The No. 6 ranked Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk baseball team used some early power, a late rally, and a gutsy pitching performance to capture the class 2A district nine championship Saturday in Wellman against West Liberty 7-5. The Comets came flying out of the gate, putting up three runs on two hits in the first inning to jump out to a 3-0 advantage. In the bottom of the first, Mid-Prairie would respond to tie the game as Keegan Gingerich singled, Brad Tornow walked and Aidan Rath belted a three run homer, a line drive rocket to right field. He talked after the game about the at-bat. “I was hoping to make contact, get a ball on the ground or a line drive, base hit. As soon as I looked out and saw it I knew it was gone.”
The Comets jumped right back on top in the second as Talen Dengler drove in Lake Newton with an RBI single to make it 4-3 West Liberty. Things stayed there until the fifth, when Mid-Prairie put up three runs on four hits. After a one out walk to Kayden Reinier and a single by Vinny Bowlin, Will Cavanagh, Chris Miller and Keegan Gingerich delivered back to back to back RBI hits for the Hawks to give them a lead they would not give up the rest of the night. After the game, Cavanagh and Miller talked about the at-bats. “We went up there to put the ball in play. We want to make sure we aren’t trying to do too much. Stay within yourself and put the pressure on the defense, walk, error, just get on.”
Up 6-4, Mid-Prairie would get an insurance run in the sixth when Rath just missed his second homer of the night, blasting a ball off the top of the center field fence that scored Tornow to give the Hawks a 7-4 advantage. Things got tight in the final half inning as West Liberty scored once and had the tying runs on base but freshman closer Collin Miller earned the save, and the celebration was on at Paul N. Bailey Field as Mid-Prairie had their first district title in 13 years. Gingerich recorded the win for Mid-Prairie, he went six innings, gave up three hits, four runs, walked seven and struck out six. He talked after the game about his outing. “It took a while to get settled in, off-speed wasn’t working as well and with the fastball the zone was tight. Defense played great behind me, no errors, credit those guys. West Liberty is tough with two strikes they put the barrel on the ball. It means a lot to get a district championship this year. I have been playing with these guys for a long time. To play in this game on this stage was fun and nerve racking.”
At the plate, Rath was two for two with four RBI. The Golden Hawks are now 14-3 on the year and will meet Central Lee in the substate final on Tuesday in Mediapolis.