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The No. 14 in Class 2A Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk baseball team treated the crowd at Paul N. Bailey Field in Wellman to a dramatic 7-6 win over their rivals from Williamsburg Friday night. Mid-Prairie jumped out to a 4-0 lead with a single run in the first and three more in the second. Each team pushed across two in the third, to make it 6-2. The contest got tight late, with the Raiders making it 6-4 on a pair of runs in the sixth, then the Golden Hawks found one in the bottom half to make it 7-4. A seventh inning Raider rally ended one run short against Golden Hawk closer Conner Wiles, as short stop Brooks Weber turned a 6-3 twin-killing to finish the win. The Hawks out hit the Raiders 9-8 and drew four walks. All nine in the Mid-Prairie order had one hit each with Blake Swart and Jason Heitman driving in two apiece and an RBI each for Brady Weber and Gentry Bontrager. Swart, who reached three times total on the night, spoke on the KCII Postgame Show, about the win.

Swart said, “Seeing kids on base in-front of me, I know I can drive them in. I was hunting first pitch fastball, anything around the plate I was looking at hitting. Anything off the plate, I was laying off. Just staying relaxed and composed in the box, looking for a good pitch to drive. (On my double) I found one right over the plate, it was perfect early in the count and I knew I could crush it. Coach Mullet talks about deep breaths, staying composed, relaxed and confident. Using all of that really helped me.”

Tatem Telfer got the win for the Hawks, throwing five innings, with four hits, two runs, both earned, walking five and striking out eight. Wiles earned the save in one inning with two runs and two strikeouts. Connor Westcott took the loss for Williamsburg going three and a third with five hits, six runs, three earned, three walks and three Ks. Mid-Prairie is now 5-1 and makes it six straight wins over Williamsburg. The Raiders are 3-3. This game also featured a ceremony to name the press box in Wellman after Dave Tornow, a long time contributor to the Mid-Prairie community, who passed away unexpectedly last offseason. His family was honored on the field before the game with his son Brad throwing out the first pitch to Jerry Zahradnek.