Tuesday, the Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk baseball team made a statement. The No. 4 ranked Hawks knocked out the rival Iowa City Regina Regals 10-0 in five innings at Paul N. Bailey Field in Wellman. The Golden Hawks were firing on all cyclinders throughout the night, scoring in every inning with two runs each in the first and third innings and three apiece in the second and fourth on multiple hits in each frame. In the opening inning, Mid-Prairie got triples from Kayden Reinier and Aidan Rath and RBI from Karson Grout and Keegan Gingerich to open a 2-0 lead. It became 5-0 Mid-Prairie after the second when the Hawks pushed across three, capitalizing on a pair of Regal errors and hits by Collin Miller and Alex Bean. Two more runs went on the board in the third as Vinnie Bowlin and Collin Miller came home with an RBI double from Will Cavanagh. The Hawks chase Regal starter Kyle Schooley after the third but the hits continued in the fourth with three more runs on hits from Rath and Gingerich and another Regina error their fourth of the night. On the mound, the Hawks were in control from the onset with Mid-Prairie ace Rath going three innings, giving up one hit, walking three and striking out seven. Kayden Reinier tossed the last two innings, keeping the shut out intact, giving up three hits. The Golden Hawks played clean defense behind their pitchers on the night. After the game, Mid-Prairie seniors Aidan Rath and Keegan Gingerich talked about their nights and the current mindset of the team.
Gingerich commented, “We stayed sharp over the long layoff with game-like situations in practice. We spent a lot of time in the cage. Our pitchers threw strikes, they didn’t put the ball in play all that much, but when they did we took care of it. We have a big senior class with a lot of experience. Tonight we did our job.”
Rath added, “It felt good for me tonight on the mound, I just wanted to go out there and throw strikes. Our first inning and the two triples really set the tone. We all were pretty pumped up for this game. ”
Gingerich was 2/3 with a pair of RBI, Rath was 2/3 with an RBI, Collin Miller finished with two hits, Will Cavanagh had a hit, a run and an RBI and Reinier scored three times. Mid-Prairie is now 18-7 on the season and will be back in action Saturday when they host rival Williamsburg for the district 11 championship. The Raiders rolled through Mediapolis 13-0 in five innings Tuesday night in Wellman. AM 1380, FM 102.5 and KCIIradio.com will have all of the action for you beginning with the Washington HyVee pregame show at 6:30 and first pitch at 7p.m. from Paul N. Bailey Field in Wellman.