WEST DES MOINES — The Fort Dodge baseball team takes on Des Moines Roosevelt here Friday night in the opening round of Class 4A substate action.

First pitch at West Des Moines Valley is at 7 p.m.

The Dodgers (19-21 overall) and Roughriders (26-14) met twice during the regular season, with Roosevelt sweeping the series, 4-0 and 5-0.

After besting Webster City and Clinton recently, Fort Dodge lost its last two games to Bettendorf and Ankeny.

Rylan Kingrey, a junior, is hitting .314 with 44 runs scored to go along with 19 RBI, 11 steals, nine doubles and four tiples for the Dodgers. Karch Smith, a senior, sports a .270 batting average with 27 runs and 23 RBI, hitting three homers.

Tanner Peterson, a freshman, has six wins on the mound and a 2.55 earned run average while classmate Will McElroy has struck out 32.

The Roughriders also lost their last two, getting swept by West Des Moines Dowling after winning three straight.

Senior Jake Espeland is the leading hitter, batting .378 with 51 runs, 35 RBI, 30 steals, 11 doubles, eight triples and five home runs. On the mound, Andrew Swanda has 51 strikeouts and a 2.12 earned run average while Miles Lorentzen owns four wins and a 2.66 ERA.

Overall, Roosevelt has won eight of the last nine meetings after Fort Dodge won six of seven between 2014-2020.

Substate 4 also features Ankeny Centennial taking on Marshalltown and Dowling battling Ames. The highest-remaining seed earns a bye to the final while the other two winners square off Monday.