Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: Ty McKinney of Webster City connects for a double against St. Edmond on Wednesday at Rogers Park. For more photos, please visit CU.messengernews.net

Mike Szalat continues to preach patience and day-by-day improvement out of his St. Edmond baseball team.

For four innings here Thursday night against Webster City, Szalat saw plenty of positives.

However, fielding errors and mental mistakes allowed the Lynx to plate the final 10 runs of the contest and score a 12-6 victory over the Gaels at Rogers Park in a North Central Conference contest.

Ty McKinney hit a towering two-run homer in the seventh that cleared the green wall in left for Webster City (4-7 overall, 1-0 in North Central Conference), Keegan Hisler was 3-for-4 at the plate with a triple, three runs scored, two RBI and a stolen base, while also coming on in relief to earn the win, striking out seven over five innings.

CJ Hisler and Connor Hanson each had two hits, with Hanson driving in three runs. The Lynx have now won nine of the last 10 meetings with St. Edmond (1-3, 1-2), with this one being the first to not reach the run-rule since 2017.

For the Gaels, Hayden Derrig was 3-for-4 with three runs, a double and six strikeouts in five-plus innings, John Nemmers drove in two and Grant Galles, JT Laufersweiler and Ethan Swisher each had an RBI.

“We’ve got to do a better job of supporting our pitchers,” Szalat said. “The seniors talked about it after the game and I think everyone is on board with the idea that it doesn’t matter how old you are now, it is your time to contribute and be a productive player.

“It hasn’t been good going up against (Webster City) as of late for us, so to have a lead and be in control early, that was a good indicator of where we are. But, you have to finish games like this and stay in control of things.”

St. Edmond erased an early deficit with a run in the first and two more in the second, highlighted by a two-RBI double from Nemmers. The Gaels took a 6-2 lead in the fourth after Laufersweiler plated Derrig and Galles drove in Nemmers.

In the fifth, though, Webster City got rolling, scoring four runs to tie it at 6-all. Hanson had a bases-clearing three-RBI double. They went up on the heels of a three-run sixth before McKinney added some insurance runs with his homer in the final inning.

“We had too many errors again and we had too many other mistakes to beat a quality program like Webster City,” Szalat said. “But we also had plenty of positives that we can use going forward.”

Next action for Webster City will be on Thursday when they host Emmetsburg followed by a return to NCC play Friday vs. Clarion-Goldfield/Dows. St. Edmond travels to Iowa Falls-Alden Friday and plays in Carroll at the CYO Tournament Saturday.

WEBSTER CITY 12, ST. EDMOND 6

WC 100 143 3 — 12 13 3

SE 121 200 0 — 6 7 3

WP–Keegan Hisler (1-1, 5 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 7 K, 3 BB). LP–Hayden Derrig (0-1, 5ª IP, 10 H, 10 R, 6 K, 2 BB).

HR–WC: Ty McKinney. 3B–WC: Keegan Hisler, Briar Klaver. 2B–WC: Ty McKinney, Connor Hanson (2); SE: JT Laufersweiler, John Nemmers. RBI–WC: Ty McKinney (2), Keegan Hisler (2), CJ Hisler, Briar Klaver, Connor Hanson (3), Trey Tesdahl; SE: JT Laufersweiler, John Nemmers (2), Grant Galles, Ethan Swisher. SB–WC: Keegan Hisler (2); SE: Kinnick Henning (2), Ethan Swisher.