It’s a split doubleheader Wednesday for the Hillcrest Academy baseball and softball teams when they take on the Cardinal Comets. The Hillcrest softball team will make the trip to Eldon today. They are 0-1 on the season after falling to Highland Monday 12-0. The Raven offense is still looking for their first hit of the season. Leading returner from a year ago is Mia Graber with her .271 average. In the circle, Leah Bontrager threw all four innings against Highland in the opener.

Cardinal comes in at 1-1 on the year, winning their opener over Holy Trinity Monday 11-1 in five innings but dropping Tuesday’s game with New London 11-4. For the year the Comets are hitting .333 as a team led by freshman Ava Ferrell with a .571 average. In the circle they have a team ERA of 3.18. Ferrell has thrown seven of the 11 innings played this year, allowing seven hits and five earned runs. These two teams met a season ago with Cardinal taking a 9-2 win.

The Hillcrest boys are 1-1 coming into the matchup with the Comets Wednesday, beating Highland 8-5 in their season opener Monday and falling to Burlington Notre Dame in Kalona Tuesday 9-0. On the season the Ravens are hitting .156 led by Eli Ours and Aiden Kolck both hitting .400. London Schrock has the early RBI lead with two. The Raven pitching staff has a 4.00 team ERA. Noah Miller has posted the lone pitching win for the Ravens thus far and has yet to surrender an earned run on the mound.

Cardinal enters play with an 0-1 record, falling to New London on Tuesday 12-5. These two teams met in a thriller last season in Kalona with the Comets taking a 3-2 extra inning win. First pitch for both the baseball and softball games will be at 1p.m. Baseball will be played in Kalona with softball in Eldon. You can hear all of the softball action live on AM 1380, FM 102.5 and KCIIradio.com, beginning with the Washington HyVee pregame show at 12:30 this afternoon.