Mid-Prairie draws Cascade in round one

WELLMAN — The state tournament is starting to become a familiarity for Mid-Prairie baseball.

This season marks the second trip to the state tournament for the Golden Hawks in three years.

In the opening round, Mid-Prairie (18-10) drew a familiar opponent.

They will take on the Cascade Cougars (20-5) to begin the tournament.

The two squads met previously on Thursday, June 9.

In that matchup, it was Cascade pulling out a tight 3-0 victory over the Golden Hawks.

This time around is when it matters most and the Golden Hawks have found their stride through the regional round.

Mid-Prairie allowed just four runs through the district brackets, downing Cardinal 4-0 in game one, followed by huge wins over Van Buren (15-3) and West Marshall (3-1) to advance to the state tournament.

The Golden Hawks have been propelled this season by wonderful pitching and great plate efficiency.

Sophomore standout and Iowa commit Karson Grout leads Mid-Prairie from both the hill and plate.

In eight games, Grout has a 2.42 ERA on 92 batters faced along with 41 strikeouts. Against him, batters hold just a .152 batting average.

Grout started on the hill in the Golden Hawks substate final win against West Marshall, but was taken off the mound after an arm injury.

At the plate he leads the team with a .384 average along with 28 RBIs.

Grout is just one of the great pitchers for Mid-Prairie.

Fellow sophomore Brock Harland has started five games for Mid-Prairie. Harland has an ERA of 2.10 with 18 strikeouts on 74 batters faced.

Collin Miller finished the substate final win. In his 11 games, he has a 3.41 ERA. He’s struck out 50 in 155 batters.

Bowen Burmeister holds a 4.44 ERA in nine games and 15 strikeout against 97 batters. Cain Brown has played in seven games with a 5.37 ERA.

At the plate, Brown has an average of .373. Alex Bean average sits at .353. Joe Hall’s average is .333. Miller has an average of .325.

Harland bats .289. Will Cavanagh has an average of .279. Tyler Helmuth averages .267. Dylan Henry cards a batting average .258.

For Cascade, senior Tanner Simon leads with the bat. Simon holds a .384 average at the plate. Ty Frasher follows Simon with a .338 average.

On the mound, Jack Carr leads the Cougars with a whopping 0.80 ERA against 211 batters faced.

Jase Reinke holds a 1.91 ERA in six games. David Soper has a 2.30 ERA in eight games. Cooper Hummel sits at a 2.36 ERA in nine games.

Mid-Prairie and Cascade will face off at Merchants Park in Carroll on Tuesday at 1:30 p.m.

The winners of Tuesday’s game will face either Estherville Lincoln Central or Interstate 35 on Thursday at 4:30 p.m.