A wild game in Wellman went No. 12 in Class 2A Mid-Prairie’s way Friday night, in a 12-11 baseball win over Fairfield. The Golden Hawks hung three in the first inning take an early lead. Each team plated five in the fourth, with Fairfield grabbing their first advantage at 5-3, and Mid-Prairie erasing it immediately at 8-5. The Trojans tightened it up at 8-7 with a pair in the fifth, and down to their final three outs, rallied once more with a three spot in the seventh to put the Hawks in danger at 10-8. In the bottom of the seventh, Mid-Prairie scratched across a pair to force extras. In the eighth, one Trojan run in the top half put them on the brink again at 11-10, only to see the Golden Hawks walk it off in the bottom half, as Cash Brown delivered the tying hit and Gentry Bontrager the winner. Following the win, Mid-Prairie head coach Kyle Mullet talked about what this win says about his team.

Mullet said, “It’s all about your preparation. Work behind the scenes, work in practice. All of the stuff out here tonight comes from playing on the football field, the basketball court, practicing hard, competing. I can give these guys the mechanics and teach them to play the game of baseball, but in the end, if they don’t have a good work ethic and know how to compete the right way, you’re not going to win games like this. That’s what this came down to tonight. This was a fist-fight and our guys were tougher! When it came down to it in the late innings. When we needed to get something done, our guys had a job to do and they did it. We needed a guy on base we drew walks. When it came time to move guys over, they did it. They executed. That’s what you have to do to win games!”

The Hawks out hit the Trojans 12-11 and drew 11 walks. Tatem Telfer drove in four on two hits with a run scored. Brooks Weber had three hits, scored once and had an RBI. Brown had a pair of hits with a run and an RBI. Brady Weber, Mid-Prairie’s fourth pitcher of the night, recorded the win in an inning with two Ks. The Golden Hawks are now 9-1 overall, 5-1 in conference while Fairfield falls to 6-4.