The Golden Hawk bond is solid for Amy Hartsock-Williams.

And it always has been.

She played softball at Mid-Prairie High School. And she coached there.

When the Golden Hawks got new dugouts and a new press box as part of a renovation of their softball field at Mid-Prairie Middle School in 2007, Amy’s dad, Jim Hartsock, and brother, Jason, were there to help.

All three of her children went to Mid-Prairie, with the youngest, Aidan Rath, graduating last year and playing a leading role in the Golden Hawks winning conference championships in baseball the last two years.

And now she is back.

Hartsock-Williams, who played at the University of Iowa and threw the first perfect game in Hawkeye history, was named Mid-Prairie’s new softball coach last week.

Amy has come home, but, honestly, she never really left.

“I have told people before that I will never coach at any other high school,” she said. “I’ve never had any desire to coach anywhere but here. I can’t tell you why, other than this is home and I feel especially proud to have graduated from MP. To have the opportunity to come back and coach at Mid-Prairie means a lot to me because, again, this is home.

“I love this school district for what it’s done for myself and my family and I would love to see student-athletes excel in softball.”

The thing is, they already have.

Not long after completing a softball career down the road in Iowa City, which included a Second Team All-Big Ten selection and two Big Ten Player of the Week honors, Amy became coach at Mid-Prairie. Her home school. The dream of any athlete turned coach.

Beginning in 1997, the Golden Hawks had 13 consecutive winning seasons. They went to the state tournament four times. Seventeen players were All-State honorees. Many went on to play in college, including Amy’s daughter, Alex, who walked on at Iowa and played for the Hawkeyes for four years and this year is completing work for a master’s degree at Iowa. Alex played alongside sister Addison on Mid-Prairie’s 2016 state tournament basketball team, and Addie is a senior this year on Mt. Mercy’s women’s basketball squad.

The Golden Hawks tested themselves against the best in those years. Amy says she arranged for the Golden Hawks to play ranked teams in the bigger high school classes on softball weekends. The idea was to prepare them for postseason play, to challenge them.

The 2022 Golden Hawks should expect the same.

“To have winning records when challenging yourself with the best in the state every weekend is a testament to how hard those girls worked at the game of softball,” she said.

Hartsock-Williams replaces Matt Hoeppner, who took a similar path with the Golden Hawks in his one summer at Mid-Prairie in 2021. They played a Saturday tournament at the University of Iowa. They took on Solon, which was a regional finalist in Class 3A, and Fort Dodge, the 5A state champion.

Mid-Prairie won 10 games for the first time in four seasons and featured a young lineup that included three eighth-graders and just one senior, pitcher Myah Lugar, whose two older sisters were coached by Hartsock. Myah is now on the rowing team at the University of Iowa.

Hartsock made All-State as a pitcher in 1988 for Mid-Prairie. In addition to the perfect game, she made Iowa history by playing in a school-record 71 games in 1990.

So, come summer, Hartsock-Williams’ skills will be an enormous teaching point for senior Dawsyn Miller, junior Landry Pacha and whomever else decides to pitch for the Golden Hawks.

The bar will be set high by a softballer who grew up in Frytown and has been providing individual pitching lessons and coaching for the Southeast Iowa All-Stars travel team.

“I believe in goal setting and working very hard to achieve those goals,” Hartsock-Williams said. “Whether we meet our goals or not, it won’t be for lack of effort on our part. I hope the girls will see the benefit of leaving it all on the field in practice and games. If we do that, we can hold our heads up no matter what our record is. We will strive to be very good at fundamentals and be a disciplined softball team that never quits.

“This hopefully will translate into a year that is fun for the girls, parents and community. I am excited to get started.”

This may be a summer to remember.

News columnist Paul Bowker can be reached at bowkerpaul1@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @bowkerpaul.