A special season came to a disappointing end for the Golden Hawks in Chariton on Wednesday as the Chargers scored nine runs in the fourth inning to end the regional quarterfinal early with a final score of 13-1. 

Mid-Prairie stranded seven Chargers on base over the first three innings to keep the game close at 3-1. But nothing went right for the Golden Hawks in the bottom of the fourth. Eight runners reached base on five hits to increase the lead to 9-1 before the Hawks could record an out.

A pop up and a strikeout from the top of the Chariton order had the Golden Hawks in position to end the nightmare inning, but there would not be another out. 

It was an abrupt end to Mid-Prairie’s first winning season since 2015. Coach Amy Hartsock-Williams said that the Golden Hawks (16-13) will use the experience to motivate them during the offseason.

“There are winners and losers or there are winners and learners,” she said. “I asked them, ‘which do you want to be?’ And they all said ‘we're learners.’ 

“They're going to take this, and they're going to put it away. And they're going to let it drive them all year long. And they are going to learn from this.”

The Golden Hawks had just two hits off of Chariton junior Layne Braby, but Hartsock-Williams pointed out that they were making contact and putting balls in play. 

“I think we were hitting the ball, it was just that we were hitting it right to them,” she said. “And we didn't get another round to look at her. I think if we would have come back through again and just hit her just as strong, they might have gone through the holes that time.”

Molly Yoder’s one-out triple was the big play for Mid-Prairie offensively.

Yoder hit the ball deep into left field and slid into third base just ahead of the tag. She scored on Landry Pacha’s sacrifice fly. 

“That was great,” Hartsock-Williams said about Yoder’s big hit. “She's been working on hitting. She's someone that worked so hard in the offseason, and to see it finally pay off — very happy for her.”

Braby had retired the first seven Golden Hawks before Yoder reached base. Madeline Schrader had the other hit for Mid-Prairie, which was a fourth-inning single. 

It was the first time that any of the Golden Hawks had experienced a postseason game with the expectations that come with a successful season. 

“We were tight, we were nervous,” Hartsock-Williams said. “I could see it in their faces. Because they had something to lose, they were fighting for something.

All season long, these girls battled. They took a program that was 10-30 last year and turned it around. And they wanted to keep going because it was fun and they were winning, and they were doing something and the community was behind us. So they're going to learn, they're going to remember this… and it's going to be good.”