Nine days after knocking off No. 2, the No. 8 Hillcrest Academy Ravens began their state tournament journey by upsetting the No. 1 Remsen St. Mary’s Hawks, snapping the Hawks’ 23-game winning streak.
Hillcrest jumped on top early, taking advantage of a leadoff double by Rowan Miller and a wild pitch by Remsen St. Mary’s starting pitcher Collin Homan to establish an early 1-0 Raven lead. After stranding the bases loaded in the second, Hillcrest added insurance in the third. Liam Schrock singled and came around to score on an error, while Rylan Good narrowly beat out a potential double play to reach on an RBI fielders’ choice, scoring Mason Helmuth to make it 3-0.
Senior Raven pitcher Seth Ours dominated the early frames on the mound, setting down nine of the first ten hitters he faced, but saw his first real jam in the bottom of the fourth. Homan reached on a single and advanced to third on a Dalton Klein double off the top of the left field fence. Austin Klein hit what looked like a sure single that would have almost certainly scored both baserunners, but Mason Bender denied one of those runs as he laid out for a diving catch, turning a two-RBI single into a sacrifice fly. Ours struck out the next hitter to end the frame and hold the Hawks to just a single run. Ours described the impact of Bender’s defense, “Mason’s amazing, you know he can track down anything, he’s going to lay out for anything and probably catch it.”
Dalton Klein, a freshman, took the mound in relief of Homan and pitched three scoreless frames to give the Hawks an opportunity, but the Ravens’ pitching staff proved too much for the class’s top team.
Phoenix Anderson took the bump for the close and kept the ball on the infield, drawing a quiet three runs and stranding RSM leadoff hitter Landon Waldschmitt in the on-deck circle.
Ours claimed the win, throwing six innings of one-run baseball on three hits and a walk while striking out three. Anderson got the save, giving up just a single walk in his inning of work.
At the plate, Good led the way for Hillcrest. The sophomore designated hitter reached base in all four of his plate appearances and knocked in the team’s only RBI.
Hillcrest advances to play No. 4 Martensdale-St. Mary’s, who rode a sixth-inning rally to a 2-0 win over the No. 5 Kee-Lansing Kee Hawks. The Blue Devils and the Ravens are set to play at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday at Merchant’s Park in Carroll.