MARSHALLTOWN - The Griswolds did not enjoy their family vacation.

Mid-Prairie’s Sean Thornton slides safely into second against Griswold’s Bryant England during a first-round game at the state Class 2A baseball tournament Wednesday in Marshalltown. Mid-Prairie won 14-2. The Associated Press

Mid-Prairie spoiled the Griswold Tigers' trip to Marshalltown on Wednes-day in the midst of RAGBRAI, winning 14-2 in five innings.

The Golden Hawks (29-10) advance to the Class 2A state baseball semifinals at 2 p.m. Friday, when they'll face East Marshall (22-9).

The remaining teams in Class 2A will have to worry about facing the Golden Hawk lineup. Mid-Prairie used eight walks and 10 hits, including five from their 7-8-9 hitters, to batter the Tigers.

"Those guys work just as hard as everybody else," Mid-Prairie coach Brian Miller said. "They are in that lineup because they are quality hitters. We'd like to think we don't have any holes, one through nine."

The No. 7 hitter, senior Dan Slaubaugh, opened up the scoring with an RBI single in the second inning.

Two batters later, No. 9 hitter Joel Fry drove in two more with a double. Fry, a senior, ended up 2-for-3 with two doubles and three RBIs.

"When I'm batting nine, I expect to get more pitches to hit," said Fry, who came in batting .287. "So I like hitting down in the order. I get to see a lot of fastballs."

The two helped chase Griswold starter Jesse Franzen, who came into the game with a 9-1 record, 1.20 ERA and 100 strikeouts in 59 innings.

He gave up six earned runs in half an inning against Mid-Prairie.

"Top to bottom, we can be real dangerous," Slaubaugh said. "Everyone tonight hit the ball really good."

The Tigers tried to stem the tide with reliever Brett Johnson, who came in with an 8-2 record, a 2.01 ERA and 113 strikeouts in 70 innings.

Mid-Prairie responded with a seven-run third inning, fueled by a two-run double by Erik Christensen and a two-run single by Slaubaugh.

Slaubaugh finished 3-for-3 with three RBIs.

"The 7-8-9 guys really carried us tonight," Miller said. "If we can continue that, things will work out for us."

With a 13-0 lead, Miller was able to pull starter Brent Yotty after 57 pitches in three innings. With the potential of three games in four days, that could prove invaluable.

"That was great," Miller said. "Now he comes back strong. It probably worked out a little better than we even expected."

Yotty did get into trouble in the top of the first inning, giving up singles to Bryant England and Brett Johnson. An error helped load the bases with two outs.

But Yotty got Marcus Josephson to fly out to end the threat.

"That was real important," Fry said. "We can't spot any runs this tournament."

The Golden Hawks will get their next chance to prove themselves Friday in the semifinal round. That's as far as Mid-Prairie has been at state, losing to Emmetsburg back in 2001 - their only other state appearance.

And with No. 2 Interstate 35 a 7-0 victim to East Marshall, and top-seeded Cascade a 2-1 upset victim to South O'Brien, the Golden Hawks look more and more like the favorite in 2A.

"Not too many teams have done that (to us)," Griswold coach Chad Rogers said. His team finished 17-9.

Mid-Prairie, which had 10 hits in 22 at-bats Wednesday, has a day to prepare for its next foe.

"I thought it'd be a close game," Slaubaugh said. "But with our bats, anything can happen."

Griswold     000 02 - 2 5 0
Mid-Prairie 067 1x - 14 10 3

Jesse Franzen, Brett Johnson (2) and Brad Mortensen; Brent Yotty, Tyler Schneider (4) and Chris Driscol. W — Yotty (9-4). L — Franzen (9-2). 2B — Erik Christensen (MP), Joel Fry 2 (MP).