Summer sports are in full swing tonight for the Mid-Prairie Golden Hawks. The Mid-Prairie baseball team hosts the Ottumwa Bulldogs at Paul N. Bailey Field in Wellman Thursday. The Golden Hawks are 4-0 on the young season and ranked No. 6 in the first Class 2A poll of the year, issued by the Iowa Baseball Coaches Association. Mid-Prairie swept a doubleheader from West Branch Monday by 4-3 and 7-1 scores. They were led by a homer in each contest, four total hits and RBI for Tatem Telfer and three hits with two driven in for Brady Weber. Carson Pence and Bowen Burmeister got pitching wins. On the year, Mid-Prairie is hitting .326 as a team with a .484 OBP and .463 slug, scoring 36 runs on 31 total hits. As a staff, they a 1.40 team ERA, with a .157 opponent average, 16 walks and 34 strikeouts. Individual leaders are Telfer and Luke Traetow at .500, Telfer has seven total hits with six runs scored and driven in. Burmeister, Brock Harland, Telfer and Carson Pence all have pitching wins this year.
Ottumwa is 1-2 this season after splitting a doubleheader with Des Monies Valley and falling to Indianola. They are hitting .235 as a team with a .381 on base percentage, a .247 slug and 14 total runs scored on offense. Their pitching staff has a two ERA with a .189 opponent average, eight walks and 23 strikeouts. Individual leaders are Daltin Doud hitting .417 with five total hits. Tucker Long has seven walks and three RBI and Braylon Griffiths has scored three times. Long is the pitching leader with a one ERA and 15 strikeouts in seven innings. Landen Boney has the lone pitching win. This is the first matchup between these two schools.
The Mid-Prairie softball team gets their season started tonight with a road trip to top five Iowa City Regina. Mid-Prairie was 16-21 overall a year ago, 11-4, third place in the River Valley South. They hit .327 as a team with a .396OBP and .430 slug with 187 runs scored on 316 hits with 172 RBI. Their total hits and average ranked in the top 10 of Class 3A.In the circle they had a collective four ERA with a 1.52 WHIP, .299 opponent batting average and 138 strikeouts. They had five All-River Valley Conference selections last season with Dakota Mitchell, Brenna Jehle and Sophie Miller returning. Mitchell led the team individually with a .439 average that included 50 total hits and 32 runs scored. The Golden Hawks top pitcher and RBI bat, Sydney Knebel, will miss the season due to injury, turning things over to Kadence Grout who threw 67 innings in the circle last year with a 5.43 ERA and 17Ks.
This is also the season opener for Iowa City Regina. The Regals were Class 2A State Champions last season with a 30-8 overall record. Regina won the RVC title with a 14-4 mark. The Regals hit .394 as a team last year with a .462OBP and .478 slug with 272 runs on 392 hits. As a team on offense they ranked in the top 10 of 2A in seven different categories. They will need to replace Dani Laughlin and Courtney Kessler who were the top two bats in the lineup combining to hit .575 with an OBP of .600, slug of .750 with 123 total hits, 90 runs scored, and 79RBI. They ranked in the top 10 of 2A individually in 10 total categories. Regina still returns five hitters over .300 led by Kennedy Conner and Avery Kies both over .400 with 90 hits, 64 runs and 49RBI between them. In the circle, the Regals lose Ashley Webb and Jillian Panther, who went 24-8 combined with an ERA under a run and a half, 229 strikeouts and a .180 opponent average. The Regina staff ranked in the top 10 of 2A in seven different categories last year. They do return Reese Litton who was 5-0 with a 3.20ERA, 46Ks, and .194 opponent average. She ranked in the top 10 of 2A in three different categories last season. This week, Mid-Prairie head coach Amy Hartsock-Williams talked with KCII Sports about what has her most excited for the upcoming year.
She said, “Our batting averages last year were up. They’re really starting to get their form down, make better contact. They were really starting to make better contact last year. After seeing them this year in the cages, they’re even further along this year. We’ll see if they can put the ball in play a little harder and more consistently this year. We have a great defense, we have two girls back in the middle of the infield and a corner back with Brenna (Jehle) at third, Gabi (Robertson) in the outfield, Sophie (Miller) behind the plate. Kadence Grout has made great strides with her pitching. I’m excited for all the returning knowledge and confident players.”
Regina has won 18 of the last 30 in the series including taking two of three last year. Action starts tonight at 7p.m. at Iowa City Regina High School.