Old conference rivals are set to meet on the baseball diamond this evening in Kalona when the Highland Huskies travel to take on the Hillcrest Academy Ravens in the Area Game of the Week.

Hillcrest has started their season 1-0 in SEISC North play after a 10-0 win against Wapello last week. Against the Indians, the Ravens scored 10 runs on seven hits with seven knocked in, good for a .333 average, .548 OBP and .381 slug. Rowan Miller and Mason Helmuth combined for five hits and six RBI. Seth Ours pitched a five-inning no-hitter, racking up 13 strikeouts. As of Monday, the Hillcrest staff give up no runs on no hits in 15 opponent at-bats, with Ours’ lone walk allowed and his 13 punchouts. Hillcrest head coach Danny Hershberger shared his excitement about the matchup with Highland with KCII Sports on the latest edition of the KCII Radio Coaches Corner.

“It’s always a tough game against them [Highland] and we’re looking forward to another tough, fun environment,” Hershberger said.

Highland will begin Superconference North play tonight at 1-2 overall after their most recent contest was last week in a 19-5 victory over Danville. Colten Sypherd went 3/3 with three batted in and took the win on the bump, allowing two runs on one hit, none earned, a walk and five Ks. As a team, Highland hits .297 with an OBP of .471 and slug of .359, with 24 runs on 19 hits and 12 batted in. On the hill, the Huskies have allowed 22 runs on 21 hits, a .300 opponent average, 7.14 ERA and 1.80 WHIP. Highland head coach Allen Rath joined Saturday’s edition of the KCII Radio Coaches Corner to preview their week ahead and the keys to success.

“Defense carries, be aggressive at the plate and hopefully we carry that throughout the week. If we do that, I think that’ll keep us in games,” Rath said. “If the other two pull along, I think we could be okay this week.”

The series between the Huskies and Ravens is tied 15-15 dating back to 2009 in the Varsity Bound era, with Hillcrest having taken the three most recent contests.

You can hear tonight’s rivalry matchup between Highland and Hillcrest streaming online at KCIIRadio.com on the KCII3 Stream and the KCII3 App, beginning with pregame coverage at 5, and first pitch between the Huskies and Ravens to follow at 5:30 from Hillcrest Academy.