The final score didn’t tell the entire story of No. 6 (Class 4A) Indianola’s 12-3 victory over the Fort Dodge baseball team on Memorial Day at McNeil Field.

FDSH head coach Blake Utley felt like the game served as an early reminder both of how close his Dodgers are, and also, the little things that currently separate a ranked squad from his ballclub.

The visiting Indians (5-0 overall) plated six runs in the seventh inning to pull away and remain unbeaten. It was the first loss for Fort Dodge (4-1), which did plenty right but couldn’t close the door and finish frames against a veteran group returning seven starters and their top four pitchers from last year’s 32-6 squad.

Bo Blake — the nephew of Indianola legend and long-time Major League Baseball player Casey Blake — hit a two-run homer to straight-away center field in the first inning to get the ball rolling for the Indians. Casey’s son, George, added a two-run single late to highlight the seventh-inning rally that put the contest out of reach.

Both of the Blakes are juniors. Casey, who moved back to Indianola after retiring from a 13-year MLB career in 2011, serves as the third-base coach for the Indians.

The Dodgers were left wondering what might have been a number of times. Nine of Indianola’s runs came with two outs, including a flared RBI single on an 0-2 pitch by No. 9 hitter Colby Rockhold in the fourth and Asher Brueck’s two-run triple just off the glove of centerfielder Kolton Schiltz in the fifth.

Brody Merema also scored an unearned run in the sixth. Fort Dodge had him picked off between second and third, but the throw got away.

“There were a lot of ‘what ifs’ for sure, but the bottom line is they out-played us,” Utley said. “The score ended up kind of lopsided and got away from us at the end, but I felt like there were two really good teams on the field (Monday). We kept fighting, but they were clutch and came through in some big moments — both offensively and defensively.

“As we stand on May 25, they’re the better ballclub. Now it’s up to us to narrow that gap over these next seven or so weeks.”

Fort Dodge stranded eight runners, including five in scoring position and three at third base. The Dodgers appeared to have an immediate answer for the Indians’ two-run first inning, but Jaxson Dencklau flew out to deep left-center on a sprawling catch by Merema to end the frame with two runners on.

Brueck, a southpaw who was 5-2 a year ago for Indianola, continued to weave out of trouble. He also got a strikeout to strand two Dodgers and close out the third inning.

Freshman Hayden Porter got Fort Dodge on the board with an RBI double in the fifth. Another left-hander, Bryant Ritchie, relieved Brueck and worked his way out of a two-on, one-out jam. Schiltz hit a sacrifice fly to make it 5-2 before Ritchie recorded a strikeout.

Porter, who had three hits to lead the Dodgers, singled and scored on an RBI double by Will McElroy in the seventh.

“Hayden did a nice job,” Utley said. “We had some opportunities, and were one big hit away a couple of times. But again, they deserve credit because they made the winning plays in the big moments. They’re at a level we’d like to get to (Indianola is 147-53 since 2021).”

The Indians closed last week with a doubleheader sweep of fifth-rated Johnston.

Schiltz also doubled, and both Cal Pederson and Bo Marsh were on base twice for FDSH.

The program honored J.J. Bonnell during a special Memorial Day tribute before Monday’s game. Bonnell, a former Dodger baseball player and 2003 FDSH graduate, was killed in action while serving one of two tours in Iraq for the United States Marine Corps. He died in 2007.

The Dodgers are back in action on Tuesday at home against Des Moines North. They then head to No. 2 Waukee on Friday.

INDIANOLA 12, FORT DODGE 3

Indianola 200 121 6 — 12 11 1

Fort Dodge 000 020 1 — 3 7 2

WP–Asher Brueck (4.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 6 K). LP–Tanner Peterson (4.2 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 4 BB, 3 K). SV–Bryant Ritchie (2.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K). 2B–FD: Kolton Schiltz, Hayden Porter, Will McElroy; I: Bo Blake. 3B–I: Asher Brueck, Brody Merema. HR–I: Bo Blake.