Pat Harty

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – Any concern that Regina might look past Saturday’s game against Mid-Prairie to a potential showdown with rival Wilton on Tuesday was erased by one powerful swing from Blake Berns.

The junior left fielder belted a grand slam home run in the bottom of the first inning to set the tone as Regina cruised to a 9-3 victory over Mid-Prairie in a Class 2A district final at Regina.

The Regals improved to 26-7 on the season and will face Wilton in a substate final on Tuesday in Solon with a berth to the state tournament on the line.

“We had to get this game first if we were going to get on to the next one,” Berns said.

Tuesday’s game will be a rematch of a district final from last season in which Regina upset Wilton 2-0 in Wilton.

“It always seems to work out that way,” Regina coach Jeff Pacha said of facing Wilton, which swept Regina in a doubleheader during the regular season. “We’ve been there before. We’ve been preparing all year by playing our game each step of the way, and I think we’ve, so far, put ourselves in the right position to have success.

“So we’ll be ready to go for Tuesday.”

Regina was clearly the superior team on paper heading into Saturday’s game against a 16-14 Mid-Prairie squad that it swept during the regular season.

What was apparent on paper quickly carried to the field as Regina led 7-0 after two innings.

Pacha said he wasn’t worried about his team being flat or taking Mid-Prairie lightly. He took steps to make sure it wouldn’t happen, including having batting practice in the morning and in the afternoon on Saturday.

His team, which includes 10 juniors, is determined to make it back to the state tournament after falling one game short in each of the past two seasons.

“Typically, I would be (worried),” Pacha said. “But this year, we’re not. We’re earning it every day. We’re not letting them feel like they can just show up and play. And to their credit, they’ve shown up even twice a day with a sense of urgency that they need to get better that day and earn it.

“So this year’s group is a little bit different. I think we’ve got the leadership and we’ve been beaten in the substate final two years in a row with the same group of guys. So I think this year they understand you can’t overlook any team. And to get to your ultimate goal, you’ve got to earn it every day.”

It also helps to have solid pitching, which junior Mitchell Gahan gave Regina on Saturday. He fell just short of throwing a complete game by scattering seven hits over 6 1/3 innings.

Junior Nick Brandt recorded the final two outs in relief for Regina.

Gahan’s only real jam occurred in the fifth inning when he surrendered a two-run double to Mid-Prairie catcher Ethan Danner.

“I’m pretty happy with the game except for the fifth inning when I gave up two runs and kind of threw a lot of balls,” Gahan. “That’s not my game and I had to get back to it the next inning.”

Berns drove in twice as many runs as Mid-Prairie scored as a team with six RBI total. He followed his grand slam with a two-run single in second inning.

“It was a good start, obviously,” Berns said. “I’m glad we could do the job.”

Berns was far from satisfied, though.

He pointed out that Regina failed to score in three innings and also committed three errors in Saturday’s game.

“The thing we’ve got to improve on if we want to beat Wilton is those three innings that we didn’t have any runs and the three errors, too,” Berns said. “We’ve got some stuff to clean up, that’s for sure.”

Seven of Regina’s nine starters finished with at least one hit and the Regals had 13 hits overall.

“We’re playing with a lot of confidence,” said Pacha, who is in his third season as the Regina head coach. “We’ve been spending a little extra time with our offensive approach. And one of the big things in baseball is you’ve still got to show up because the best team doesn’t always win.”

Gahan’s confidence on the mound grew after his teammates spotted him a big early lead.

“It helps a lot,” Gahan said. “That grand slam by Blake gave me a confidence boost and I just went out to the mound and pitched my game and knew my defense would play good for me.”

Mid-Prairie    000  120  0  –  3   7   3

Regina            430  020  x  –  9  13  3

Brad Tornow, Jacob Leonard (2), Collin Gingerich (3), Brody Miller (4) and Ethan Danner; Mitch Gahan, Nick Brandt (7) and Trent Hoogerwerf.

W – Mitch Gahan                   L – Brad Tornow

2B – MP: Ethan Danner

HR – ICR: Blake Berns