The latest edition of the Washington county rivalry match on the baseball diamond Tuesday went Washington’s way as they defeated Mid-Prairie 6-3 in Wellman. The game was part of a strike out cancer event that saw $4200 raised for the fight against cancer. The Golden Hawks drew first blood off of Washington starter Blake Weidman with a run in the second when Spencer Shalla walked to lead off the inning and was driven in on a base hit from Carson Christiansen. The Demons wrestled momentum away in the third when they chased Christiansen from the mound with two runs on a pair of hits as Austin Witt and Mason Quigley came around to score in the frame with Jacob Green collecting an RBI. Washington would score twice more in the fourth when Michael and Austin Witt came around and Green knocked in his second of the night. The Demons posted a single tally in the fifth when Elijah Wood drove in Tanner Knupp and Walker Breard made it 6-1 Demons in the sixth with his two out solo shot to left. After the game Washington Head Coach Nathan Miller talked about his teams offensive output, especially the contribution from the bottom of the lineup.
“I look back a couple of the keys, and we gained quite a few walks tonight from the bottom of the lineup, and Kyle Roder also had a great drag bunt down the line and beat it out, and those are the things we need, the six, seven, eight guys to work a lot of pitches and see a lot of walks, and use their good bunting in Kyle’s case, that is one of his strengths,” Miller said. “Those guys were beneficial, and anytime the bottom of the lineup is successful, a lot of times you have a “W” on the scoreboard at the end of the night.”
Mid-Prairie would make things interesting in the sixth loading the bases with a walk and two singles to open the frame. The Golden Hawks would get an RBI walk from Carson Duwa to drive in Jonas Coblentz and a sacrifice fly from Christiansen, scoring Seth Eash but would get no closer than 6-3 as Austin Witt came in to earn the save for the Demons. Following the game Mid-Prairie Head Coach Ryan Koller said he was proud of how his team competed
”We have a lot of games this week, and we’re using our five and six pitchers, and they did a great job, they threw strikes, didn’t walk many people and we were able to string a few hits together. It’s a little rough at the bottom of the order right now, but the top of the order is really producing,” Koller said. “It’s a confidence booster for our team, it’s a good Washington team, and to just hang in there and make it competitive on a special night like tonight with the cancer event, it’s encouraging for our team.”
Weidman earned the win for the Demons going 5 2/3 innings allowing three hits, three runs, only one of them earned, striking out two while walking three. In relief Witt went 1 1/3 innings, gave up two hits and a walk. Christiansen took the loss for Mid-Prairie going 2 2/3 allowing two hits, two runs, one earned striking out four and walking two. With the win Washington breaks a two game losing streak. The Demons improve to 6-2 on the year and will next be in double header action at home against Ft. Madison Thursday. Mid-Prairie is now 3-12 overall and will travel to Highland tonight.