Two days earlier, East Marshall junior right-hander Nathan Frye couldn’t escape the first inning against West Marshall and the Mustangs eventually suffered their 11th-straight loss.

On Friday night, Frye couldn’t be touched.

Frye struck out 11 and scattered four hits and two walks over a 96-pitch complete-game performance as East Marshall stunned Marshalltown 5-1 after the Bobcats’ Night of Champions celebration at the MHS diamond.

Marshalltown welcomed back members of its five state championship baseball teams (1976, 1981, 1985, 1986, 2002) and honored them in a ceremony prior to first pitch, but the celebration didn’t carry over to the game.

The Bobcats got only four hits, made three errors and issued seven free passes from the pitcher’s mound. East Marshall did just enough to capitalize despite some baserunning blunders, and the Mustangs (5-13) claimed back-to-back games for the first time since the first two games of the season.

“We played good defense, got good pitching and we took advantage of mistakes,” said East Marshall head coach Dave Chubb. “We were more patient at the plate, for sure, than we’ve been. We get really aggressive and I love the aggressive approach hitting, but tonight we were looking for pitches to hit that were our pitch. We did a good job of staying off pitches that were not hittable.”

East Marshall scored in four of seven at-bats while the youthful Bobcats (6-18) only got runners on base in four innings, highlighted by three-straight singles in the bottom of the fourth. Hits by Jalen Logsdon, Madden Martin and Quinn McLeod led to Marshalltown’s only run against Frye.

“That was one inning and you can’t win only one inning,” said MHS head coach Colton Hanke. “You’ve got to play all seven. Their guy Frye was around the zone and we just had that one inning.

“We had a couple baserunning mistakes that cost us, so when we do guys get on base we have to take advantage of it. We can’t give those outs away.”

East Marshall played error-free defense, highlighted by a 1-6-3 double play to erase Marshalltown’s last-ditch effort in the bottom of the seventh. McLeod walked on four pitches before a hard-hit grounder back to the mound by Schoenfelder started the rally-killer. Frye finished with his 11th strikeout — the fourth looking — to end the game.

“He started Wednesday and didn’t make it out of the first inning, which is the first time that’s happened in three years,” Chubb said of Frye. “He is outstanding. I can count on him all the time.”

Schoenfelder took the loss for MHS, giving up two runs — one earned — on no hits but six walks. He walked the game’s first batter Eli Burns, but picked him off. Blake Neuroth walked, stole second and scored when Jackson Busch’s swinging bunt was misplayed, but the Bobcat defense got out of the jam without further damage.

In the third, Burns walked again but was later picked off at second. Neuroth also walked, stole second and third and scored on a wild pitch before Schoenfelder was relieved by Jalen Logsdon.

The Mustangs got three of their six hits in the fifth as Burns, Neuroth and Busch singled ahead of Cael Neuroth’s RBI fielder’s choice, and Blake Neuroth came across on a double-steal that the Bobcats predicted but couldn’t prevent.

“We were able to execute some plays that we normally don’t have the chance to execute in different situations,” Hanke said. “We got a couple guys picked off, and even in that first-and-third situation, we haven’t had many opportunities to do that many plays in one night and execute them. That was the biggest takeaway, I thought, because it gave us a few extra outs that, whether it was a free pass or whatever, we were able to get those extra outs, those freebies per se, and it helped a lot with everything.”

It would be nice to not have to steal outs, Hanke said, but the Bobcats also rank next-to-last in Class 4A batting average and fielding percentage, and 46th out of 48 teams in runs allowed.

“We practice them a lot so we’re going to use them,” Hanke said, “so that’s the whole intention is to stteal those outs and we did that part. If we don’t steal them, then at least we got the rep in and know what we can do going into the next situation or make adjustments.”

The top half of East Marshall’s batting order did most of its damage, as Burns was 2-for-2 with two runs scored, Blake Neuroth was 1-for-1 with three runs scored, and Busch was 2-for-3 with an RBI. Jackson Boswell also singled and Cael Neuroth drove in a run.

Aiden Holmgren had Marshalltown’s only hit that didn’t come in the fourth inning.

Logsdon pitched 4 2/3 innings of relief, allowing three runs — two earned — on five hits and one walk while striking out three, but the Bobcat offense was held to fewer than five hits for the 16th time in 24 games. MHS played only one junior and no seniors in the loss.

“Like I told our guys, it’s a process,” Hanke said. “It’s a marathon, it’s not a sprint. It’s something that you’ve got to build on every single year because if we’re too focused on right now — and I get it, we want success right now, but it’s the long term we’ve got to look at.

“We are young, but we’re not gonna use that as an excuse for how we play, but it is the reality of things. I think things are going in the right direction and we’re getting close to making a turn here, we’ve just gotta stay true to what we do.”

For East Marshall, a mid-week loss at GMG might have been the wakeup call the team needed, according to Chubb.

“The GMG loss was the beste thing that ever happened to us because they were humbled, big time,” he said. “We play a really tough schedule and that game was going to help us get through this (losing streak), and then all of a sudden we lose 6-2. And it stung, and they said ‘no more,’ and they’ve proved it so far.”

Marshalltown goes out on the road Monday for an Iowa Alliance Conference doubleheader at Ames, while the Mustangs visit Grundy Center in North Iowa Cedar League action to kick off another five-game week.