Bobcats club Cubs returns to winning ways | News, Sports, Jobs

Nevada scored three runs in the first inning but none in the rest, allowing Marshalltown to escape with an 11-3 victory over the visiting Cubs in Monday’s non-conference game.

The Cubs (9-20) capitalized on some early blunders by the Bobcat defense, scoring two unearned runs against MHS freshman pitcher Briley Danielson, who returned to the game after missing three games. The early misfires didn’t last, however, as Danielson and her defense withstood the rest of Nevada’s challenges.

“She came to work,” MHS head coach Jason Bowers said of Danielson. “We had lightning and rain during the JV game and she was nervous because she was desperate to play. You saw a little bit of nervousness or maybe rustiness at the beginning, but once she got over that, she spread out her shots and couldn’t pile on much.”

Nevada got two of its eight hits in a row with two outs in the first inning. After a walk and an error with one out, the Cubs got going. Melanie Khounsourath hit an RBI single through the left side and Jadyn Melohn hit a run-scoring double to left, giving Nevada a 3-0 lead.

TR PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE – Marshalltown freshman Kaelyn Coleman caps the Bobcats’ five-run fourth inning with a two-run single to lift MHS to an 11-3 victory over Nevada on Monday night.

The Cubs led for two innings before the Bobcats (12-22) tied the game. Gianna Baune hit a single and scored on a double by Emma Stupp in the bottom of the first inning, and Stupp was involved again as MHS tied the game 3-3 in the third inning.

Stupp hit a one-out single and later scored on a two-out double by Danielson, and Kennedy Feldman followed with an RBI single to score the tying run.

From there, Nevada’s pitching fell apart, as freshmen Tempy Carsrud and Isla Martin combined to allow five batters to walks and one hit, contributing to Marshalltown’s big fourth inning. Martin relieved Carsrud after consecutive walks to start the at-bat, retiring the first two Bobcat batters with flyouts. Four consecutive walks followed, and Carsrud returned to the circle just in time for Kaelyn Coleman to hit a two-run single to left with her first pitch, putting the Bobcats up 8-3.

Marshalltown scored three more runs in the fifth, highlighted by RBI singles from Danielson and Feldman, and the Bobcats won easily from there.

“I think our energy was a little rocky at first,” Bowers said. “I don’t know if everyone was just tense (after the tie against Waterloo East last Thursday), but the first inning didn’t seem to be our style defensively. We were indecisive on a couple of plays, especially that pop-up, but after that the defense was pretty rock solid.”

“You have to come to play. I think that’s what we learned the most. Waterloo East was by far the most improved team we’ve seen all year, but they came to play and we were floored in both games.”

Nevada had runners on base in every inning but couldn’t keep up with the Bobcats’ bats. Marshalltown scored 11 hits against Carsrud, led by two hits each from Baune, Stupp, Danielson and Feldman.

Stupp was 2-for-2 with an RBI double and three runs scored, while Danielson was 2-for-3 with a double, three RBIs and two runs scored. Abby Janssen had a ground-rule double and her reliever Erandy Ibarra Madrigal scored a run.

Marshalltown returns to home advantage on Wednesday with an Iowa Alliance Conference doubleheader against Des Moines Hoover/North, and the Bobcats close the regular season with a make-up doubleheader at Hoover on July 9.

MHS hosts its Class 5A, Region 4 first-round game against Iowa City West on July 11.