The moment wasn’t about hits and it wasn’t about runs.

It was about the pitch count.

Kyle Mullet, the head coach of the Mid-Prairie baseball team, walked up to senior pitcher Aidan Rath during the fifth inning of the Golden Hawks’ game at Wilton on June 21 and asked him how he was doing. How was the arm holding out?

The response was quick.

“This is my game.”

Indeed it was.

What Mullet didn’t realize at the time was that Rath hadn’t given up a hit. And, certainly, there wasn’t a whisper about that in the Golden Hawks dugout. Mentioning a no-hitter in baseball is a huge no-no.

Rath finished out the no-hitter, striking out 13 Wilton batters, in a 10-1 Mid-Prairie victory.

The pitch count? It wound up at 96.

The performance? Simply dominating.

“I think the biggest thing about Aidan’s outing against Wilton was his mindset and the way he competed,” Mullet said. “He was confident in himself, threw each pitch with a purpose.”

The quick conversation between player and coach actually illustrated that confidence, not just for this particular game but also this season in which Rath has emerged as one of the top pitching and batting leaders in the state.

“I actually was locked in during the game and so focused on the team as a whole that I didn’t realize he had a no-hitter going,” Mullet said. “In the fifth inning I asked him how he was doing because of the pitch count. He responded with, ‘This is my game.’

“I didn’t have to say anything after that. Just stay out of his way.”

It’s enough to chuckle about now.

The no-hitter was impressive enough. But in five starts, covering more than 23 innings, Rath has given up just 7 hits and struck out a team-leading 49. Some pitchers give up 7 hits in one start. Rath’s 49 strikeouts rank No. 13 in Class 2A. His earned-run average is 1.20.

“He’s the best pitcher in the state when he can have the mindset and confidence he had Monday night,” Mullet said.

And then there is Aidan’s hitting.

His nine home runs are number one in the state in all classes. Against Wilton on the night of his no-hitter, he had three hits and a home run. His batting average of .483 ranks No. 2 in the River Valley South and No. 21 in Class 2A. Rath has a slugging percentage of 1.086.

“Aidan is having a tremendous year at the plate again,” Mullet said. “He is one of the top hitters in the state. He has worked so hard to get to where he is over the last four years and even before that.”

Rath batted .562 last year with five home runs. He has hit 20 home runs the last three years, making him a long-ball threat with every plate appearance. That’s a far cry from his freshman season in 2018 when Rath hit .125 in 16 at-bats.

All those memories will make Senior Night on July 5 even that much more special alongside his dad, Allen, a former Highland High School star who pitched for the University of Iowa and won a Big Ten title in 1990, and his mother, Amy, who played softball at Iowa and grew up in Frytown.

Aidan is a Kirkwood Community College commit with perhaps some bigger things lining up behind that.

But before Rath’s college years begin, there is another achievement to chase. The Golden Hawks are attempting to reach the Class 2A state tournament for the second consecutive year, and Rath will play a big part in the team’s chase after a championship.

It’ll be a fun month coming up.

“Very proud of him,” Mullet said. “Seeing his hard work pay off and give him success is very rewarding to watch.”

Paul Bowker can be reached at bowkerpaul1@gmail.com. 

Follow him on Twitter: @bowkerpaul.