It’s postseason time for spring sports, but the Mid-Prairie boys of summer are ready to take the diamond tonight to open the season in Muscatine. Mid-Prairie baseball has had a run of recent success that includes River Valley South Division Conference titles and district championships in 2020 and 2021 and a state tournament bid in 2020. Last season, the Hawks were 19-8 overall, 14-4 in the RVC and spent most of the year in the top 10 of 2A before finishing the season with a 7-4 loss in the substate final to Davis County. They led 2A with a .349 batting average. The Hawks scored nine runs per game, pounded out 275 hits on the year and drove in 174. They had a team ERA of 3.66 with a 1.56 WHIP and a staff that had opponents hitting just .217 while piling up 226 Ks. All of those numbers have led to some preseason hype for the Hawks who check in at No. 3 in Class 2A in the first poll of the year from Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association.

Mid-Prairie does have the task of replacing seven seniors from that team including Kayden Reinier, Keegan Gingerich, Vinnie Bowlin, Nathan Quinby, Keagan Brady, Aidan Rath and Jake Swartzendruber. Rath, Gingerich, Reinier, and Bowlin all hit over .300 a season ago with Rath leading the state in long balls with 12, second with an 1.106 slugging percentage, ninth with 40 RBI, and Reinier ninth with 44 runs scored. On the mound Rath and Gingerich combined for nine wins with his .103 average against sixth in 2A for those with at least 30 innings pitched. Leading returners for the Golden Hawks include Karson Grout. As a freshman he hit .432, slugged .558 with 41 total hits, 33 RBI and 31 runs scored. On the mound, the Hawks return a trio of multi-game winners, led by Alex Bean who had a 3-0 sophomore campaign in 25 innings with a 3.08 ERA and 30Ks with a .206 opponent batting average against. Grout and Collin Miller also posted a pair of wins each in 2021. This week, second year head coach Kyle Mullet talked about the keys for this year’s team and what has him most excited about what he has seen so far. “Coming off last year and having that big senior class, you know it brings in a whole new set of guys. Our freshman class especially has a lot of talent. I think you’ll see a couple of those guys even start to help us this year. Our focus for success this year is the pitching performance. Throwing strikes, staying calm and collected. Hitting has always been a good thing for us, a strength. We still work at those things but we feel that our bats are going to be back to where they were last year. This team feels like they’re hungry and ready to roll.

The Hawks opponent tonight is Class 4A Muscatine who went 22-15 a season ago and 9-9 in the Mississippi Athletic Conference. The Muskies hit .297 as a team with a 4.22 ERA last season. They also lost seven seniors from last year’s squad. They do return top hitter Doug Custis, who as a junior, hit .410 with 43 total hits, 29 runs scored and drove in 19. The Muskies also have their ace back on the mound, Brody Toborg, who was 4-0 as a sophomore in 30 innings. He posted a 1.89 ERA, .211 opponent batting average against with 23 total hits allowed, 19 strikeouts and 15 walks.

These two teams were scheduled to meet a season ago in a doubleheader that got rained out. They have not met on the field since 2019 when they split a doubleheader. You can hear all of the varisty action tonight between the Hawks and the Muskies, live from Tom Bruner Field on AM 1380, FM 102.5 and KCIIradio.com, beginning with the Washington HyVee Pregame Show at 6:30p.m. and first pitch at 7p.m.