A pair of KCII teams will take the diamond on-air Friday when the Mid-Prairie Golden Hawks host the Highland Huskies. The Golden Hawks were 27-7 a season ago, champions of the River Valley South Division with a 17-1 mark and never fell below No. 2 in any 2A poll issued by the Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association. They hit .313 as a team with 239 runs, 283 hits, an OBP of .435 with a .397 slug to go with 112 stolen bases, a 2.59 team ERA with 232 strikeouts, .215 opponent batting average and a 95% fielding percentage. Individually, six Hawks hit .300 or better led by Karson Grout’s .457 average and team leading 37 RBI, and 48 total hits. Cain Brown scored 37 times and Camron Pickard walked 26 times. Alex Bean, Brady Weber, Joe Hall, Brown and Brock Harland all finished hitting over .300. Grout returns, along with Weber, Hall and Harland at the dish. On the mound, The Hawks have to replace the tandem of Bean and Collin Miller who combined to go 13-2 in nearly 100 innings with a .197 opponent average, 114 strikeouts, and 2.10 ERA. Leaders back on the hill are Weber who was unbeaten at 5-0 with a 1.58 ERA and .174 opponent average in 31 innings pitched with 29 strikeouts and Harland with a 4-0 record across 25 innings and 1.09 ERA. Landry Gingerich is also back after multiple wins last year. Mid-Prairie opened the season Wednesday with an 8-0 road win over Davenport West, led by three RBI from Harland, a two-hit night each for Weber and Gingerich, and two runs each for Weber and Blake Swart while the Golden Hawk arms of Weber at Tatem Telfer shut out the Falcons, allowing just four hits and striking out a dozen. The Hawks are ranked No. 6 in Class 2A in the first poll of the season from the Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association.

Highland was 11-15 last year, 8-4 in the North Division of the Southeast Iowa Superconference to finish second. They hit .245 as a group with a .391OBP and .291 slug. The Huskies scored 141 runs on 150 hits and drove in 99. They stole 136 bases. On the mound, the Huskies had a 3.72 staff ERA with a .221 opponent average with 89 walks, 208 strikeouts and 89% team fielding percentage. The top three hitters in the Huskies lineup all were north of .300 including leader Ethan Paisley who had a senior season with a team best .358 mark with 29 total hits, 19 runs scored and 13 RBI. Returning hitters above .300 are William Dunbar and Colten Sypherd each at .333 a season ago. Dunbar had a team best 21 walks and runs scored. Highland will need to replace RBI leaders Tyler Thompson and Peyton Yeggy who combined for 37 last year. Dunbar’s 15 are the best returning. Highland pitching was led by Paisley and Yeggy who had five wins each with 105 innings thrown, a .187 opponent average against with a 1.67 total ERA. Bryce Hazelett and Sypherd both had pitching wins last year, totaling 28 innings with a .220 opponent average and 3.25 ERA with 30Ks. Tonight’s game is also the debut of new Huskies head coach Allen Rath. The Highland alum and Iowa Hawkeye legend takes over the Highland program following the departure of Seth Milledge. Rath, a 1986 Highland graduate, was a member of the Huskies 1984 State Tournament team.

These two teams last met in 2015, a 12-2 Mid-Prairie win. You can hear all of the action live tonight on AM 1380, FM 102.5, the KCII2 App and KCIIradio.com, beginning with the Roder Epoxy Pregame Show at 6:30p.m. and first pitch at seven from Paul N. Bailey Field in Wellman.