here Thursday night.

After posting a 10-0 victory in five innings over Mason City in the opener at Rogers Park, the Dodgers completed the sweep with a 16-6 win also in five for the 20th straight win in the series.

Fort Dodge (7-1 overall, 3-0 in Iowa Alliance Conference) has won five in a row since a loss to top-ranked (4A) Dallas Center-Grimes.

“We’ve got so many girls playing without a lot of varsity experience, so to be that selective at the plate and wait for the right time to strike, that shows how much time they have put in,” FDSH head coach Andi Adams said. “Sure, there were a few things we need to clean up, but it’s the beginning of June and I know we’ll get it right.”

Lucy Porter allowed just two hits to earn the win, striking out six with one walk. Eighth-grader Hope Alstott drove in three, going 3-for-3 at the plate with two runs scored, while Meah McCaleb, Maggie Elsbecker, Cadence Touney and Porter each drove in a run.

The big inning of the nightcap came in the fourth when the Dodgers plated eight runs. They drew 11 walks in all, with Touney ending the game with a two-run blast in the fifth.

McCaleb reached base all four times she came to the plate, scoring four runs with four steals and an RBI. Elsbecker also reached four times, scoring two runs with two RBI and three steals, while Porter had two hits and drove in four.

Fort Dodge built a 5-0 lead before Mason City’s Adyson Evans cleared the bases in the third with a grand slam.

“We just lost some momentum there for a bit,” Adams said. “That’s something that happens with an inexperienced team and something that we have to get corrected moving forward. We can’t let things like that happen or it will cost us.”

Touney’s homer was the first of her varsity career.

Fort Dodge heads to the West Des Moines Valley Shootout this Saturday to play the host and top-ranked (5A) Tigers at 9 a.m. and West Des Moines Dowling at 5:30 p.m. They return home next week to take on No. 3 (5A) Southeast Polk Monday and intra-city rival and 10th-rated (1A) St. Edmond Tuesday.

FORT DODGE 10, MASON CITY 0 (5 inn.)

Mason City 000 00 — 0 2 5

Fort Dodge 221 4X — 10 11 0

WP–Lucy Porter (5-1, 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 6 K, 1 BB). LP–Adyson Evans (4 IP, 11 H, 10 R, 0 K, 0 BB).

2B–FD: Hope Alstott, Meah McCaleb, Ellie Doster. RBI–FD: Meah McCaleb, Maggie Elsbecker, Hope Alstott (3), Lucy Porter, Cadence Touney, Macy Brown. SB–FD: Maggie Elsbecker, Hope Alstott, Ashlyn Wills (2), Cadence Touney.

FORT DODGE 16, MASON CITY 6 (5 inn.)

Mason City 004 02 — 6 7 0

Fort Dodge 410 83 — 16 8 1

WP–Lydia Lara (3-0, 5 IP, 6 R, 7 H, 0 K, 1 BB). LP–Gweneth Fiser (4+ IP, 16 R, 8 H, 1 K, 11 BB).

HR–MC: Adyson Evans; FD: Cadence Touney. 2B–MC: Reggi Spotts; FD: Meah McCaleb. RBI–MC: Adyson Evans (4), Grace Berding (2); FD: Meah McCaleb, Maggie Elsbcker (2), Hope Alstott, Lucy Porter (4), Lydia Lara, Cadence Touney (3). SB–FD: Meah McCaleb (4), Maggie Elsbecker (3), Hope Alstott, Calleigh Zimmerman.