Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: Meah McCaleb of Fort Dodge scores against Ames on Monday at Rogers Park. For more photos, please visit CU.messengernews.net

Ames brought the fight to the Fort Dodge softball team on Monday evening at Rogers Park.

The sixth-ranked (Class 4A) Dodgers then finished what the No. 14 (5A) Little Cyclones started.

An early flurry of runs held up as the visitors scored a 3-2 victory in the opener of an Iowa Alliance Conference showdown on Diamond 1. Head coach Andi Adams’ squad returned the favor in the nightcap, doubling up Ames by a final of 6-3.

For the final 11 innings of the twinbill, Fort Dodge (7-3 overall, 5-1 in the IAC North) looked and played the part against the Little Cyclones (11-2, 7-1). Ames was the aggressor out of the gate, though, plating single runs in each of the first three frames and holding off a late Dodger comeback attempt.

“We may have felt like we were ready, but the scoreboard says otherwise,” Adams admitted. “By the time we reached the energy and intensity level we needed, it was just too late and we came up a run short (in the opener).

“You can’t come into a (doubleheader) against a quality opponent on your home field and let them take the momentum of a big crowd and everything else away. To their credit, they did. To our credit, though, we got into a good rhythm and at least got the split. It’s not ideal, obviously, but we showed good fight and resilience after being kind of shaky early on.”

Trailing 3-0 in the sixth of game one, sophomore Hope Alstott and senior Meah McCaleb led off the frame with consecutive singles to get Fort Dodge on the board. A bunt by sophomore Ellie Doster led to an error and a run, and back-to-back singles by senior Cadence Touney and freshman Grace Nichols put the go-ahead opportunity on base before the rally was thwarted.

Sophomore Calliegh Zimmermann doubled in the seventh to represent the tying run, but senior pitcher Sydney Smalley (7-0) closed the door and sealed the win.

Senior Lucy Porter (4-1) went the distance, striking out eight for the Dodgers despite suffering her first loss of the season.

The second contest followed a similar pattern in the beginning stages, as Ames plated two runs in the third and another in the fourth to pull ahead 3-1. With potentially only nine outs left to avoid the sweep, Fort Dodge erupted for a five-run fifth inning.

McCaleb led off with a single, Touney reached on an error, and freshman starting pitcher Aubrey Alstott ripped an RBI single to pull the Dodgers within a run. Porter then came through with a two-run single to push FDSH ahead to stay, with Hope Alstott and Ashlyn Wills following with RBI base hits of their own for insurance.

Alstott (3-2) encountered a jam in the sixth, putting runners on first and second with just one out after a double and a walk. She enduced a popout, then after a walk to load the bases, forced another pop fly to end the threat.

“It was great seeing Aubrey working through that,” Adams said. “She wants it so bad. I reminder her to just take a deep breath and trust your training. She’s put in so much work to get to this point, and it was big for her to finish.”

Doster gunned out senior Josie Thielen, who was attempted to steal, at second base to close the door.

Hope Alstott had two hits and scored twice, with Wills driving in a pair.

“Our defense was almost perfect behind our pitchers, and I thought our at-bats got better as the night went on,” Adams said. “We had different kids contributing up and down the lineup. We’re still needing to produce more extra-base hits (the Dodgers have only 18 in 10 games) to get the offense going and finish off rallies, but we have capable players that can get the job done. They just need to trust and believe in themselves.”

All players from the Pride youth travel system were recognized on Monday between games from ages 8U to 12U.

Fort Dodge heads to Des Moines Roosevelt on Wednesday to face the Roughriders (6-3) in a doubleheader that starts at 3:30 p.m.

AMES 3, FORT DODGE 2

Ames 111 000 0 — 3 7 1

Fort Dodge 000 002 0 — 2 7 0

WP–Sydney Smalley (7-0; 7 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K); LP–Lucy Porter (4-1; 7 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 8 K). 2B–FD: Calliegh Zimmermann; A: Hailey Craig, Kiley Sodahl. SB–FD: Hope Alstott.

FORT DODGE 6, AMES 3

Ames 002 100 0 — 3 7 1

Fort Dodge 100 050 x — 6 6 1

WP–Aubrey Alstott (3-2; 7 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K); LP–Josie Thielen (4-2; 6 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 0 BB, 2 K). 2B–FD: Hope Alstott; A: Mya Geffre, Hailey Craig, Camryn Johnson. SB–FD: Kam Gochee, Calliegh Zimmermann, Hope Alstott.