Mid-Prairie upset by Davis County in substate final

Posted 7/21/21

A hug shared by Mid-Prairie senior Kayden Reinier and his coach, Kyle Mullet, explained everything at the end of the emotional night.

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Mid-Prairie upset by Davis County in substate final

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Photos by Jeff Yoder

By Paul D. Bowker

A hug shared by Mid-Prairie senior Kayden Reinier and his coach, Kyle Mullet, explained everything at the end of the emotional night.

“Some love there shared,” Mullet said.

The Golden Hawks’ summer of determination ended Tuesday night with a 7-4 loss to Davis County in a Class 2A substate final played at Washington High School with an army of Hawk fans spread down the first-base line and around the outfield fences.

Mid-Prairie could never recover from a two-run hole it fell into in the opening inning.

The Mustangs scored three runs in the first two innings on one hit, two walks, a hit batter and five wild pitches by Golden Hawks starting pitcher Aidan Rath. An error led to two more Davis County runs in the third inning.

“We just had a bad night,” Mullet said. “The hard part about this time of year, Iowa high school baseball, it’s one and done.”

The one-and-done dagger stung deeply when Davis County’s players rushed onto the field to surround pitcher Justin Matheney and celebrate their substate title after Mid-Prairie’s Keegan Gingerich popped out to finish off the game, the season and the high school careers for seven Golden Hawk seniors.

This was a senior group that led the Golden Hawks to a state tournament appearance last year, two consecutive River Valley South titles, 19 wins this summer and a determined drive toward another state tournament. Months ago, as they began preseason practice, the Golden Hawks had one goal: win a state championship.

“I’ve been coaching those guys for five years,” said Mullet, who rose from JV coach to varsity head coach during that time. “They’re just a team that has a good attitude, very coachable and they just compete. They compete all the time.”

But on Tuesday night, they fell behind a Davis County squad that has won four consecutive tournament games after finishing the regular season with an 11-18 record. On July 27, the Mustangs begin play in the state tournament in Carroll.

Clay Collier and Dawson Townsend led the game off with walks against Rath and scored, Collier on a wild pitch and Townsend on the inning’s only hit by Noah Zmolek.

After the Golden Hawks cut into the lead in bottom half of the first inning on a single by Reinier and a run-scoring hit by Gingerich, Davis County added another run in the second inning on a hit batter, two wild pitches and a sacrifice fly. Rath struck out two Mustangs after giving up the run.

“I thought there in the second inning he was going to come together and really start throwing strikes,” Mullet said of Rath. “This time of year, when you’re hit or miss, too much, it’s time to get somebody else in there.”

That moment came in the third inning when Davis County’s Caedyn Glosser hit a one-out triple. Reinier replaced Rath on the pitching mound, but Glosser still scored on a two-out error by Gingerich on a ball hit by Zmolek. Another run scored when Carson Maeder drove home Zmolek with a single.

The Golden Hawks answered with a pair of runs in the third inning to make it a 5-3 game. Karson Grout reached base on one of his team-leading two hits and eventually scored on an error. Rath, who was walked three times, scored on a wild pitch.

Reinier gave up two runs in 3.2 innings, striking out three, and sophomore Collin Miller gave up a run in the seventh inning on a hit batter and two hits.

“They’re a hot-hitting team and we knew that coming in,” Mullet said. “That was their success against Eddyville (a 5-4 win over Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont on Saturday). Obviously, that was their success tonight.”

Reinier scored Mid-Prairie’s final run in the fourth inning, reaching base on a single, stealing second base and scoring on a double by Grout. That inning featured the Mustangs walking Rath for the third consecutive time. He wouldn’t get to bat again until the final inning.

“They walk Aidan every time,” Mullet said. “I know Aidan is one player. But it’s your big stick and you rely on that sometimes to get guys going.”