CENTER POINT

A season that included victories over 2A defending state champion Iowa City Regina and River Valley South powers West Liberty and Wilton ended for Mid-Prairie’s softball team Thursday night against Center Point-Urbana.

The Golden Hawks lost in a Class 3A regional quarterfinal for the third consecutive year, creating a hunger for a squad that won 16 games for the second year in a row.

“We’re disappointed. We want more,” Golden Hawks head coach Amy Hartsock-Williams said. “Improvement is winning that first district game.”

The Golden Hawks fell to WaMaC West’s Center-Point Urbana, 3-1.

Dakota Mitchell, a Mid-Prairie sophomore who hit over .400 this season, had a single, double and triple.

Center-Point Urbana faces seventh-ranked Mount Vernon in the Region 6 semifinals Saturday.

The Golden Hawks were attempting to win their first regional tournament game since 2020, when they defeated Tipton in the first round. They have won 32 games in two seasons under Hartsock-Williams, a 1988 All-Stater with Mid-Prairie and a former All-Big Ten player with the University of Iowa.

Sydney Knebel, a sophomore pitcher, was one of the leaders in the River Valley South this summer with more than 120 strikeouts. Knebel and freshman Kadence Grout pitched in Thursday’s game.

See next week’s News for more details on Mid-Prairie softball.