Friday night featured two of the best teams in Class 2A on the diamond as the No. 2 Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk baseball team clashed with the No. 7 Cascade Cougars at Mount Mercy University in Cedar Rapids. In a game dominated by pitching and defense, the Hawks faced down the Cougars 2-1. Cascade rallied with two outs in the first to score their only run, a Copper Hummel double and a Ty Frasher RBI triple was the Cougar’s scoring combo for the early 1-0 lead. The Golden Hawks broke through in the third when Karson Grout evened things with one swing of the bat, launching a solo blast deep to right center. Mid-Prairie would take the lead for good in the fifth. Camron Pickard was hit by a pitch to lead off the frame, after a sacrifice by Cain Brown, a walk to Grout and a single by Alex Bean it was Brady Weber’s turn. Just as he had a week prior to clinch a share of the River Valley title, the Golden Hawk sophomore was clutch in the box again, with a base hit to score Pickard and make it 2-1 Mid-Prairie.
The slim margin was more than enough for a trio of Golden Hawk arms that shut down Cascade hitters all night. Brock Harland got the start, Collin Miller was first out of the pen and Weber finished it. The three combined to give up just four hits and one run while striking out five. After the win, Weber and Grout joined the KCII postgame show to talk about their big at bats, night on the mound and defense.
Grout said, “The one thing I’m always thinking is that I’m grateful for the opportunity. I wouldn’t want anyone else besides myself up there. I knew it was gone when I hit it, it was pretty obvious. It’s all in the trust. We trust each other. We know we’re going to make the plays. We know our pitchers are going to do their jobs. That’s all we need.”
Weber added, “I love the opportunity. I just take a deep breath. Nothing to lose. I just try to put a good swing on it. I’ve done a good job barreling up balls and getting runs through. I think nothing hypes up our team more than a Grout home run. We all knew it was gone. That broke the ice and guys got confidence from there. I felt like today was one of my better days in the cage. I was looking fastball first pitch, anything I could jump on. He threw me a fastball and I just got the barrel on the ball. (When I pitch) all I have to do is throw strikes. Our defense is second to none. Brock (Harland) pitched great, Collin (Miller pitched) great. I learned from them, threw strikes and my curveball and slider were locating well.”
The win is the 25th of the season for the Hawks against just six losses while the Cougars fall to 21-8. Mid-Prairie opens the playoffs Wednesday at Paul N. Bailey Field in Wellman against the Wilton Beavers. You can hear all of the action live on AM 1380, FM 102.5 and KCIIradio.com, beginning with the Jessica Yoder and Sarah Bigley with Lepic Kroeger Realtors Pregame Show at 6:30 and first pitch at 7p.m.