MOUNT VERNON

The bunt was just about perfect.

Mid-Prairie sophomore Gabi Robertson dropped her bat and darted down the first-base line with visions of a hit in her mind. Just one hit.

And even that didn’t work for the Golden Hawks on Monday night. A few minutes later, Mount Vernon senior pitcher Jenna Sprague finished off a five-inning no-hitter and a 10-0 victory.

After a short night, that was precisely the point and the challenge for Mid-Prairie on a Memorial Day’s night in Mount Vernon. The Golden Hawks, with a freshman pitcher on the mound and an eighth-grader catching, tested themselves against one of the best teams in the state. Mount Vernon, which won 36 games and was the Class 3A runner-up last year, is ranked No. 2 in 3A this year with a lineup that includes virtually everybody from its state tournament team of a year ago.

“It was a huge challenge,” Golden Hawks head coach Amy Hartsock-Williams said. “They’re a very good team with lots of experience, lots of state tournament experience, two girls on the Elite Team. And they brought all nine players from that state tournament team back this year. So we knew it was going to be a good challenge.”

And that’s why the Golden Hawks were even here Monday night.

“We’re fine with that,” Hartsock-Williams said. “We need to see what we need to work on and the only way to do that is to come out and play the best. They expose what you have to work on. It’s OK. We’re OK.”

The Mustangs, who have won their first six games by a combined score of 38-4, scored three runs in the first inning and four runs in the second inning to take charge. They went ahead 10-0 in the fourth inning and then Sprague closed things out quickly in the fifth, including the bunt by Robertson that nearly ruined the no-hitter.

That’s OK, too, because those are the kinds of plays the Golden Hawks (1-2) are working on.

“We are at the point where we’re working on fundamentals. Fundamentals, fundamentals, fundamentals,” Hartsock-Williams said. “Game IQ. We’re teaching them game IQ, thinking.”

The coach likes what she is seeing, particularly from a young team that has a lineup loaded with freshmen and sophomores, and younger when you include eighth-graders Sophie Miller, Harper Pacha, Cadence Yoder and Kadence Grout.

“I’ve seen a tremendous amount of progress in the three weeks that we’ve had them already,” Hartsock-Williams said. “I can see it. I can see by the end of this season we’re going to be where we want to be if they keep a good attitude.”

A busy week includes a home game Thursday against Northeast, and road games Wednesday at Durant, Friday at Davenport North and a tournament Saturday at the Hawkeye Softball Complex in Coralville.