With a lot on the line against a perennial power, the Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk baseball team passed the test and secured some hardware Friday night against the Wilton Beavers. Senior night at Paul N. Bailey Field in Wellman saw the No. 8 ranked Hawks erase a late four run deficit and take a 7-6 win over the Beavers.
It was Mid-Prairie who scored first in the bottom of one when Brad Tornow singled and came home on Brayden Gingerich contact to the left side of the diamond to make it 1-0. Wilton responded with one in the third to tie things. The Beavers then took control with a four run fourth, pounding out four hits in the frame. Down 5-1 and facing the Beavers pitching staff, with their 1.50 team ERA, fifth best in Iowa, the Hawks were faced with a steep hill to climb. Mid-Prairie chipped away with one in the fourth to get within 5-2 as Karson Grout scored, only to see Wilton get that run back in the fifth to make it 6-2. The Hawks would again come through in the bottom half of the fifth with a single run when Kayden Reinier drove in Tornow to bring the game to 6-3.
Down to their final six outs, the Golden Hawks went to work in the sixth. They batted all the way through the order in the inning, chasing starter Jackson Hull, pounding out five hits, and scoring four times to take a 7-6 lead. Runs in the inning belonged to Tornow, Will Cavanagh, Vinny Bowlin and Chris Miller. Tornow, Bowlin and Reinier delivered RBI. Now with the lead, Monte Slabaugh locked down the final three outs, giving the Golden Hawks a share of the River Valley Conference South Division title for the first time in program history. After the game, head coach Andy Greiner talked about what that accomplishment means for him, the players, the program and the importance of this senior group. “Winning the division is something that has been in the back of our minds for a few years and this year has become a reality. It lets us know that we are doing some good things. We like the trajectory of the program. Things are clicking right now. We are blessed to have been able to have this season. We have these seven seniors that we honored tonight. They have collectively invested 32 years into Mid-Prairie baseball and we can’t thank them enough for that commitment. They stayed together through this whole thing. This is really a credit to them.”
Slabaugh collected the win for the Hawks working three frames, giving up two hits one earned run, walking two and striking out two. The Mid-Prairie offense was led by Tornow, Reinier and Slabaugh each with two hits. Tornow scored three runs. He and Slabaugh each drove in two. Mid-Prairie celebrated seven seniors on the evening including Chris Miller, Brad Tornow, Colton Hobbs, Abe Bender, Brayden Gingerich, Monte Slabaugh and Brody Miller. Mid-Prairie has now won seven of their last eight games to run their record to 9-3. They will face Monticello on Monday as they continue their quest for the overall RVC championship.