KALONA

Mid-Prairie pitcher Sydney Knebel stepped in front of the pitching mound and screamed in delight.

Teammate Brenna Jehle had caught a line drive off the bat of Regina Catholic’s Avery Kies and completed a game-ending double play with a throw to first base to catch a Regals runner who had taken off for second base.

And just like that Thursday night, the Golden Hawks knocked off Regina, the top-ranked softball team in Iowa Class 2A, by a 3-2 score.

Knebel drove home the winning run by hitting a sacrifice fly ball in the fifth inning.

Hannah Sellers hit a home run for the Golden Hawks in the second inning.

Mid-Prairie’s victory was its first over Regina in a year. The Regals (13-5) won the 2A state championship last year and had swept Mid-Prairie in a doubleheader earlier this week.

The Golden Hawks (10-8) have won three of their last five games and are chasing after a second consecutive winning season for the first time in nearly 10 years.

“They’re figuring out how to win,” Golden Hawks head coach Amy Hartsock-Williams said. “They’re figuring out how to finish.”

Both Mid-Prairie and Regina are competing Friday and Saturday at the Dodger Invite in Fort Dodge, a two-day tournament featuring some of the highest-ranked teams in the state.

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