CONRAD — The youthful Marshalltown softball squad needs all the experience it can get. Any wins that accompany it are a bonus.
The Bobcats knocked off a pair of opponents on the second day of the Dave Lee Classic, beating South Hardin and AGWSR on Saturday during the annual Black Dirt Days festival.
A slow start wasn’t enough to deter Marshalltown (6-10) in Saturday’s opener. South Hardin scored the game’s first five runs but the Bobcats got the rest of them, winning 14-5 in five innings.
In the second game of the day, Marshalltown trailed AGWSR twice before rallying for a 6-5 triumph.
It was a needed bounce-back from Friday’s 10-2 loss to tournament host BCLUW, lifting the Bobcats to a 4-3 record at the end of a seven-game week.
It didn’t start out that way, though, as South Hardin (2-11) scored three times in the bottom of the first inning and twice more in the second. Kaitlynn Dickes and Lucy Anderson had back-to-back hits that led to two runs for the Tigers, and Anderson later scored on a passed ball to make it 3-0 South Hardin.
Consecutive walks to start the second inning paved the way to two more Tiger runs, as Alyssa Kix plated a run with her single and Charlee Rosonke drove in another run with her misplayed grounder.
South Hardin loaded the bases before MHS sophomore pitcher Briley Danielson worked her way out of the jam, and Marshalltown turned it into much-needed motivation. The Bobcats sent 10 batters to the plate in the third, scoring five times to draw even.
Three Marshalltown hits merged with four walks, highlighted by an RBI single for Abby Janssen, a bases-loaded walk for Brooklyn Smith, and a two-run single for Faith Sommerlot.
The Bobcats kept it rolling in the fourth, getting four more runs. Laney Danielson hit an RBI single, a passed ball scored a run, and two more runs came across on Janssen’s misplayed grounder, making it 9-5 MHS.
MHS put the game away in the top of the fifth with another five-spot. Laney Danielson hit another RBI single and Smith hit a two-run double that finished off the rally.
Laney Danielson, Olivia Wise and Smith led the ‘Cats with two hits apiece, while leadoff batter Gianna Baune scored three runs. Aubree Mundt singled and scored twice.
Briley Danielson struck out five in a row at one point and wriggled out of a second bases-loaded jam in the fourth. She finished with nine strikeouts and five walks, allowing four earned runs on four hits.
Against AGWSR (3-12), Marshalltown fell behind 2-0 after the first half inning, but the Bobcats responded with three runs of their own. Baune led off with a single and scored two outs later on a double by Wise. Mundt delivered a run-scoring single, took second on the throw, and scored on Janssen’s subsequent single.
The Cougars tied the score in the second and went in front again with two runs in the fifth. The Bobcats scratched out a run in the fifth to cut the deficit in half, and then took the lead with two runs in the sixth. Smith hit a one-out single, Sommerlot reached on a bunt single, and Baune’s grounder was misplayed. With two outs, Laney Danielson delivered an RBI single, and another run scored on a wild pitch.
The tournament’s time limit ended the game after six innings.
Hanna Osgood got the win in the circle for MHS, allowing five runs on eight hits with two walks and two strikeouts. Laney Danielson and Wise had two hits apiece to lead MHS.
Marshalltown dives back into another busy week with Monday’s doubleheader at Des Moines North. The Bobcats play two at Des Moines East on Thursday, another at Class 4A No. 12 Grinnell on Friday, and two games Saturday at West Marshall’s Rose Festival Tournament.