The Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk baseball team traveled to West Liberty for a doubleheader to open River Valley Conference play Thursday.

In a set of games heard on KCII, Mid-Prairie won game one 9-8 and took game two 5-0. In game one, the Golden Hawks scored once in the top of the first and then twice more in the fourth, including a Keaton Duwa solo homer to jump out to a 3-0 lead. The Comets had the answer in the bottom of the fourth as they touched up Mid-Prairie starter Collin Gingerich, who had sat down the first nine he faced in order, for four runs to take a 4-3 advantage. West Liberty scored twice more in the fifth to open up a 6-3 lead. Mid-Prairie mounted a comeback in the sixth, shaving the lead to 6-5 only to see the Comets extend again to 8-5. Down to their last three outs, the Hawks scored four times including a go-ahead RBI single from Brody Miller to go up 9-8. Brad Tornow entered the game and pitched the final inning for the save. Miller got the win in relief for the Hawks, Keaton Duwa had two hits including a homer and a pair of RBI.

In the nightcap Tornow was excellent in the starting role, stifling the West Liberty offense as he and Jacob Leonard combined for a 5-0 shut out win. Tornow struck out 12 total in his outing, including recording eight straight strikeouts at one point and the first 11 outs by strikeout in the game. The Hawks jumped on top early, scoring three times in the first inning on a pair of West Liberty errors. The Hawks added on with insurance runs in the fourth and seventh innings to provide the extra cushion. Duwa added two more doubles to his total at the plate. With the win, Mid-Prairie is 3-0 on the year and faces Keokuk on Monday.