It’s an all-KCII area battle tonight for the grand opening of the 2020 season when Highland and Hillcrest Academy square off on the diamond. The Hillcrest Academy softball team is coming off of a season that saw them finish with a 3-20 overall record and 3-13 in the Southeast Iowa Superconference. They scored wins over Columbus and Mediapolis twice during the year.

The Ravens hit .218 as a team, ninth in the Superconference North division. Hillcrest was led at the plate by Suzanna Yoder and her .373 average. Yoder finished with 14 hits, 22 runs scored and 11RBI. Along with Yoder at the top was fellow senior Rubye Ney and her .345 average including 20 hits, 10 runs scored and 10 RBI. Their leading returner at the plate is Mia Graber and her .271 average with 16 hits, 10 RBI and nine runs scored.

In the circle, the Ravens posted an 8.63 team ERA, eighth in the Superconference North. Leah Bontrager returns as the team leader for her sophomore season. As a freshman she had a 3-19 overall record with an 8.15ERA. This week, Hillcrest head coach Kent Blossom talked about this year’s edition of the Ravens. “One of the things I am most excited about is a special opportunity for senior Mia Graber who has had a difficult road in the past with two ACL tears during her high school career. She is set to come back and help lead our team as a captain.”

The Highland softball team is coming off of last year’s 17-9 record. The Huskies were 12-4 and finished in second place in the Superconference north. The Huskies hit .323 as a team, third in the division, led by Dani Laughlin and her .468 average, fourth in the north. She ended the year with 36 hits, 25 runs scored and seven RBI. The Huskies as a team were fifth in the north with a 3.06ERA. Megan Hoenig was the Highland ace last year with a 16-5 record and 1.87 ERA in 127 innings. Grace Batcheller has the most experience returning in the circle with 18 and two thirds innings thrown last year, a 1-4 record and 7.88 ERA. This week Highland softball coach Carrie Wieland previewed the Huskies. “We lost quite a bit, five starters from last year’s team. We’re pretty fresh right now with a lot of young kids. Juniors and sophomores stepping in to fill positions. Senior Allie Brand is going to jump into the starting lineup for us in the outfield. Dani Laughlin will be in center. Abby Stransky will move to third base from right field. We’ll have a young shortstop, eighth grader Sara Burton. Jenna Sands will be solid again at second base. Ellie Anderson will be a junior at first base. Grace Batchellor will do the pitching for us this year with her catcher Makenzie Hora. Kayla Cerny will fill in with some hitting. We’ll also have some eighth graders up to fill some spots.”

The Huskies and the Ravens met to open last season with Highland taking a 17-0 win.

The Hillcrest baseball team is coming off of a season that saw them finish with a 13-8 overall record. Hillcrest was 11-3 in the Superconference North division, finishing in the runner-up spot. The Ravens best run during the year happened in mid-June where they won six of eight games including a sweep of rival Lone Tree, a sweep of Louisa-Muscatine and a split with divisional champ Mediapolis.

Hillcrest hit .302 as a team, fourth best in the Superconference. They were led at the plate by Blake Bontrager with a .415 average, sixth best in the Superconference. He finished with 27 hits, 25RBI and five runs scored. Leading returner at the plate for the Ravens is Eli Ours who hit .343 as a sophomore with 23 hits, 15RBI and 20 runs scored.

On the hill, Hillcrest had a 3.76 team ERA, third in the conference. The Ravens were led by Trevor Leyden who set a new school record, posting a 0.33 ERA across 21 innings with 24 punchouts. Eli Ours is also the leading returner on the mound with a 1.82ERA in 34 and two thirds innings last year and a perfect 5-0 record during his sophomore season. This week, Hillcrest head coach Danny Hershberger talked about his team’s strength and veterans. “Our seniors are Drew Blauvelt and Kobe Borntrager. They have been on varsity since they were freshman. Eli Ours is our top returning pitcher. he was 5-0 last year with an ERA under two. He’ll lead the charge for us on the mound. London Schrock is a junior who has been starting varsity for us since he was a freshman. Noah Miller burst on the scene last year in his freshman year and was an all-conference player. Our pitching will be our staple. We have veterans back with a track record of performing well. Pitching and defense will be our strong suits and we will work on ways to manufacture runs.”

The Highland baseball team was 13-11 last season, 8-6 in the north division of the Superconference. The Huskies had a .311 team average, third in the north, led by Jacob Leonard and his .508 average that led the division. He finished with 31 hits, 20RBI and 19 runs scored. Along with Leonard, the other top two hitters by the numbers from a season ago have also moved on through graduation, meaning Bill Laughlin is the leading returner with a .377 average, with 29 hits, 32 runs scored and nine RBI. In the pitching department the Huskies finished with a team ERA of 4.27, fifth in the north. Leonard also led Highland on the mound with a 2.27 ERA, and 3-2 record in 24 and two thirds innings of work. Highland lost their top four pitchers by the numbers from a year ago to graduation. Their leading returner is Chase Schultz who had a 2-3 record and 5.32ERA in 26 innings as a freshman last year.

These two teams met three times last year with the Ravens winning two of those three meetings. The baseball teams will square off on the campus of Hillcrest Academy tonight with first pitch at 7p.m. The softball teams will meet at Highland High School and you can hear all of the action between the Ravens and the Huskies live on AM 1380, FM 102.5 and KCIIradio.com, beginning with the Washington HyVee pregame show at 6:30 and first pitch at 7p.m.