New London on to state; Mid-Prairie eliminated

OSKALOOSA — The New London Tigers are going to state.

The Tiger baseball team knocked off Mount Ayr 4-2 in a Class 1A substate final Tuesday to earn their spot.

Ryan Richey's second-inning solo home run gave the Tigers a lead. Mount Ayr would tie it at 1-1, but New London scored on an error in the third inning.

Hecniel Rodriguez picked up the win on the mound and batted in a run. Josh Catala also knocked in a New London run.

Mid-Prairie falls to Davis County

WASHINGTON — Pitching always makes a difference in baseball and especially in the postseason. Lack of good pitching can make a huge difference.

The difference was three runs in a 7-4 win by Davis County over Mid-Prairie in a Class 2A substate final Tuesday.

Mid-Prairie’s Aidan Rath threw five wild pitches, gave up two extra-base hits, struck out four and hit a batter in two and a third innings. Kayden Reinier relieved with the score at 3-0 and Rath’s runner on third. An error and a hit made the score 5-0 and the Golden Hawks had yet to bat a second time.

Reinier threw three and two-thirds innings with three strikeouts, two runs and three hits allowed. Collin Miller tossed the seventh for the Hawks and hit the first batter, gave up two hits, a run and fanned two.

Rath leads Class 2A in home runs but was intentionally walked in his first three at bats and flew out to deep center field in the seventh inning. Karson Grout was 2-for-4 with a double. Reinier was 2-for-4. Keegan Gingerich and Will Cavanagh each had a hit for the Hawks total of six.

Davis County moves on to the state tournament in Carroll, likely as a No. 8 seed with a record of 15-18. Mid-Prairie (19-8) ends a season full of hope and promise in bitter disappointment.

“You prepare but you can’t walk guys and mix that with a couple of errors,” Mid-Prairie head coach Kyle Mullett said. “Then we didn’t hit enough to make up for it.”

In four innings, Mid-Prairie put the first batter of the inning on base. All four scored.