Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: Fort Dodge's Davis Underberg makes a catch at McNeil Field on Friday. For more photos, please visit CU.messengernews.net

At the end of a busy stretch, the Fort Dodge baseball team knew where they wanted to be.

The week ended with a split doubleheader on Friday against two very different opponents: second-ranked (Class 4A) Sioux City East (15-1 overall) and Sioux City West (1-13).

After falling 11-0 to the Black Raiders, the Dodgers (13-3) knew how they wanted the day to end before the final contest even began.

“They wrote ’13-3′ on the board before we even played that second game,” said FDSH head coach Blake Utley. “They were not going to lose that one.

“We talked before the week started about where we wanted to be after this seven-game stretch, and they came out and earned the win after facing one of the better ballclubs we’ve seen so far this year.”

The Dodgers split the bill at McNeil Field with a 14-4 bounceback victory over the Wolverines, pounding out 13 hits. Fort Dodge again did a lot of its damage with its back against the wall, scoring 10 of the 14 runs with two outs.

“We were able to extend the innings,” Utley said. “We scored a ton of runs with two outs and that helped keep the pressure on. We did that on Wednesday (against Marshalltown) and Thursday (versus Dallas Center-Grimes).”

It was a relatively slow start in the second contest, but a consistent one. The Dodgers took a 4-1 lead after two before West tied the contest at 4-4. FDSH then took charge in the bottom of third and never let up.

Bennett Nekvinda (2-0) shut the door in the final two innings, fanning four of the last six batters he faced. The sophomore threw a five-hitter, striking out nine.

“Bennett is becoming a big, solid lefty for us,” Utley said. “He has been proving himself time after time.

“I feel like we are becoming a deeper pitching staff than we maybe initially thought, as guys have been stepping up.”

The top of the lineup was nearly perfect against the Wolverines, as they accumulated 13 of the hits — including four for extra bases. Kolton Schiltz, Tru McBride and Cael Adams all had doubles.

With the score 12-4 and two outs in the bottom of the fifth, No. 6 hitter Davis Underberg crushed the ball through the right-field gap for a triple, plating the final two runs for the mercy rule victory.

The top five hitters in the lineup went a combined 10-for-15 with seven RBI. Kolton Schiltz was perfect at the plate, going 1-for-1 with two walks, two RBI and two runs.

Jaxson Dencklau was 3-for-4. Tru McBride, Bo Marsh and Will McElroy had two hits each.

McBride and McElroy drove in two runs. Marsh also had an RBI.

The Dodgers ran into a buzzsaw against Sioux City East in the form of Kal Chamberlain (4-0), who fired a two-hitter and struck out 12 batters.

Dencklau and Tanner Peterson had the lone hits for FDSH.

Logan Cherkas and Bohdy Colling hit home runs for East. Cherkas drove in four, while Callan Koch contributed two RBI.

Cherkas also hit a milestone inside Ed McNeil Field as he was hit by pitch for the 100th time in his career — extending both the Iowa High School and national prep record.

It’s another busy week for the Dodgers starting Monday, with seven games beginning at Ames.

SIOUX CITY EAST 11, FORT DODGE 0

SC East 103 70 — 11 11 0

Fort Dodge 000 00 — 0 2 2

WP–Kal Chamberlain (4-0, 5IP, 2H, 0ER, 12SO); LP–Reggie Pederson (1-2, 5IP, 11H, 11ER, 6SO); HR–SCE: Logan Cherkas, Bohdy Colling; Multiple hits–SCE: C Jepsen (2), Cherkas (2), Colling (2); Cal Jepsen (2); Multiple RBI–SCE: Cherkas (4), Callan Koch (2).

FORT DODGE 14, SIOUX CITY WEST 4

SC West 013 00 — 4 5 4

Fort Dodge 222 35 — 14 13 0

WP–Bennett Nekvinda (2-0, 5IP, 4H, 4ER, 9SO); LP–C Barker (4IP, 8H, 5ER, 3SO); 2B–SCW: Lane Monroe; FD: Kolton Schiltz, Tru McBride, Cael Adams; 3B–FD: Davis Underberg; Multiple hits–FD: Jaxson Dencklau (3), McBride (2), Bo Marsh (2), Will McElroy (2); Multiple RBI–SCW: Barker (2); FD: Schiltz (2), McBride (2), McElroy (2), Underberg (3); SB–FD: McElroy, Dencklau, Tanner Peterson, Caiden Fraher (3); CS–FD: Dencklau; HBP–FD: Marsh; SF–FD: Schiltz, Underberg.