Photo Courtesy of Hillcrest Academy Social Media
It was a big day on the diamond Tuesday for the Hillcrest Academy Raven baseball and softball teams as they each scored Southeast Iowa Superconference North Division wins. The Raven girls clipped Columbus in a classic 11-10 matchup full of drama. The Wildcats scored once in the top of the first to grab an early advantage, Hillcrest responded with three in the bottom to take the lead. A third inning Wildcat run brought them within 3-2 and the Raven response was a pair in the bottom half to go up 5-2. Columbus got hot in a hurry in the fourth, batting around during a six run rally to take their first lead at 8-5. Hillcrest came back with one in each of the fourth and fifth get back within 8-7. Two Wildcat tallies in the sixth made it 10-7 Columbus. Down to their final six outs, the Ravens rallied for a four spot in the sixth to jump ahead 11-10, then made that single run stand up in the top of the seventh for the win.
The Wildcats out hit the Ravens 11-10. Hillcrest drew five walks and issued two. The Raven attack was led by a three for four night for Delaney Shaw with four RBI, a homer and four runs scored. Malia Yoder knocked in three on two hits and scored three times. Morgyn Nafziger and Erin Bontrager each had two hits, Ella Mize had an RBI. Yoder went the distance in the win giving up 11 hits, three earned runs, two walks and two strike outs. On the Columbus side of the book, Kennedy Woepking went three for four with four RBI, a homer and a run scored. Lily Coil also drove in four on a pair of hits and two runs scored. Ellie Sanders and Daniela Diaz had two hits each, Diaz an RBI with three runs scored. Woepking worked four innings with six hits, four earned runs, two walks and three strikeouts. The Ravens were 10-10 after the win, Columbus 10-9 after the loss.
In baseball, the Ravens used a combo of strong pitching and defense and enough offense to put away Winfield-Mt. Union/Columbus 4-0. The Ravens scored twice each in the first and third innings and made that stand up the rest of the night. Phoenix Anderson tossed a complete game, one-hit shut out to secure the win, striking out four. The Raven bats were led by two hits each for Rowan Miller, Mason Bender and Mason Helmuth. Helmuth had the lone RBI. Seth Ours, Bender, Helmuth and Lawson Schrock each scored once. The Wolves lone hit came from Kohlby Newsom. Trevor Philips and Carter Finnell combined on six innings from the mound with six hits, one earned run, five walks and eight strikeouts. The win moved the Ravens to 9-6 on the year as WMU dropped to 4-11.