WELLMAN - Mid-Prairie enters the Class 2A state baseball tournament scoring 8.2 runs per game.

Mid-Prairie senior pitchers Sean Thornton, Tyler Schneider and Brent Yotty will be key players as the team enters the Class 2A state baseball tournament. The Golden Hawks play Griswold at 8 p.m. in Marshalltown. Press-Citizen/Ryan Suchomel

The Golden Hawks have a team batting average of .321 and collectively have hit 33 home runs.

"The bats have been there most of the season," senior Brent Yotty said. "We've got a good hitting reputation."

However, coach Brian Miller said the main reason Mid-Prairie (28-10) is still playing - and plans to play beyond today's quarterfinal against Griswold (17-8) - is all about pitching.

"Pitching is the most important thing," Miller said. "There's no doubt about that. We feel with our lineup we have, one through nine, we can get some runs at any point in time.

"We feel if our pitching holds, we've got a shot."

That puts the pressure on the three Golden Hawk seniors expected to handle the bulk of the mound work in Marshalltown - Tyler Schneider, Sean Thornton and Yotty.

State baseball • What: Class 2A state baseball tournament quarterfinals. • When, where: Today in Marshalltown. • Schedule: No. 7 Cascade (29-6) vs. South O’Brien (18-3), noon. Fort Dodge St. Edmond (22-12) vs. North Fayette (28-15), 2 p.m. No. 2 Interstate-35 (26-2) vs. East Marshall (21-9), 6 p.m. Mid-Prairie (28-10) vs. Griswold (17-8), 8 p.m.

"Once you get this far, everybody can hit," said senior Erik Christensen, who leads the team with a .489 average, 13 home runs and 56 RBIs. "You can't get to the finals with just one pitcher."

Yotty is the staff ace, having compiled an 8-4 record with a 1.78 earned run average, striking out 64 in 55 innings. He was simply dominating in the substate win over Pella Christian, taking a perfect game into the seventh inning.

"Brent has always been our ace," Thornton said. "Last year he was injured, but he's back this year and ready to go."

Schneider is 5-1 with a 3.35 ERA and Thornton is 4-2 with a 2.48 ERA. Both rely on offspeed pitches, location and a heaping helping of run support.

"It's just their ability to throw strikes and not walk many people that's important," senior catcher Chris Driscol said. "If they are hitting their spots early, I know they're going to have it later."

The trio have combined to hand out 73 walks in 148 innings.

"The strength is that all three are seniors," Miller said. "With pitching, a lot of it is confidence and momentum, and all of them have it going right now."

Mid-Prairie's pitching has gotten stingier at the end of the season. The Golden Hawks have won eight straight, holding the opposition to 11 runs in those eight games.

"We've got three pitchers that can throw strikes," Yotty said. "But we've got to make sure we don't have any head cases."

The guy who helps settle down the Golden Hawk pitchers is Driscol. He was playing full-time for the Golden Hawks back when they made the state tournament for the first time in school history in 2001, and is a cagey veteran presence.

And, according to Yotty, "he blocks everything."

All seven seniors remember the state trip in 2001, when Mid-Prairie lost in the semifinals 4-3 to Emmetsburg.

"I just remember coming close to beating the team that won it all," Thornton said. "The first time we went, maybe we were just there to have fun.

"This time we're there on business."