Photo Courtesy of Jeff Yoder

The top ranked in 2A Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk baseball team saw their nine game winning streak come to an end Tuesday at the hands of the Solon Spartans on the road, 7-6. The Spartans scored first, a single run in the opening frame on two hits against Golden Hawk starter Alex Bean, as Nolan Seagren popped a sac fly to center to bring in Brett White. Pitching and defense controlled the action until the fourth as Bean settled in and the Mid-Prairie bats worked to solve Spartan starter Kaden Hansen, who entered the game with an ERA of 0.50. The Golden Hawks tied the contest in the fourth with a Karson Grout double and a Solon error, followed by a Brady Weber run scoring hit to left. The Hawks took their only lead of the night in the fifth when Camron Pickard and Dylan Henry walked with one out. Grout singled to load the bases and Bean delivered a sac fly to center. Solon answered in a big way in the bottom half, sending 10 men to the plate and chasing Bean from the game, posting a five spot. Down 6-2 going into their last at bat, Mid-Prairie would not go quietly.

The Golden Hawks sent eight men to the plate, found five hits and four runs to tie it, as they ran Hansen from the game and continued pounding away against reliever Tyson Wheeler. Pickard walked to start it, Cain Brown singled, so did Henry to score a run. Grout followed with an RBI single. After a double play, the Hawks found themselves down to their final strike in back-to-back ABs but Weber delivered a double down the line in right to pull the Hawks within 6-5 and Brock Harland tied the game with a single past a leaping Garret Stebral at third base. Despite the valiant effort to send the game to the bottom of the seventh, that’s where it would end, as the Spartans got the game winning tally with an unearned run. Despite the tough loss, following the contest, Golden Hawk head coach Kyle Mullet credited his guys with their clutch play in the seventh inning rally. Mullet said, “Props to our guys. We always talk about our approach. We know what we do at the plate. We got the guys together before the last inning and told them we had to take for a strike. You could tell the guys were locked in. We got some big, timely hits. Karson Grout, Brady Weber and Brock Harland. What an incredible last inning.”

The Golden Hawks out hit Solon 11-8. Grout was three for four with an RBI and two runs scored. Weber drove in a pair with two hits and scored once. Carson Pence took the loss for Mid-Prairie. The Golden Hawks are now 11-3 on the year. They are back on the diamond Thursday when they entertain Wilton.