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Eighth-ranked J-Hawks dodge sweep by Bobcats

Marshalltown improves to 5-1 in CIML Iowa

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE • Marshalltown pitcher Jordan Smiley delivers to the plate during the top of the sixth inning in the first game of Wednesday’s CIML Iowa Conference doubleheader against Urbandale. Smiley allowed five hits in 6 2/3 innings for the win as the Bobcats beat the eighth-ranked J-Hawks 2-1.

A five-game conference winning streak slipped away after the little things the Marshalltown baseball team prides itself on betrayed the Bobcats in the nightcap.

Marshalltown snuck past Class 4A No. 8 Urbandale for a 2-1 win in the opening game of Wednesday’s CIML Iowa Conference doubleheader, but a few baserunning miscues made enough of a difference to prevent the Bobcats (8-6, 5-1) from making it a sweep. The game-winning run was scored in the sixth inning of both contests, with Urbandale (8-6, 1-5) claiming the nightcap, 1-0.

Jordan Smiley scattered five hits over 6 2/3 innings for the win in the first game, with Noah DeVenney facing two batters and getting the save after Smiley reached his pitch count limit. Smiley struck out two, walked one and held down a J-Hawk offense averaging nearly seven runs per game.

Dru Dobbins plated Nate Vance as the go-ahead run with his two-out, sixth-inning single up the middle, helping MHS improve to 5-0 in CIML Iowa action prior to the nightcap.

Urbandale scored the game’s first run on a Casey Steen RBI single in the top of the second, but the Bobcats matched it by putting pressure on the J-Hawk defense in the bottom of the third. Tate Kuehner reached on a two-out bunt single, advanced when Sam Irwin’s grounder was misplayed and scored on an Urbandale throwing error on Nate Vance’s bunt.

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE • Marshalltown’s Dru Dobbins (34) drives a run-scoring single back up the middle to plate Nate Vance as the eventual game-winning run in the first game of Wednesday’s CIML Iowa Conference baseball doubleheader against Urbandale. MHS won the first game, 2-1, but lost the second, 1-0.

The Bobcats threatened again in the fourth after Wade Canaday’s one-out double, but J-Hawk hurler Carter Troncin dodged that bullet. MHS eventually pushed the game-winning run across in the sixth, when Vance reached on a one-out single, stole second and scored three batters later on Dobbins’ single.

Marshalltown’s bid for an unbeaten start in conference play ran out of steam as the ‘Cats got shut out by Brock Skoog and a handful of missed opportunities. Skoog scattered six singles and one walk over seven innings for the complete-game performance, striking out six for the win.

Kuehner nearly matched him, allowing five hits and four walks with four strikeouts in a hard-luck loss.

“We got two excellent pitching performances tonight from Jordan Smiley in game one and Tate Kuehner in game two,” said MHS head coach Steve Hanson. “They both did a nice job of throwing strikes and keeping the Urbandale hitters off balance.

“We didn’t play as cleanly as we’d like in game one, which resulted in Smiley running out of pitches, but Noah DeVenney came in and shut the door for the win. Offensively we did just enough to win, so give our guys credit for being opportunistic.”

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE

In the nightcap, MHS got caught stealing twice, picked off once, and had two more baserunners cut down trying to advance.

“Game two we didn’t swing the bats very well and when we did, we were not very smart on the bases,” Hanson said. “We ran into a couple of outs that essentially can mean the difference between winning and losing. We pride ourselves on being aggressive and intelligent on the bases, but we were far from that in game two.

“Kuehner easily pitched well enough to win but we couldn’t cash in and that’s what gets you beat.”

Kody Ricken and Canaday both had two hits in the second game for MHS, while Smiley also singled and Brian Trowbridge had a pinch-hit single in his only at-bat.

Urbandale got the game’s only run on a one-out double by Brook Heinen that was followed two batters later by a Noah Cook single.

Marshalltown returns to action on Friday night, traveling to face Ottumwa in a single game. The Bobcats host top-ranked Johnston in a CIML Iowa twinbill Monday night.

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