Marshalltown High School departed the Central Iowa Metropolitan League in hopes of generating more participation with a higher rate of success in athletics.

The Iowa Alliance Conference is not without its own perils.

Class 5A No. 14 Ames put the boots to the Marshalltown softball team on Monday night, beating the Bobcats 12-0 in three innings and 16-0 in five innings in an IAC North Division doubleheader at MHS.

The Little Cyclones (8-5, 4-0) scored at least one run in seven of their eight at-bats and held Marshalltown’s offense to only four hits — none of them in the first game. Ames pitchers Josie Theilen (4 innings), Sydney Smalley (2 innings) and Ellie Lynch (2 innings) combined to record eight strikeouts while issuing no free passes, and the Little Cyclones committed no errors.

Marshalltown committed eight errors, distributed 13 free passes to first base and surrendered nine more bases on passed balls or wild pitches. Ames even stole home once.

The hard part for the Bobcats (2-6, 2-2), however, is trying to turn around a downtrodden program even if the wins don’t arrive during the recovery process.

“I understand it’s a process and I have to keep reminding myself that,” said first-year MHS head coach Jason Bowers. “I want to win, absolutely, but I also want to think about the future. I’m not here for a year so I’ve got to think about the future of Bobcat softball and I think with the coaches I’ve got in place we can build something here and be competitive in this conference.

“The girls see not just the wins and losses or an at-bat or an error. That’s what they fixate on and that’s what my challenge is is to change that and to always look forward and we’re not that there yet and we’ve got a long ways to go.”

The Bobcats struggled to play through Monday’s adversity. Ames scored nine runs in the top of the second inning of the opening game, although only two were earned to sophomore left-hander Karsyn Price. A trio of errors prolonged the Little Cyclones’ at-bat, leading to a grand-slam for Nora Morken to cap the offensive eruption.

Ames managed just six hits in the three-inning opener, but MHS offered too much assistant along the way. The Bobcats came up empty offensively, going 0-for-9 against Smalley and Lynch with five strikeouts.

The second game began with a better vibe for Marshalltown as senior pitcher Ava Augustine held the Little Cyclones to single runs in the first and third frames. Ames got going in the fourth and fifth innings, however, with seven runs in both en route to the doubleheader sweep.

“After the season started, (Ava) came up to me and said ‘coach, I’m ready to pitch if you need to pitch,'” said Bowers. “You gotta love a kid like that.

“I thought she ran out of gas a little bit put I thought she pitched pretty well.”

The Bobcats came up with four hits in the finale, starting with Briley Danielson’s leadoff single against Theilen in the bottom of the second. She was erased, however, on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Kristin Hays, who was picked off trying to steal second before Reagan Ford lined back to the circle for the final out.

Kinsley Bowie hit a one-out single in the third, but another fielder’s choice took her from the bases. Kennedy Feldman reached safely and advanced to third when Gianna Baune doubled to the center-field fence, but Baune was caught astray when she thought Feldman was on her way home.

Ford slammed a double to the gap in right-center with one out in the fifth against University of Iowa recruit Ellie Lynch, but her chance to score was stolen when Bowie’s gapper was gloved on a diving catch by Morken for the game’s final out.

Ames got to MHS pitchers Augustine, Kate Sandvick and Price for 14 hits in the second game, led by Ali Frandsen with a 4-for-4 performance from the bottom of the batting order.

The Bobcats’ next chance to overcome adversity with undoubtedly arise in Wednesday’s home doubleheader against Des Moines East, and 4A No. 2 Fort Dodge visits MHS on Thursday night. The Dave Lee Classic is Friday and Saturday in Conrad.

“I just challenged the kids to come into practice ready to work,” Bowers said, “start working with our minds, keeping our heads up regardless of the mistakes we make in practice. Tomorrow’s practice is going to be intense.

“Tomorrow’s a new day. We can’t really get too down on ourselves about what happened here tonight. We’ve got a lot more games to play to play this week.”