Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: Jaxson Dencklau is one of two seniors on the Fort Dodge baseball team this season.

The Fort Dodge baseball team proved they can win games.

Now is when they test their mettle.

The Dodgers (32-8 overall) will face Waterloo West (14-19) in a Class 4A, Substate 2, first-round contest on Thursday.

First pitch is slated for 7 p.m. at Ed McNeil Field.

The Dodgers open the second half of the season winners of four straight and eight of their last nine. They enter tournament action ranked in the Top-5 for four main offensive categories.

Fort Dodge leads the entire state in home runs (36), ranks second in RBI (308), second in hits (343), and third in runs scored (385).

They are second in total bases (530), fourth in slugging percentage (.528) and walks (208) for all classes.

Junior Tru McBride, who has committed to play football at Wayne State College, is second in all of Iowa in home runs with 12 and third in RBI at 56. McBride is also third in total bases (101).

The top three hitters average-wise in the FDSH lineup are juniors in Bo Marsh (.429), McBride (.427) and Kolton Schiltz (.402).

Schiltz is second in home runs on the squad (seven), and tied with classmate Davis Underberg for second on the team with 42 runs batted in.

Schiltz, who is committed to Heartland Community College in Normal, Ill., leads Fort Dodge in on base percentage at .585. He has 39 hits, 31 walks, and has been hit by a pitch 16 times.

The Dodgers have five players with over 20 RBI. Along with McBride, Schiltz and Underberg, junior Will McElroy (31), Marsh (31) and junior Tanner Peterson (24) have cleared that total.

On the mound, Tanner Pederson (47.2), sophomore Cael Adams (37.1) and sophomore Reggie Pederson (36) have thrown the most innings (36), followed by junior Mason Frevert (34).

Adams is 6-1 with 34 strikeouts and a team-best 2.25 ERA.

Tanner Peterson is 4-3 with a 2.94 ERA and 47 Ks. Frevert is 5-1 with 35 strikeouts and a 3.11 ERA.

Reggie Pederson is 4-2 with 36 Ks.

For Waterloo West, Oliver Beckman is the leading hitter at .330 with 24 RBI and three home runs.

Caleb Dickey-Steimel is batting .327 with 21 RBI. Thomas Gettman is hitting .317 with 20 runs driven in.

Eli Johnson and John Gardner have both pitched over 41 innings. Johnson is 4-5 with 45 Ks and a 3.19 ERA. Gardner is 2-5 with 20 strikeouts.

The winner faces either Mason City (32-8) or Ames (18-20) on Monday in a substate semifinal. No. 4 Waukee (26-10) is on the other side of the Substate 2 bracket.