MANKATO — Marshall came into the VFW District 2 championship game on Monday undefeated. While the Tigers had momentum and Mankato East’s back was against the wall, Mankato East won consecutive games to capture the title and end the Tigers’ season.

Marshall had defeated Mankato East on Saturday, 9-6, but was unable to replicate their success on Sunday.

“Couple guys that weren’t here that were in that last game. That hurt us and it kind of showed, but that’s just the way it is,” Marshall manager Paul Blanchard said. “It was going to be difficult for us to beat this 16-year-old team a second time. They’re deep, they’re big, they’re strong they can run and they’re well coached.”

Blanchard added that he believes Mankato East is a team that has a good chance at making a run in the state tournament.

In the day’s first game, Marshall’s seventh-inning rally wasn’t enough to put the Tigers on top as Mankato East held on for a 6-3 win to force a winner-take-all game two.

After being shut out for the first six innings, something clicked for the Tigers in the seventh. JR Vierstraete singled to start the inning and stole second to get in scoring position. He advanced to third on a wild pitch before scoring on an error to put the Tigers on the board.

Levi Maeyaert and Carson Kopitski walked consecutively and Maeyaert advanced to third on a wild pitch. Shep Jensen drove a line drive to center to score Maeyaert and an Eli Alcorn single loaded the bases with no outs.

“They walked a number of guys, we got a hit or two and were able to put some runs up. The freebies helped in that inning,” Blanchard said. “They hadn’t done that in the entire game and we took advantage of some stuff there. The team that wins the freebie award usually comes out ahead. The least amount of bases you can give up… if you can limit all those and have less of those than the other team does, you’re going to have a pretty good chance to win.”

Patrick Morman stepped up to the plate as the tying run and hit an RBI ground out to make the score 6-3. Yet, consecutive strikeouts halted the Marshall rally and ended the game.

Chase Alcorn started the game, allowing five runs on nine hits over five innings. He also struck out seven batters during his time on the mound.

Mankato East scored a run in the first and second innings, but it was the fifth where it broke things open. Marshall got a fly out and line out to start the inning, but Mankato didn’t give up. A double followed by four consecutive singles gave Mankato three two-out runs before a strikeout finally got Marshall out of the inning.

Ian Brockberg pitched two hitless innings of relief. He didn’t strike out any batters but also didn’t allow any walks. The one run he allowed was unearned after a two-base error in the seventh inning turned into a run on a sacrifice fly.

Marshall fell down early and never bounced back in the second game of the day. Mankato scored four first-inning runs and rode that momentum to a 8-1 win.

Mankato East drew four consecutive walks to start the inning. The first run scored on a wild pitch, though Maeyaert threw the runner advancing from first out at second base on the play. From there, a two-run single extended the Mankato lead and, after a pop out, a single to center field gave Mankato its fourth run of the inning before a strikeout ended the inning.

Vierstraete was hit by a pitch in the sixth inning and advanced to second on a Maeyaert ground out. From there, Jensen singled to right field to score Vierstraete for the first Marshall run of the game.

Eli Alcorn started the game on the mound, allowing six earned runs over 3 2/3 innings and striking out three batters.

Eli Weedman relieved Alcorn with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth inning. He allowed one of the inherited runners to score before inducing a pop out to end the inning. He finished the game with 1 1/3 innings pitched and allowed one run on two hits.

Chase Alcorn and Eli Weedman singled in the third inning to give the Tigers their first hit of the game and put a runner in scoring position. JR Vierstraete then walked to load the bases with two outs. Yet, a ground out ended the inning with Marshall still scoreless.

Jackson Martin pitched the bottom of the sixth for Marshall, allowing a walk and striking out a batter in the scoreless frame.

Marshall finishes its season at 24-7-1. While the season ended with a loss, Blanchard viewed the season as a whole as a positive.

“I think they [Marshall] did really well. They’re a good group. We were short a few guys here in this game, but that’s just how it works,” Blanchard said. “I think they improved, I think they learned a lot.

“Playing against a 16-year-old Mankato team, it shows how well we’ve done throughout the year. Going into next year, it should be a lot better for them.”