The night before an EF-3 tornado cut a swath through the northern part of Marshalltown, the Bobcat baseball team was earning the program’s 12th state tournament berth on the strength of a 9-2 victory over Iowa City High in the substate final at the MHS diamond.

On July 19, 2018, the team was to assemble inside the Roundhouse to go over its schedule for the upcoming week before appearing at the state tournament. That schedule changed in a hurry according to former head coach Steve Hanson.

“We were on that day going to just meet because we had qualified — that was a great accomplishment — and we had a week to prepare,” said Hanson, who has since retired and rejoined the team as an assistant coach. “I was walking back up to the team room and noticed distinctly blue skies and puffy white clouds to the south, and then you look north and holy cow, it’s black, dark, it doesn’t look good, and it was a really odd separation.

“About that time I think the sirens went off.”

Hanson recounted the days between his Bobcats earning a state tournament berth and the night of that game, when Marshalltown rallied around its high school baseball team they way they used to do in the old days, and a state rallied around a town that needed the support.

For one night, at least, the chainsaws slept and the community focused its attention away from all of the devastation.

The Bobcats’ roster of 17 players, six coaches and a pair of bat boys stepped onto the field at Principal Park and carried with them a wide spectrum of emotions and desires, hopes and dreams.

Representing their community at state a week after it was whipped about by a tornado couldn’t even add to the pressure the Bobcats already placed on themselves. It was motivation, and it was overwhelming.

“We’re in Des Moines and we’re playing Urbandale and we had more fans by far than them,” said then-junior Tate Kuehner. “It was quadruple the amount of fans. You sat back and you knew this meant a lot more to one community than the others. It was just surreal. I don’t remember much. The only thing I really remember from the game was Nate (Vance) coming out and I gave him in a hug in center field because we were both bawling our eyes out. It was crazy support from the community.”

The Bobcats played their collective butts off, falling 8-3 to second-ranked Urbandale. Marshalltown led 3-2 before the J-Hawks pieced together the tying run and then the deciding rally an inning later. It was more than the Marshalltown baseball team could atone for on that night, but it was far from an indication of how hard the squad had worked to get there.

Not only on the baseball diamond, but in the community that supported them so dearly.

One week after clinching state, they were left to carry the town’s bruised ego into battle, and they rose to meet the challenge — win or lose.

“Everything came to a standstill,” Kuehner said. “You felt like you were on top of the world the day before and then all the sudden we’ve got to go pick up some trees and help some people out. I’m glad we could make it a positive for the community because a lot of families went through a lot.

“Win or lose we know the people were just happy to get out and take a break from cleaning up and have a little positive part to their day. Looking back it was definitely a surreal experience.”

Bobcat alum Tyler Peschong, then a State Farm Insurance agent in Omaha, Neb., was in a customer meeting when the tornado struck his hometown. Peschong was a member of the 2008 Marshalltown baseball team that advanced to the state finals, and he was at the MHS diamond the night before to enjoy watching his former squad secure its state berth.

He drove back home on Friday, a day after the tornado had struck.

“Bobcat baseball is one of my favorite things on this planet,” said Peschong. “I follow them anytime, to this day, really close. I actually drove back for that substate game and then after they won, I took off and headed back to Omaha that night.

“That Friday, the day after the tornado, I packed up and came back.”

Tyler contributed at his father Mike’s State Farm Insurance office where he could. Mike Peschong was the second phone call for a lot of Marshalltown people as their insurance agent. The first phone call was to relatives or loved ones, doing status checks in the wake of the tornado.

“Everyone’s looking to do something and most people were doing a heck of a lot more than we were,” Tyler said. “They had chainsaws in their hand and there’s a lot of sweat equity being built throughout the community, but we wanted to do something and honestly just wanted to give people a break from the devastation.”

Mike and his sons Tyler and Andrew — all State Farm Insurance agents — pitched in and purchased 100 tickets for Bobcat baseball fans to attend the state tournament game. Tyler and Andrew stood outside Principal Park and handed out tickets to anyone wearing Bobcat gear, doing their part and more.

“We wanted to give them something to cheer for so it was a pretty simple decision,” Tyler said. “I think it was Andrew’s idea, and it was a no-brainer. It was a good way we could give back a little bit.”

The Bobcat baseball team, inadvertently so, had provided so much for Marshalltown that week and, more specifically, that night.

“If being able to go watch a baseball game diverted your attention from reality for a few hours, then we maybe helped accomplish something and brought some relief or joy to some people,” said Hanson. “I remember specifically going into the stadium that night because we were the last game of the day, and that’s the one you want because everybody can get off work and everybody can get there — and honestly everybody did. I was just overwhelmed by the number of Marshalltown people there.

“Holy cow, Principal Park’s a huge place, but we did our share on the third-base side. A lot of navy and red. That was really awesome to see because you knew many of those people were affected one way or another, directly or indirectly, by that horrible storm and there they were on a Wednesday night, 7:30 — that was pretty cool.”