Mid-Prairie knocks off feisty Williamsburg

KALONA - The fireworks began a day early for the Mid-Prairie softball team. The fourth-ranked team in Iowa kicked off its Independence Day with a 5-1 win over a feisty Williamsburg squad at a muggy Mid-Prairie Middle School in Kalona last night.

"You got to survive and advance, but I told the girls all we need is one more run than the other team so we'll take it," Mid-Prairie Coach Justin Lutjen said.

Advancing was far from easy, though, for the Golden Hawks.

The pitchers for both squads dueled for the first three innings until the Golden Eagles struck first in the top of the fourth inning. Mid-Prairie's Michelle Erwin laced a double down the third-base line, knocking in a pair of Golden Hawk runs.

Erwin then scored on a single by Emmie Leinen to give the Golden Hawks 3-0 lead going into the bottom of the fourth inning.

Mid-Prairie took advantage of a shaky performance by Williamsburg starter Lindsay Schlabaugh. Though she gave up just five runs, she walked seven Golden Hawk batters, hitting three of them.

However, she did manage to escape a couple of jams to keep the Raiders within striking distance. She finished with six strikeouts for the game. Mid-Prairie helped by stranding 10 base runners. It loaded the bases twice but failed to score a run each time.

Williamsburg's offense struggled the entire night, but made things interesting in the sixth inning. The Raiders scored a run when Mackenzie Bigbee singled to score McCall Meade, cutting the Golden Eagle lead to two.

However, Mid-Prairie added a pair of runs in the final inning and put away the game in the bottom half to advance to the regional semifinal.

Besides the sixth inning, the Raiders couldn't figure out Golden Hawk starter Olivia Lugar all night. The Mid-Prairie junior scattered five hits and struck out six.

"She did a really good job tonight keeping the pitches down," Mid-Prairie catcher Hannah Miller said.