WATERLOO — The wait lasted nearly two hours for a game that needed only 85 minutes.

No matter when the game started, the Marshalltown softball team couldn’t delay its season’s end.

Rain showers and the subsequent dogged efforts of the Waterloo West baseball team, grounds crew and athletic staff delayed a 7 p.m. scheduled start Thursday between the Wahawks and Bobcats to an 8:54 p.m. first pitch.

Waterloo West eventually took home a 5-1 win in the first round of Class 5A Region 6 action, ending the Bobcats’ season with a 2-32 record. Waterloo West improved to 10-25 behind the two-hitter pitching performance of Nia Christoffer.

MHS head coach Jim Palmer said the Bobcats fought hard after sitting around for hours wondering whether or not they would play.

“I gotta give a hats off to the crew, they really worked hard to get the field ready to play,” Palmer said. “[Waterloo West] let us use their indoor facility and we put the team through a hard, quick warmup and they responded well with it.”

The Wahawks took an early lead they wouldn’t relinquish, scoring three runs in the bottom of the first inning. Those runs put more pressure on the Bobcats, who struggled to get runners on base in the first two innings.

Avery Mull kept the damage to a minimum on the mound, and a Sophie Younkin solo home run in the fourth inning gave the Bobcats a way back into the game.

It was the only high school home run of Younkin’s career.

Mull, meanwhile, had the Bobcats’ only other hit.

West responded with a run of its own in the bottom of the fourth.

No runs were scored in the fifth as both pitchers continued to show solid control.

Marshalltown escaped the sixth without allowing a run after giving up runners on first and second base with no outs, including an infield double play by senior Jadyn Palmer.

The Bobcats could only muster two hits all game to Waterloo West’s eight, and could get nothing going in the top of the seventh.

This marks the end of the Bobcat stories for Mull, Younkin and Jadyn, and coach Palmer said it was very important to have them on the field Thursday.

“I’ve had the pleasure of coaching them since they were 12 years old and it’s fun to finish their careers with them on the field,” he said. “Couldn’t be prouder of who they’ve become as adults and looking forward to watching Sophie (Loras) and Avery (Wartburg) play ball at the next level.”