The Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk baseball team met Iowa City Regina on Senior Night at Paul N. Bailey Field in Wellman Monday. The No. 4 ranked Hawks took game one 12-1 in five innings and fell in the night cap 13-12. In a pair of games heard on AM and FM KCII, Mid-Prairie came out and asserted themselves immediately, posting two runs in each of the first and second innings before sending 10 to the plate in third to score six more and open up a 10-0 lead. Regina got a single, unearned run in the fourth before Mid-Prairie ended it early with a walk off, two-run homer for Aidan Rath in the fifth. Mid-Prairie scored their 12 runs on nine hits, with seven of the nine in the Mid-Prairie order scoring runs. Rath was three for four, a triple shy of the cycle, and drove in four. Karson Grout was two for three with three driven in and two scored. Rath got the start on the hill, going two innings, giving up one hit and no runs. The victory in game one was enough to clinch a share of the South Division Title of the River Valley Conference.

The night cap as a wild game that saw Regina finish a come-from-behind 13-12 win. Regina scored twice in the first to take the lead, only to see Mid-Prairie answer with four runs in the bottom half on five hits to go up 4-2. The Regals then counter punched with a 13-hitter, seven run second to go up 9-4 and chase Mid-Prairie starter Karson Grout. Down five, Mid-Prairie would chip away with single runs in the second and third innings to get back within 9-6. In the fourth, the Golden Hawks climbed back on top with four runs on three hits and a Regal error to reclaim a 10-9 advantage, which would move to 11-9 after five on another late run. Iowa City Regina rallied again, scoring three times in the sixth to go back on top 12-11 and the Regals got another insurance run in the seventh to lead 13-11. In their final at-bat, the Hawks would get a run to pull within 13-12, but on the game’s final sequence, the tying run was thrown out at home. After the game, Mid-Prairie head coach Kyle Mullet talked about his seniors and the RVC South title. “This has been a special group. When I was coaching with Andy Griener I was the JV coach. When this group was coming in as eighth graders he came to me and asked me to be the freshman coach with them. So I spent that entire summer with just these guys, away from varsity. It was my favorite summer of baseball. Aidan Rath, Vinny Bowlin, Kayden Reinier, Keegan Gingerich, Nathan Quinby, Jake Swartzendruber and Keegan Brady, great group of guys. Beginning of the season we had a senior meeting and I asked them what they wanted out of this season. The first thing they said was a state title. In order to do that we have to get there first. Another thing they wanted to accomplish was a conference championship and you start breaking those goals down into the hard work it takes daily to accomplish these things.”

In the nightcap, the Mid-Prairie pitching staff and defense struggled, walking 13, hitting three batters and committing three errors. The Hawks ended up with 12 runs on 13 hits with seven of the nine scoring a run and having a hit. Keegan Gingerich was three for four with two runs scored and two driven in. Kayden Reinier took the loss on the hill for Mid-Prairie. With the split, the Golden Hawks are 17-7 on the year and travel to North Cedar Wednesday. Mid-Prairie honored the 2020 state tournament team between games and also seven seniors on this year’s team including Aidan Rath, Vinny Bowlin, Kayden Reinier, Keegan Gingerich, Nathan Quinby, Jake Swartzendruber and Keegan Brady. Mid-Prairie travels to North Cedar on Wednesday.