Tornow signs to play baseball at Northwestern

Posted 1/23/20

Mid-Prairie senior Brad Tornow signed a letter of intent to play baseball at Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa.

Flanked by his sister, Abby, and parents, Tornow signed his letter in a …

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Tornow signs to play baseball at Northwestern

Posted

Mid-Prairie senior Brad Tornow signed a letter of intent to play baseball at Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa.

Flanked by his sister, Abby, and parents, Tornow signed his letter in a brief ceremony Tuesday morning before school started.

Mid-Prairie Principal Jay Strickland introduced Tornow.

“It’s kind of a special occasion for me as well,” Strickland said, describing Tornow as a great role model in the classroom and at the school.

Mid-Prairie baseball coach Andy Griener said Tornow shattered the earned run average record at the school.

The coach said he had not seen anyone better ready to play at the next level.

Before Tornow heads off to college, he still has another high school baseball season this summer.

If last year was any indication, there is much to anticipate.

When Tornow took the mound last season, Mid-Prairie generally found a way to win. The Golden Hawks went 11-1 in all appearances made by Tornow.

As a junior, he had a 7-0 record in starts including a 4-3 win over Wilton where he recorded 17 strikeouts and a complete game shutout of Class 2A state qualifier West Branch.

The Iowa Print Sportswriters Association selected Tornow to the Class 2A third-team pitching spot for his work.

Tornow had the fourth most strikeouts in Class 2A at 102. He was one of only five pitchers in Class 2A to reach the century mark. Tornow faced 215 batters, meaning he struck out nearly half of the batters he faced.

His earned run average was 1.02 for the year, giving up just eight earned runs all season. The most in a single game given up for Tornow was three. Opponents hit just .167 against the Mid-Prairie lefty.

Tornow is also awesome in the batter’s box, hitting .417 last year and leading the team with 43 hits. That number tied him for most hits of all River Valley Conference players and ranked 24th in Class 2A.

His extra-base hits included seven doubles and four triples. He drove in 12 runs from the leadoff spot in the lineup. Tornow led the Golden Hawks in steals at 21.