-Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Maeleena Meyer of Fort Dodge slides around Clarksville Emmalee Manwarren during Dodgers Invitational on Friday at Rogers Park

Andi Adams knows exactly what she wants from her program and what it will take to get there.

Win or lose, Adams wouldn’t change a thing.

The No. 8 (4A) Dodgers (14-7 overall) ran a gauntlet of ranked opponents this week at the annual Fort Dodge Invitational.

Fort Dodge won two and lost two, but the competition was exactly what Adams wants for her group as they prepare to try and extend their consecutive state appearance streak to eight.

The Dodgers finished sixth in the tournament, losing the fifth-place game to fourth-rated (5A) Ankeny Centennial (17-7) on Saturday, 11-2.

In their opener, at Rogers Park earlier in the afternoon, the Dodgers toppled 14th-ranked (5A) Cedar Rapids Kennedy, 3-0.

“We put everything we had into that first game,” Adams said. “Our pitchers (freshman Aubrey Alstott and senior Katie Mason) did a good job against Centennial and I’ll stand by that.”

To open the tournament, FDSH beat top-ranked Clarksville (1A) by a final of 10-2. They then fell to No. 7 (4A) North Polk, 11-2.

Centennial started the fifth-place contest with two runs in the bottom of the first. As the the visiting squad on the scoreboard, the Dodgers answered with two in their half of the second.

Alstott has an RBI single, and Calliegh Zimmermann plated Cadence Touney with an RBI ground out.

The Dodgers only managed two hits off of Jaguar ace Aubrey Scieszinski. Alstott had both base knocks.

Fort Dodge struggled in the field against the Jaguars, committing four errors.

“They can hit the ball,” said Adams, who is now 786-315 at FDSH and 839-348 overall in her career. “We can’t give up big innings (two four-run frames), and we definitely can’t commit four errors and mishandle a couple of other (situations).”

Scieszinski struck out three Dodgers and walked one. She also did damage at the plate, going 3-for-3.

Kori Lincicum had two hits, including a home run, and drove in four for the Jags.

Jordyn Kennedy ended the contest via the mercy rule, hitting a two-run homer to dead center.

Ava Faber and Mary Brantley drove in two runs each for Centennial, which is assisted by former Dodger all-stater and current University of Iowa centerfielder Tory Bennett.

In the win over the Cougars, senior pitcher Lucy Porter allowed only three hits. She struck out four and walked only one.

FDSH plated single runs in the second, third and fifth to prevail.

Sophomore shortstop Hope Alstott hit her first home run of the season for the Dodgers, who had three extra-base hits.

“We were ready for (the Kennedy) game,” Adams said. “That was one we needed to play well in, coming out first thing in the morning and grabbing a victory (over a rated 5A foe) that should help in the rankings.”

Catcher Ellie Doster had a triple, while Touney had a double and drove in a run. Ashlyn Wills knocked in the other run for Fort Dodge. Porter and Zimmermann also had hits.

Adams knows without the help of the community and the people dedicated to softball, this tournament — featuring 16 top programs from around the state — wouldn’t be possible.

“I want to thank Ryan Zeka and the Harlan crew for working the fields,” Adams said. “I also want to thank Alexis Wolf for coordinating the concessions and gate workers. (FDSH activities director) Brandon Ruffridge for all he did. Joe Havenhill and Cathy Creighton for scheduling the umpire crews and using it as training for the state tournament.

“Craig Royster, Chloe Wertz, Joran Westergaard, Aleah Sherman, Lindsay Sampson and Emma Lloyd for announcing and running the scoreboards all day. The middle school and JV girls for getting foul balls and helping run scoreboards, my coaches for just being an awesome staff and The Messenger for their coverage all year long.”

The Dodgers are back in action on Monday when they travel to Mason City for a doubleheader beginning at 5 p.m.

FORT DODGE 3, CR KENNEDY 0

CR Kennedy 000 000 0 — 0 3 1

Fort Dodge 011 010 x — 3 5 0

WP–Lucy Porter (6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO); 2B–FD: Cadence Touney; 3B–FD: Ellie Doster; HR–FD: Hope Alstott; SB–FD: Hope Alstott. RBI–FD: Hope Alstott, Ashlyn Wills, Touney.

ANKENY CENTENNIAL 11, FORT DODGE 2

Fort Dodge 020 00 — 2 2 4

Centennial 214 04 — 11 13 1

WP–Aubrey Scieszinski (5 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO); 2B–AC: Mady Ott, Kori Lincicum; HR–AC: Lincicum, Jordyn Kennedy. CS–AC: Evee Larson.

FDSH INVITATIONAL

Friday’s Results

Ankeny Centennial 10, Charles City 0

Winterset 11, Martensdale St. Marys 3

Ankeny 5, Des Moines Roosevelt 1

Ames 15, Newell-Fonda 5

North Polk 8, Atlantic 1

Fort Dodge 10, Clarksville 2

Cedar Rapids Kennedy 3, Clear Creek-Amana 1

Williamsburg 12, Mid-Prairie 4

Quarterfinals

Winterset 4, Ankeny Centennial 2

Ames 12, Ankeny 10

North Polk 11, Fort Dodge 2

Williamsburg 8, Cedar Rapids Kennedy 1

Saturday’s Semifinals

Winterset 6, Ames 3

North Polk 6, Williamsburg 4

Saturday’s Championship

North Polk 10, Winterset 0

Third Place

Ames 12, Williamsburg 10

Fifth Place

Ankeny Centennial 11, Fort Dodge 2

Seventh Place

Cedar Rapids Kennedy 14, Ankeny 0

Ninth Place

Des Moines Roosevelt over Clear Creek-Amana

Eleventh Place

Martensdale-St. Mary’s Clarksville

13th Place

Atlantic over Charles City

15th Place

Mid-Prairie over Newell-Fonda