Photo Courtesy of Mid-Prairie Baseball Social Media

The No. 2 ranked Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk baseball team fell just short of their goal of the Class 2A State Tournament Tuesday, dropping the Class 2A Substate 5 Final to the Van Buren Warriors 6-4 at Legion Field in Ottumwa. It was Van Buren that threatened first, putting runners on second and third with no one out before Mid-Prairie countered with a Brock Harland to Dylan Henry backpick at third for an out and then back-to-back Ks for pitcher Collin Miller to escape the inning unscathed. With the momentum in the bottom half, Cain Brown doubled, Alex Bean was hit by a pitch, both moved up to second and third and the Hawks got on the board with some slight of hand by Brown as he stole home to give Mid-Prairie a 1-0 lead. Things stayed that way until the third when Van Buren broke through. The Warriors put three on the board as eight players saw the plate. using one hit, one Mid-Prairie error, two walks and a hit batter, Warrior all-stater Jackson Manning made the Golden Hawks pay with an opposite field double that landed just inside the chalk and scored two for the big swing in the inning.

Down 3-1, the Mid-Prairie offense came to life in the fifth. Camron Pickard walked to start the frame. After a ground ball and a walk, Alex Bean reached on a fielders choice to drive in Pickard and pull the Hawks within one. Brady Weber reached on an infield single and Dylan Henry delivered the biggest swing of the night for Mid-Prairie, a two out, two RBI single that put the Hawks in the lead and him at third when the relay throw left the field of play. The 4-3 advantage stayed intact for Mid-Prairie until the seventh. The final frame started with a Manning ground out, leaving the Hawks just two outs from Carroll. The next three would reach for the Warriors on a walk, a hit batter, and a two RBI single from Isaak Loeffler that proved to be the winner. Dominic Meierotto would drive in Loeffler with an RBI ground out for insurance. Down 6-4, with three outs to work with, Mid-Prairie brought the tying run to the plate, but could not come back for the final time. After the contest, Golden Hawk head coach Kyle Mullet talked about his team’s defense, the fifth inning rally, the body of work this season and his seniors. “It’s tough. You know, it’s one-and-done. Just one bad day and you come up short. It wasn’t quite our night. We knew that Van Buren was going to be a tough opponent. They’re always known for having a hard-nosed team. They’re going to come out and compete and they’re tough. They showed that tonight. Our team is led by our seniors. Just a great group of guys. It’s been so fun watching them grow into young men. The baseball IQ that they have and the leaders they are on the field is impressive. They come up with those things. The Brock (Harland) and Dylan (Henry) backpick on defense, Cain (Brown) stealing home, we were talking about it as he was over at third base. They know that stuff. They are a smart group of guys and that trickles down. Dylan (Henry) has been phenomenal all year. He was also that way last year for us. Anytime our back is against the wall and we need a hit. It seems like he can always come up swinging.”

Loeffler and Manning each drove in two for Van Buren. Manning had a pair of hits. Lucas Fett was the winning pitcher out of the pen, working an inning and a third with a strikeout and a walk. Henry led Mid-Prairie with a pair of RBI. Brown, Karson Grout, Weber, and Harland all had one hit each. Bean took the loss for the Hawks, working one frame, giving up two earned runs. With the win, the Warriors advance to state for the fourth time in school history, first since 2016, with a 26-3 record. Mid-Prairie ends their season at 27-7 as River Valley Conference champs, four time defending district champs and the most wins for the program in a single year since 2009. They say goodbye to seniors Jackson Zahradnek, Cain Brown, Alex Bean, Camron Pickard and Collin Miller.