Pictures Courtesy of Perfect Game and MP Baseball Social Media
Two days, two different venues, one impressive win. The No. 5 in Class 2A Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk baseball team was dominant in their most recent victory over the Tipton Tigers 18-0 in four innings. The contest started at Tipton Tuesday, where Mid-Prairie built a 7-0 lead in just two thirds of an inning before weather caused play to be halted and the game was moved to a Wednesday finish in Wellman. The contest restarted with the bases loaded and two down in the first. The Hawks scored three more there to hold a 10-0 advantage, then came up with five more runs in the third and three more in the fourth. Tipton could get nothing done against Mid-Prairie starter Tatem Telfer, who was dynamic. The Golden Hawk junior did not allow a ball to be put in play across four innings, striking out 12 Tigers to record all of the outs, while surrendering just three walks and one hit batter. Offensively, 10 different Golden Hawks had a hit, 10 drove in a run and nine scored a run. They were led at the plate by Joe Hall and his three for four day with two triples, five RBI and three runs scored. Brady Weber drove in four for the Hawks on two hits and Brock Harland knocked in a pair on a hit. Telfer, Bowen Burmeister, Dylan Henry, Jason Heitman, Luke Traetow and Jackson Miller all drove in Mid-Prairie runs. Telfer and Henry scored three times. After the game Telfer, Hall and Miller joined KCII sports to talk about their parts in the win.
Telfer said, “I have thrown a few no-hitters in my career, around five. Never striking out everybody, that was pretty cool. I didn’t have command of the fastball early, but it developed as we went. My breaking stuff was really good. I threw two breaking balls and it really kept them off balance. First pitch strikes and then attacking early. Once we were up, we would determine what the batter looked like in the previous pitches and attack from there. People were telling me what was going on around the third inning but I wasn’t too worried about it. I just wanted to have a strong outing. I got a few swords tonight on the curveball, but all of the strikeouts were good. I’m happy with it.”
Hall said, “Before today I was really struggling at the plate. I was trying to clear my mind and have fun up there, make contact. The first triple at Tipton I felt like I squared that ball up better. The most important part of the hit was the bases were loaded. When there’s guys on we’re really trying to hit the ball somewhere. You don’t want to go back to the dugout without making contact. Once we get one hit it just snowballs. Being part of that snowball effect feels good.”
Miller continued, “We hunt fastball, be aggressive before you get to two strikes. Low hard line drives and ground balls. He threw me three fastballs. The third one was right down the middle so I put a barrel to it. It feels good when you can’t even feel it in your hands. When I saw it fly in the air toward the gap, I was pretty excited. This feels great to get an opportunity and take advantage of it with the RBIs!”
Mid-Prairie is now 6-1 on the season and improves to 4-0 in conference. Tipton falls to 1-5 on the year and in league play. The Hawks have a rematch with Tipton tonight in Wellman to finish out the season series. First pitch is scheduled for 7p.m. at Paul N. Bailey Field.