Photo Courtesy of Hillcrest Academy
A pair of KCII area softball teams locked up Thursday night at Mount Mercy University in Cedar Rapids with Hillcrest Academy scoring a Southeast Iowa Superconference win 9-8 over Columbus. The Wildcats had won this matchup 9-3 on opening day of the season, but it was the Ravens that would score first with a single tally in the first, with Esther Hughes singling then coming home on an error to make it 1-0. The ‘Cats grabbed the lead in the third with three when Lilly Coil connected on the first of her two RBI triples and Kennedy Wopeking drove in another and it was 3-1 Columbus. In the bottom half, the Ravens batted around scoring five times, the big blow, a Delaney Shaw RBI triple to the fence that gave Hillcrest the lead for good at 6-3. The Wildcats pushed the Ravens pulling within a single run multiple times, scoring two in the fourth, once in the fifth and twice in the seventh, but each time the Ravens answered with a run in the fourth and two in the sixth. After the game, Hillcrest pitcher Leah Bontrager and third baseman Delaney Shaw talked about the win. For her time in the circle Bontrager said, “I had a few rise balls and we played really well defensively today. So working together as a team it came together nicely today.”
Shaw talked about her triple and the offensive night. “First time up I popped up to short, so during a time out I asked my mom what I was doing wrong. She said I was dropping my shoulder so I tried to fix it then I went out and hit a triple. This time it felt really good, it hit the bat right. I was watching Kent (Coach Blossom) the whole time to see if he would tell me to stop or keep going.”
Hillcrest ended with seven hits with Evelyn Gerber and Norah Yoder combining for four. Malia Yoder, Grace Miller and Shaw each drove in one. Bontrager went all seven in the circle, giving up eight hits, six runs and tying a career high with nine strikeouts. Coil had a huge night for the Wildcats with 10 total bases, four RBI, three hits and a run scored. Victoria Howell and Lecet Quiroz each drove in two. Hillcrest is now 2-6, Columbus falls to 7-6.