IOWA CITY

The rain and the thunder had finally disappeared overhead.

And that’s when the Mid-Prairie Golden Hawks went to work one day last week at Iowa City Regina.

Luke Traetow, a senior, beat out an infield grounder for a single.

Brady Weber, a junior, walked.

They moved to second and third bases on a wild pitch.

At the plate was Tatem Telfer, an Arkansas State commit who is the leading home run hitter in the River Valley South during his first summer season with Mid-Prairie.

Perfect situation.

The swing came, bat met ball, and the grunt coming from Telfer was a quick sign. He had swung just a little under the ball and it went high up into the sky, chasing Regina shortstop Connor Nipcon only into short left field for an easy catch.

Another fraction of an inch, and the ball may have been soaring over the fence for Telfer’s fifth home run of the season.

“He brings a good stick for us,” Golden Hawks coach Kyle Mullet said. “One of our best hitters.”

Telfer, a junior, is a new Golden Hawk. He arrived in Wellman at the same time that senior Karson Grout, a University of Iowa recruit, headed to Clinton to play in a summer college league as a preparation for a college career that begins in the fall.

And the thing is, Grout is one of the reasons Telfer, a native of Hedrick, made a move to transfer to Mid-Prairie and open enroll. They’re baseball buddies. And schoolmates. Telfer played for Mid-Prairie’s basketball team this past season, mostly on the junior varsity, a squad on which Grout had played in 2023.

Even now, they keep in touch.

“It’s been great,” Telfer said. “School is good. I played basketball. I’m having a good time.”

The timing of Telfer’s arrival was perfect for the Golden Hawks. He has filled not only a batting and a pitching spot previously held by Grout, but he became a Golden Hawk just a year after the team’s graduation losses from a year ago included starters Cain Brown, Alex Bean and Collin Miller.

“We graduated a good core last year,” Mullet said. “We’ve kind of got a mix of veterans and obviously, Tatem being new, and a mix of guys stepping up to the plate a little bit.

“It’s a good mix. We like our guys, the guys that we’ve got.”

Telfer has stepped in powerfully at the plate, but also on the pitching mound. His 70 strikeouts lead the River Valley South by almost 30 and opponents are batting .024 against him. Yes, that’s .024. It means for every 100 batters, only two are getting a hit.

Telfer’s power pitching is so overwhelming that for most batters, it’s a strikeout or a walk because they’re not going to hit it. It’s that simple. He has reached 90 mph with his fastball. In 6.2 innings of hitless ball against Durant, he struck 12 and walked six. In four innings of hitless ball against Tipton, he struck out 12, walked three and hit one batter. Against West Branch, he struck out eight and walked eight. Against Regina, he struck out nine and walked nine. There are few, maybe nobody, in the state with these stats.

Don’t blink because the pitch will be past you, strike or ball.

He’s just one reason why, for the fifth consecutive season, the Golden Hawks are a state contender. They entered this week with a number nine ranking in Class 2A. Two years ago, the Golden Hawks made it to the state tournament; a year ago, they fell one win short.

The Golden Hawks lost three games last week, and all those missed seniors from a year ago is a big reason why. But they’re figuring it out. Good teams do that.

“It’s been a little rough spot here in the season. We have been playing good baseball,” Mullet said. “We’ve been lacking some leadership and guys stepping up. Going into this year, that was the biggest concern I had.”

“We’re starting to see some guys kind of stepping up to that role and hopefully they can continue that,” Mullet said.

The Golden Hawks are coming off a memorable weekend, an annual trip to the College World Series that Mullet has turned into a reward and a bonding memory for his team. And on the way to Omaha, they stopped off in Council Bluffs and drilled St. Albert Catholic by 11 runs.

“I’ve never experienced that, like with a whole team, a team field trip like that,” Telfer said. “It’s really a good bonding.”

And don’t be surprised. It’s not that crazy to think that both Telfer and Grout could be in Omaha playing in that College World Series one day.

Iowa versus Arkansas State? Sounds pretty good.

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