Photos Courtesy of Jeff Yoder, TJ Rausch, Marty Beenblossom
It was a back and forth affair early Wednesday, but the latest installment of the Washington-Mid-Prairie baseball rivalry went the Golden Hawks way 8-4 on Senior Night at Dick Sojka Memorial Field in Washington. Mid-Prairie opened the night with a lead-off Cain Brown single and right behind him Karson Grout doubled to make it 1-0 Hawks after one. The Demons got on their offense early as well, batting around in the second on five hits, one each from Caleb Zieglowsky, Aaron Boone, Noah Greiner, Luke Beenblossom and Isaac Vetter with Cael Williams, Noah Greiner, Chase Greiner, and James Strabala all scoring. Vetter drove in two, Beenblossom and Noah Greiner one each to put Washington on top 4-1. Things stayed that way to the fourth. Three went on the board for Mid-Prairie in the frame with singles from Brady Weber, Joe Hall and Camron Pickard, runs for Weber, Hall and Dylan Henry, an RBI for Collin Miller and a two-out two RBI single for Pickard to even things at four. The Golden Hawks took the lead for good in the fifth on three more runs, keyed by a Grout double, and a two out, two RBI single for Henry, as Grout, Weber and Brock Harland scored in the inning to push it to 7-4. Mid-Prairie got an insurance run in the sixth on a Brown and Grout double steal. After the contest, Golden Hawks of the game Grout, Henry and Pickard joined the KCII Postgame show live to talk about the team’s two out approach at the plate, rally and defense.
Pickard said, “I was just thinking about going to the plate and doing a job. Coach Mullet has been preaching to just hit the ball hard. We can only control what we can control. We’re not going back to the dugout. (In the field) Coach always talks about the fact that you can’t control errors, but you can control how you approach the game.”
Grout added, “We’re just always thinking team first. If we’re going down, it’s with a fight. We’re not going down easy. We know we can hit the ball and score runs. We have confidence. The big thing we have been talking about with our pitchers is to trust our defense. Our pitchers throw a lot of strikes and have us make plays. That’s what we’re there for. ”
Henry said, “I’m always just trying to beat the pitcher. We have to put the ball in play and make the defense make a play. It feels great to win, always, but we know the job’s not done.”
Those three combined for six hits, five RBI and three runs scored in the win as the Hawks out hit the Demons 10-4. Landry Gingerich got the victory out of the pen for Mid-Prairie, working three frames, walking two and striking out two. Gentry Bontrager recorded a six out save without allowing a base runner. Washington was held without a hit after the second. Vetter took the loss for Washington, working five, giving up eight hits, four earned runs and striking out three. Strabala and Ethan Patterson also saw time on the hill for the Demons. Beenblossom, Vetter, Zieglowsky, Boone and Noah Greiner all finished with one hit each. Brian Fritz, Austin Rebling, Beenblossom, Vetter and Patterson were all honored on Senior Night between the JV and varsity contests. Mid-Prairie has now won 11 in a row, two straight over the Demons, and stands at 23-6. Washington falls to 4-18. Both teams are back in action tonight when the Hawks travel to Tipton and the Demons host Burlington.