First, the weather held up and the girls were actually able to play after having multiple games cancelled throughout the week due to poor weather conditions.

Second, junior Alyvia Chadderdon hit only the second home run of the season in game one of the Classic, belting the beyond the left-field fence in the sixth inning of the Bobcats’ 6-2 loss to Des Moines Roosevelt in the tournament opener.

Third, MHS got its second victory of the year in game two, handling Colfax-Mingo in a dominant 9-4 victory that was never really in doubt.

Marshalltown head coach Jim Palmer said it was overall a great day for his girls, especially since they finally snapped a 14-game losing streak with the win over the TigerHawks.

T-R PHOTO BY THORN COMPTON Ð Marshalltown sophomore Madi Finch, left, and senior Regan Mazour, right, congratulate senior Ciara Feldman after she scores in the third inning of the Bobcats' 9-4 victory over Colfax-Mingo in the Bobcat Classic on Friday.

“Any time you can get a win it always feels nice,” Palmer said. “The girls have worked hard all season long and the hits came together in this game, that’s really what helped us do it. We executed our small game, we even ran our ‘Bobcat’ play to get an additional run in there.”

The momentum for game two really started in game one with Chadderdon’s home run, though most everyone on the team was thoroughly surprised the ball left the field, including Chadderdon herself.

“I kind of didn’t even think it did. When I got around second I thought ‘oh, maybe I should not run. I should just walk around and enjoy this moment,'” Chadderdon said with a big smile. “I think everyone didn’t expect it, it was kind of motivating I guess because it came out of nowhere.”

After only recording six hits as a team in the first game against the Roughriders, the Bobcats (2-20) doubled that number with 12 hits against Colfax-Mingo.

Chadderdon and sophomore Madison Finch nearly matched the first-game total by themselves, going 2-for-2 and 3-for-4 respectively. Finch, who was batting in the second spot for the first time this season, finished the night with a double, two singles and three total RBIs.

T-R PHOTO BY THORN COMPTON Ð Marshalltown senior McKaylee Dawson releases a changeup during the Bobcats' loss to Des Moines Roosevelt in the opener of the Bobcat Classic on Friday. Dawson took the loss to the Roughriders but got a save in the win over Colfax-Mingo.

After the win she said she likes hitting in the second spot because of the opportunity to bring runners in.

“I was just flowing off of everyone else because when they get on base I want to get on base and move them around,” Finch said.

Regan Mazour went 2-for-4 with two runs as the leadoff hitter, both runs coming off Finch RBIs, and Ciara Feldman had a triple, an RBI and two runs scored. Nearly every Marshalltown starter had a hit, and all of them reached base at some point, which Palmer said shows they’ve been working on the right things.

“When we are hitting the ball and they are feeling good about themselves, we play really good ball and the hits just keep coming and the small ball happens and it’s just fun to watch,” he said.

Abby Brennecke picked up the win, her second of the season, as she pitched 3 1/3 innings while allowing five hits and three runs. Kailee Pollard pitched the next 2 2/3 innings while giving up four hits and a run, then McKaylee Dawson got the save in the seventh by stifling the Colfax-Mingo comeback attempt and stranding a runner on second and third.

T-R PHOTO BY THORN COMPTON

“Abby is not one of those pitchers that has a lot of velocity and she’s not going to throw it past you,” Palmer said. “Her thing is if we can get ground balls and fly balls and the defense is backing her up well, we will get those outs. If she can continue to do that, that just helps our program even more.”

Dawson pitched a complete game in the loss to the Roughriders, giving up 12 hits and six runs, but Palmer said he liked the stuff she brought to the game, it was more the offense that led to that loss.

“Roosevelt did a nice job, we didn’t actually hit very well in that game, I think we were still waking up a little bit. Kudos to them, they got one by us,” he said. “I thought McKaylee Dawson actually pitched a good game in that one, they just had some key moments where we didn’t make some good decisions, but we kept fighting the whole way through.”

Marshalltown has two more opportunities for victory tomorrow on day two of the Bobcat Classic, and Palmer said the girls know what needs to be done to find themselves on the winning side.

“I expressed to them that we have to come out with that fire like we had against [Colfax-Mingo] and we have to maintain that fire,” he said. “We let down in this game just a little bit, we got that 9-1 lead and we just kind of relaxed at one point, so I said ‘that’s when you have to go out and put the run rule on them and be done with you game.’ Tomorrow we want to come out with the same intensity that we started this game with and the same focus, and we will be just fine.”

T-R PHOTO BY THORN COMPTON

The Bobcats will open up day two with a game against Class 1A No. 8 Lisbon at 11:45 a.m. on field one, then they will turn around and play 1A No. 12 Lynnville-Sully right after at 1:30 p.m.

Marshalltown Bobcat Softball Classic

At Marshalltown Community College

Friday’s Games

Des Moines Roosevelt 6, Marshalltown 2

BCLUW 5, Bondurant-Farrar 3

Lisbon 3, Colfax-Mingo 2, 8 innings

DM Roosevelt 8, BCLUW 5, 6 innings

Lisbon 18, Bondurant-Farrar 5, 4 innings

Marshalltown 9, Colfax-Mingo 4

Saturday’s Games

10 a.m. — Des Moines Roosevelt vs. Lynnville-Sully (1); BCLUW vs. Colfax-Mingo (2)

11:45 a.m. — Marshalltown vs. Lisbon (1); Colfax-Mingo vs. West Marshall (2)

1:30 p.m. — Marshalltown vs. Lynnville-Sully (1); Lisbon vs. BCLUW (2)

——

DM Roosevelt 6, Marshalltown 2

DMR 200 202 0 — 6 12 2

MHS 010 001 0 — 2 6 5

Hanna Biegger and Summer Williams; McKaylee Dawson and Erica Johnson. WP–Biegger (6-8). LP–Dawson (0-11). 2B–DMR: Biegger, Faith Sheets; MHS: Erica Johnson. HR–MHS: Alyvia Chadderdon (1). LOB–DMR 9, MHS 5.

Des Moines Roosevelt 8, BCLUW 5, 6 innings

DMR 000 170 — 8 12 0

BCLUW 000 113 — 5 11 1

Faith Sheets and Summer Williams; Lauren Anderson and Lili Wilson. WP–Sheets (5-5). LP–Anderson (2-2). 2B–DMR: Hanna Biegger, Faith Sheets; BCLUW: Anderson, Easton Swanson, Bailey Ashton. HR–DMR: Sheets (2). LOB–DMR 9, BCLUW 6.

Marshalltown 9, Colfax-Mingo 4

C-M 100 300 0 — 4 9 2

MHS 324 000 X — 9 12 1

Kylie Doty and Rhiannon Haley; Abby Brennecke, Kailee Pollard (4), McKyalee Dawson (7) and Erica Johnson. WP–Brennecke (2-2). LP–Doty (0-1). SV–Dawson (1). 2B–CM: Ries Wilson, Doty; MHS: Madi Finch. 3B–MHS: Ciara Feldman. LOB–CM 11, MHS 5.

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