Photo gallery from Mt. Mercy

By Jeff Yoder

A slow start had Mid-Prairie down 2-1 after three innings with the Bellevue Comets, who were seeking just their second victory of the season on Tuesday. But the Golden Hawk offense came to life with 10 runs over the next three innings of the 11-3 win at the Mount Mercy diamond. 

The Golden Hawks had seven baserunners through the first three innings, but only Dylan Henry’s first-inning single had driven in a run. 

“It was mental,” Mid-Prairie coach Kyle Mullet said. “We had some guys that had some bad at bats and it just kind of carried over and kept snowballing. We just couldn’t get momentum and its hard to do. We just talked about celebrating the little things. We’ve got to create momentum on our own and just have a better approach at the plate.”

Back-to-back hits from Will Cavanagh and Brock Harland loaded the bases for Karson Grout in the fourth. Grout was hit in the back with a pitch, which scored Camron Pickard, who was also hit by a pitch earlier in the inning. Alex Bean reached base on an error by the second baseman, which scored two runs and gave the Golden Hawks their first lead of the game. 

The Comets made a pitching change, but still struggled with command as Grout scored on a wild pitch and Tyler Helmuth became the third hit batter of the inning. 

Helmuth was the only Golden Hawk with multiple hits on Tuesday, doubling twice in the win. He said that the team focused on just putting the ball in play during the big inning. 

“We got everybody going and we started hitting the ball,” he said. “It really just takes one, you know, and then the rest of them come.”

Grout was hit by pitch twice and finished 1-for-2 with two RBIs. Bean and Collin Miller each had a hit and two RBIs. Cavanagh had hit, a sacrifice bunt, walked twice and scored twice. 

Mid-Prairie defeated Washington 8-1 on Wednesday to finish the regular season with a record of 15-10. The Golden Hawks struggled scoring early in games during the final three-game stretch. Mid-Prairie scored just three total runs during the first three innings, and then put up 26 runs over the final four.

The postseason begins on Tuesday, July 7 when the Golden Hawks face the winner of Cardinal (16-7) and Central Lee (9-12) in a district semifinal at Mediapolis. The winner will likely see Mediapolis (19-4) in the district final on Saturday. 

“I think all we have to do is keep hitting the ball like we did in those last few innings,” Helmuth said. “The other night against Durant, we waited a little bit. I think you need to get on them right away. So we’ve got to get the bats going if we want to keep our season going.”

Helmuth drew two walks and scored a run in Mid-Prairie senior night win over Washington on Wednesday. The Golden Hawks’ other senior, Cavanagh, had a hit and scored a run in the regular season finale. 

Grout led the Golden Hawks offensively with two triples and two RBIs. On the mound he allowed just one hit and no walks over five scoreless innings. He struck out six and earned the win. 

Bean was 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI. Collin Miller and Pickard each had a hit and an RBI and Brady Weber drove in a run in the Golden Hawk victory. 

Mid-Prairie has five days off with a bye in the district quarterfinal round. 

“We haven't had practice all year,” Mullet said. “We’ve had two practices since we started games. So we’ve got about four or five days here to really go back to the basics.

"I think it'll be a really good break for our guys. Refresh some things, take ground balls, get back to the basics and focus on hitting. We like to think our defense is a bit of a strength, so we'll really hit the pitching hard, and hit the bats and talk about our approach and things like that.”