The Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk softball team returned home Monday for a River Valley Conference doubleheader with the West Branch Bears, but it was the visitors that enjoyed the home cooking, sweeping the Hawks in both contests. Game one was a back and forth affair that went the Bear’s way 7-6 in eight innings. The Hawks struck first, putting up a run in the second when Tessa Bombei tripled and came home on a Brenna Jehle RBI ground out. West Branch answered with an unearned run in the third. Four went on the board for the Bears in the fourth on four hits and a Golden Hawk error, to stretch the lead to 5-1. The Hawks got two back in the bottom half on a clutch two out, two RBI single from Kyla Karnes to score Bombei and Jehle and make it 5-3. In the fifth, Sophie Miller brought the fireworks a couple days before the fourth, blasting a solo homer to left to pull the Hawks within one. The visitors pushed across one in the sixth to make it 6-4. The Mid-Prairie answer in the bottom half tied the game when Bombei came home on a Claire Trimpe ground ball and Jehle scored on a wild pitch to tie the game. In extras, the Bears capitalized with an unearned run in the eighth, and the Hawks got the tying run in scoring position but couldn’t break through. Mid-Prairie was out hit in game one 11-9, but couldn’t overcome five errors. Miller and Jehle each had two hits, Karnes two RBI and Miller and Trimpe drove in one each. Kadence Grout took the loss in the circle, going all eight, with 11 hits, three earned runs four strikeouts and a walk.

The Golden Hawks were forced to play catch-up again in the nightcap, falling 10-7. West Branch jumped out to a 10-1 lead after four, putting up four in the first, three in the second, one in the third and two more runs in the fourth. Dakota Mitchell’s sac fly scored Izzy Kite in the third to get the Hawks on the board. Mid-Prairie made it interesting with a three spot, batting around in the fifth, using two hits, one each from Gabi Robertson and Miller, a Morgyn Bender sac fly RBI, two Bears errors and runs from Mitchell, Robertson and Trimpe to get within 10-4. They repeated the feat in the sixth with three more runs, this time on three hits, including RBI for Miller on a sac fly, Grout on a double and Bender on a base hit, scoring Mitchell, Robertson and Braelee Miller to make it 10-7. Unfortunately for the Hawks that’s where the comeback would stall. Mid-Prairie was out hit in game two 16-10, and the Hawks committed three defensive errors. Robertson, the Golden Hawks lone senior had a four hit night in game two, Bender drove in two and Miller, Grout and Mitchell collected RBI. Claire Trimpe took the loss in the circle. After the twin bill, Golden Hawk head coach Amy Hartsock-Williams joined KCII sports to talk about her takeaways.

She said, “We should have adjusted better at the plate in the first couple of innings. We can’t lunge for a ball when the pitchers don’t have a lot of speed. We didn’t get timely hits either. West Branch kept dropping hits in. They kept finding holes and then we helped them way too much on defense with some errors. I’m proud of the girls for being in the position to win. Gabi (Robertson) was threading their defense with her bunts. As a slapper, she’s really good at laying that bunt down. Tessa (Bombei) had some big hits. Sophie (Miller) had some big hits. Some of the girls toward the bottom of our lineup were also producing tonight. The bench energy translated to the girls on the field. They would not let the girls on the field give up. I can’t say enough about the girls on the bench tonight. I’m so proud of them!”

The sweep drops Mid-Prairie to 7-22 on the year ahead of a Senior Night contest Wednesday in Kalona against top 15 in Class 3A West Liberty. West Branch is now 10-20 on the year.