Mid-Prairie softball seals upset of No. 1 Bobcats

IOWA CITY - As the ball rolled toward her, Mid-Prairie's Chelsea Kral took an extra half second to deliver the final out against Benton Community to advance to the state tournament for the fifth straight year.

Mid-Prairie defeated No. 1 Benton Community in last night's Class 3A regional final, in a dramatic 6-5 final.

'I couldn't believe it was already the end of the game,” Kral said. 'When the ball was coming to me, I had all the confidence in the world. When I made that final throw, I couldn't believe it. Butterflies were everywhere.”

Pitcher Taylor Kurtz said knocking off the best team in the state made last night's victory even sweeter.

'Coming into this and everyone saying ‘Mid-Prairie's the underdogs,' we knew it, but doing it is so incredible,” Kurtz said.

The game itself, Kurtz said, was unique. After appearing in three other state tournaments, she finally had a larger role in this game.

'I've gone to state the past three years, but I've never got to play in a really crucial game to go to state, and now it's unbelievable.”

Head coach Kara Beatty said the win didn't just represent another underdog victory or another state appearance for the Golden Hawks.

'The standard has been set for Mid-Prairie,” Beatty said. 'They've had eight state appearances, four straight that they've gone. A lot of people underestimated this group of girls; they weren't sure how they were going to be able to play.”

After graduating a large senior class and coming into the season with a new head coach, Beatty said she knew her team had the pieces to get back to state, but didn't put it all together until the last three weeks.

The Golden Hawks are riding a nine-game winning streak into the state tournament. Beatty said the final three weeks the philosophy on the team was to make non-believers believe. After knocking off the best team in 3A, Kral said she's pretty sure they've done just that.

'It's pretty special that we were able to prove to the non-believers that we could do it,” Kral said. 'And now, we're back to state for the fifth year.”

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