Photo Courtesy of Mid-Prairie Softball Social Media
The Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk softball team won the season series over the Durant Wildcats with a split in a River Valley Conference doubleheader Monday at Carr, Vincent, Gould Field in Kalona. The Hawks won game one 10-9 in eight innings. Durant got a run in the first, the Hawks answered in the bottom half when Kadence Grout knocked in Dakota Mitchell on a sac fly to left. The Wildcats went up 4-1 with a run in the third and two more in the fourth. The Hawks got within 4-2 in the fourth when Grout doubled with one down and Brenna Jehle drove her in with an RBI single. Mid-Prairie took their first lead in the next frame with a four spot, sending eight batters to the plate. Mitchell, Gabi Robertson, Izzy Kite and Braelynn Yoder all scored in the inning, Mitchell, Grout, Kyla Karnes and Sophia Puttmann all had hits and Mitchell and Jehle collected RBI.
The lead was short-lived with Durant scoring five in the sixth to see-saw back in front 9-6. Mid-Prairie got one back in the sixth when Tessa Bombei walked and came home on a Wildcat error. Down to their final three outs and trailing by two, the Golden Hawks found a way to send seven to the plate and score twice to force extras. Grout and Jehle came home, and Morgyn Bender and Puttman had the RBI contact. In the eighth, Mitchell walked, then stole second, Robertson sacrificed her to third and she raced home on a wild pitch to win it. After the contest, Golden Hawk head coach Amy Hartsock spoke with KCII Sports about what it took to get the win, and what it meant to get it.
Hartsock said, “It’s so fun to see this. At any time, we could have given up. They put a five spot on the board on us in the sixth inning and our girls were determined that they were not going to go down that way. Not tonight. Not when we’re honoring Jared Miller. When we’re playing for something bigger. Everyone had good discipline at the plate. They waited on their pitch and they put it in play hard. We executed bunts and slaps. It was good to see everyone get involved. This win was very very big. This weekend was long, it was hard, we got beat up. We just kept coming back to get punched a little more. So for these girls to come into this tonight, I can’t believe their strength to keep coming back. They’re Rocky! They keep getting punched and they keep coming back and saying ‘We’re not giving up’ and they continue to fight through all of the adversity.”
The Golden Hawks fell to the Wildcats in the nightcap 5-1. The Golden Hawks led 1-0 early and held that advantage until the fifth. The ‘Cats put up a pair in the fifth, two more in the sixth and one more in the seventh for the win. The Golden Hawks are 7-18 with the split and travel to the University of Iowa Friday for tournament action against Independence and Iowa City West.