-Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Reggie Pederson of Fort Dodge fields a grounder against Marshalltown on Wednesday at Ed McNeil field

Cael Adams was a dependable spot starter on the mound for the Fort Dodge baseball team a year ago.

Adams isn’t just picking up where he left off last season, but taking his pitching to a whole new level so far as a sophomore in 2026.

The right-hander worked five effective innings at McNeil Field on Thursday afternoon as the Dodgers defeated Dallas Center-Grimes by a final of 7-2 in six innings before inclement weather finished the game early.

Already a make-up date from an earlier rainout, a heavy downpour arrived in the top of the seventh with the Mustangs batting. DC-G (5-6 overall) had plated a run and had two on base when the contest was called off and finalized. At that point, all scores and statistics reverted back to the end of the sixth.

Adams improved to 3-0 on the season and 5-0 in his young varsity career. The brother of former Dodger all-stater and recent Arizona Wildcat Jalen Adams saw his earned run average actually increase from 0.49 to 1.10 after giving up a pair of solo home runs to Brady Smith, but he was otherwise flawless in pushing Fort Dodge to 12-2 on the season.

“Cael showed signs of this last year, but he just keeps getting better and more confident,” FDSH head coach Blake Utley said. “He’s proven every time he takes the mound that he’s physically and mentally ready to compete. You know what you’re going to get from him: he’s going to be tough and consistent. He throws strikes and locates his pitches well.

“He may not overpower you yet as just a sophomore, but he gets the job done and doesn’t get rattled.”

The Dodgers took a 2-0 lead right out of the gate, then plated four insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth to back Adams and relief pitcher Mason Frevert. Junior Tru McBride had the big blow, drilling a two-run home run — his fourth of the year. Senior Jaxson Dencklau and junior Kolton Schiltz had RBI singles ahead of McBride’s two-run blast.

Junior Davis Underberg had three hits — including two doubles — and scored twice. Dencklau and Schiltz also crossed home two times as Fort Dodge pushed its win streak to six. That run started with Adams and the Dodgers beating second-ranked Waukee on the road last Friday, 2-1.

“We had a lot of runners on base, but didn’t always capitalize and got careless at times,” Utley said. “There’s a fine line between aggressive and a little reckless, so we have to be careful about that.

“Our two-out hitting in that sixth inning especially was phenomenal. All of that (the four-run rally) came with two outs and nobody on. We did the same thing to Marshalltown (in game two the night before). That’s just demoralizing to an opponent, if you can be persistent with two strikes or two outs.”

Fort Dodge faces No. 2 (Class 4A) Sioux City East at 1 p.m. on Friday, followed by a single varsity contest against Sioux City West at 4. Both are back at McNeil Field.

FORT DODGE 7, DALLAS CENTER-GRIMES 2

DC-G 010 100 — 2 7 0

Fort Dodge 200 104 — 7 11 2

WP–Cael Adams (3-0; 5 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K). 2B–FD: Davis Underberg 2. HR–FD: Tru McBride; DC-G: Brady Smith 2. SB–FD: Jaxson Dencklau, Caiden Fraher.