In a moment of trepidation, Marshalltown sophomore pitcher Briley Danielson looked at the defense around her and relaxed. The Bobcats were in an all-too-familiar position, but Danielson wouldn’t let them unravel.

Des Moines Lincoln made Marshalltown work for every bit of it, but the Bobcats earned a 4-2 victory over the Railsplitters in Thursday’s Class 5A Region 6 quarterfinal at the MHS diamond.

Marshalltown’s 3-0 lead was reduced to one by one swing of the bat, but the Bobcats persevered and picked up the postseason win.

Danielson pitched a six-hitter, walking two and striking out six in the complete-game performance in the circle, and she hit her sixth home run of the season as well in helping Marshalltown (19-20) advance to Saturday’s regional semifinal at third-ranked Southeast Polk (29-10).

The 19 wins is the most Marshalltown softball has had in a season since 2013.

“I’ve been here for three years and when adversity strikes, we usually fold or when one wheel falls off the bus, they all fall off,” said MHS head coach Jason Bowers. “We put that spare on there tonight and that’s exactly how we’re supposed to play.

“It’s not good for the ticker that it was a close game, but they need to realize that they can bounce back from that.”

It took every ounce of composure the Bobcats had to fight off a resilient Lincoln squad that was rejuvenated by a two-run home run by Kylie Phillips in the top of the sixth inning. Phillips followed a two-out single by Ashlynn Potter with her sixth homer of the season, cutting Marshalltown’s three-run lead down to one.

Danielson walked the next batter, and an error put another runner on for the Railsplitters (4-30), but a groundout ended the threat. The Bobcats tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth, and Lincoln went down in order in the seventh.

“I felt nice and relaxed,” Danielson said. “When they scored those two runs, obviously, I was a little nervous because that was on me. I missed my spot, but I trusted my defense.

“I just noticed that everybody was getting down and I’m like ‘we can’t do that because we know that we are better than them.'”

The Bobcats committed two errors in the game, but neither came back to bite them. Lincoln hit into a pair of double plays and got thrown out by catcher Abby Janssen on their only stolen base attempt.

Danielson gave the Bobcats the lead with her solo homer to lead off the seventh, and her sacrifice fly to left field drove in Kate Sandvick for a 2-0 advantage in the third. Sandvick led off with a single, Laney Danielson reached on a bunt, and Briley plated a run one out later.

Olivia Wise followed with a two-out single through the right side, driving in Laney for a 3-0 Bobcat lead.

After Phillips put a scare into the Bobcats in the sixth, Marshalltown answered with an insurance run. Pinch-hitter Ella DeMonte hit a two-out double down the left-field line, and Gianna Baune blooped another double to left to drive in Kendall Brummel, who re-entered to run for DeMonte.

“She’s put in the work and it’s paying off,” Bowers said of DeMonte, a freshman who is batting 5-for-9 (.556) in limited at-bats. “She asked for extra reps after practice, and my assistant coach Sam (Samantha Vetter) volunteered. Ella took her coaching very well and she’s proven it on the field. I think she’s very confident right now.”

Marshalltown got at least one hit from each spot in its batting order to defeat Lincoln’s Madelyn Small, who walked one and struck out two.

“She had us off-balance for most of the game,” Bowers said. “Hats off to them. They came to play and she came to pitch. It was a battle pretty much the whole game.”

The Bobcats stranded seven runners on base, but they still got the job done well enough to advance.

Sandvick was 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored, while Kaelyn Coleman also hit a double. Half of Marshalltown’s 10 hits went for extra bases.

Saturday’s game at Southeast Polk is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.