Prairie baseball reflects on loss and moving forward

CEDAR RAPIDS — Prairie baseball coach James Nelson doesn’t view a loss as a failure. He sees it as room for improvement.

“Tonight was not one of our better nights,” Nelson said last week after a Mississippi Valley Conference split with Iowa City West. “But we’re young and we’re trying to get through that and learn the ins and outs of how we gotta show up each time.”

Prairie won the first game, 3-0, with two runs in the third inning and one in the fourth. The Hawks entered the doubleheader with a batting average of .231 along with an OBP of .353.

West was able to come back and won the second game, 3-2.

“I’m hoping the energy and the kind of wherewithal that we’re not playing well and learning the kind of things that are not causing us to be successful are the type of things that we can hopefully take from this game tonight and move onto the next one,” Nelson said.

The Hawks (16-10) are receiving votes in the latest Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association poll. Sophomore center fielder Tait Tierney leads the team with 30 hits.

Though it may not have been his best night, the sophomore knows how to stay positive.

“It wasn’t a great night, it’s gonna happen, but you’ve gotta get better from there,” said Tierney, who came to pitch in the seventh inning of the second game against West last week.

One bad game does not mean a bad season for the Hawks. With just over two weeks before postseason, the team has plenty of time to improve and prepare.

“So not great tonight, but hopefully next time we’ll be better,” Nelson said after the loss to West.