Photo by Jenny Kirk Marshall’s Jamie Timmerman prepares to catch a fly ball during their Section 2AAA game against Faribault on Thursday in Mankato. The Tigers fell to the Falcons 5-0 before dropping to Waconia 11-0 to end their season.

MANKATO ― The Marshall Tigers dropped a pair of Section 2AAA softball games on Thursday at Caswell Park in North Mankato. The 5-0 loss to top-seeded Faribault and 11-0 defeat in the matchup against fourth-seeded Waconia ends eighth-seeded Marshall’s season.

For seniors Morgan Radel and Karley Polejewski, the losses were especially difficult.

“I’m sad and frustrated, but it’s OK,” Polejewski said. “We’ve had a tough season. Coming into it, we knew we were the underdog so we didn’t have much to lose. We had everything to win here.”

The Tigers gave a valiant effort against state-ranked Faribault (17-1) in Game 1. The Falcons were riding a 14-game winning streak and quickly put up two runs in the bottom of the first. A base hit and an error helped the Falcons add a third run in the second.

Marshall then settled in and played solid defense, giving up no additional errors the rest of the way. They kept their opponent from scoring again until the bottom of the sixth, when the Falcons added their final two runs to the board.

Marshall pitcher Madison Wegner was instrumental to keeping the Falcon batters on their toes.

“Madison pitched super well,” Polejewski said. “She’s been struggling the last couple of games, so to see her pull out of that was awesome. She’s going to do awesome next year. I’m super proud of her.”

Wegner took the loss in the circle, but collected six strikeouts while giving up five runs, six hits and five walks.

“I thought we played well against Faribault,” Marshall coach Jack Houseman said. “I was proud of them for playing with them. I thought Madison put a good game together. We had a couple hiccups on defense, though, which against the No. 1 seed, you can’t really do.”

Unfortunately for the Tigers, they couldn’t find their groove at the plate. Faribault starting pitcher McKayla Armbruster struck out 11 of 12 Marshall batters in the four innings she pitched. A lone groundout completed her effort in the circle.

“Their starting pitcher has been all-state like three times, so for us to have still kept in the game and have it end 5-0 was pretty nice to see,” Radel said.

Falcon pitcher Lindsey O’Neill was still a force in the circle, but the Tigers started putting a few of the pitches into play. Polejewski earned the team’s lone hit, a single to right field.

“It was really good to see that type of pitching,” Polejewski said. “They’re the No. 1 team in the state, so for us to hang with them for that long was awesome.”

Houseman said he thought his team’s effort could have been a little more productive at the plate in the later innings.

“Against the second pitcher, I think we should have gotten some runs and done a little bit better” he said. “We’ve struggled with our bats, though, for most of the season, just trying to find our rhythm. Just 1-9, everybody has been up and down.”

Another highlight of Game 1 was the strong play from the outfield.

“I think our outfields definitely pulled it together that game,” Polejewski said. “Faribault was hitting it out there and they were catching the ball. I think that’s the best they’ve played all season. They did awesome.”

In Game 2, Marshall and Waconia were stuck in a defensive battle. Through three innings, neither team could mount enough offense to find home plate. The Tigers started out strong, getting a lead-off single from Abby Schauer and loading up the bases after Shelby Versaevel and Paige Andries earned walks. After leaving the runners stranded on base in the opening inning, three straight Marshall batters were sat down in the second.

The Tigers looked sharp until the bottom of the fourth when Waconia rallied on two outs, scoring nine runs on eight hits and two Marshall errors.

“There was one or two errors to begin with on defense and then it just kept escalating,” Radel said. “Then they got momentum to hit the ball.”

One of the errors was a miscommunication in the outfield.

“We did some nice things with our defense,” Houseman said. “We’ve picked off some players on bases and have done some good things, but then we do some ridiculous things that we shouldn’t be doing anymore.”

The Wildcats added two more run to close out the contest in the fifth. The two runs scored when Alli Christians pounded a walk-off single.

Polejewski took the loss in the circle for Marshall. Lenei Estrada earned the team’s second hit of the game, an infield single.

The Tigers finish the season with a 6-13 overall record. Despite the disappointing end to the season, the seniors said it’s been a good run.

“It’s really hard to see it come to a close,” Radel said about their softball career. “It was really fun, though.”