The Highland baseball and softball teams made it four for four this year against the Hillcrest Ravens, finishing a pair of season sweeps Monday night. In a game heard on AM and FM KCII from Duane Banks Field on the campus of the University of Iowa, Highland never trailed in a 5-1 baseball win over the Ravens. The Huskies scored twice in the first when Connor Grinstead and Chase Schultz came home on RBI from Trevor McFarland and Kaige Vonnhame. Highland starter Ethan Paisley was determined to make that stand up, allowing just one hit through the first three innings and taking a shut out into the seventh. The Huskies added insurance runs in the fifth when Luke Miller came home on a wild pitch and two in the sixth when Vonnhame and Logan Bonebrake scored. Hillcrest broke through in the seventh with two hits with two outs as Rowan Miller came home on a passed ball. After the game, Paisley spoke with KCII sports about his night on the mound and the importance of his team scoring early. He said, “Just being able to throw strikes whenever I can is important. Moving around the plate and making sure that my breaking ball was finishing where I wanted it to. Thanks to my defense tonight, they stepped up quite a bit. With runners on tonight I just had to throw strikes and give my defense the best chance to succeed for us and that’s what happened. It felt good to get two runs early. It’s good momentum to start off and it just gives a good feeling to a pitcher.”

He went six and two thirds innings, giving up five hits, one unearned run and striking out seven. He outdueled Raven starter Seth Ours with his six innings, six hits allowed and five runs. McFarland had two hits for Highland, Rempel had two for Hillcrest. The Huskies are now 12-1 as the Ravens fall to 4-5.

The Highland softball team rolled to a 13-2 win in Kalona in six innings Monday. The Huskies led 3-0 after two innings and put things away with a six spot in the third to go up 9-0. They would end the game early with a single run in the fifth and three more in the sixth. The Huskies had 10 hits on the night, punctuated by doubles from Payton Brun and Grace Batcheller. Katie Herrig and Lilly Barre each drove in two. Jessica Kraus went the distance in the circle, giving up five hits, two earned runs and punching out seven. Highland is now 8-6-1 this year, the Ravens fall to 2-7.