After uncooperative weather the last few nights, the Hillcrest Raven baseball and softball teams will look to get back to action tonight against Mediapolis. The Hillcrest softball team comes into tonight in search of their first win on the season with an 0-3 record. The Ravens were shut out last week in losses to Lone Tree, Cardinal and Highland. On the year, Hillcrest is hitting .083 with Esther Hughes at .333 to lead the way. The Ravens have a team ERA of 8.87 with Leah Bontrager throwing all 15 innings so far this year, posting an 0-3 record with a .296 opponent batting average against.
The Mediapolis softball team is 1-6 on the year. Last time out they fell to West Liberty 16-5 and Van Buren 12-0 in a weekend tournament at West Liberty. The Bullettes are hitting .220 as a team, led by sophomore Jayde Eberhardt and her .533 average with eight hits and four runs scored. Hallie Mohr and Mackenzie Springsteen have each driven in three. The Ravens have won four straight in the series including a doubleheader sweep last year on the road by 14-3 and 16-9 scores. Tonight is senior night for the Raven girls where they will honor Sarena Gerber and Mia Graber. First pitch is at 7p.m. in Kalona.
The Raven baseball team comes into the game with an overall record of 1-3, having dropped three straight games since an opening night win over Highland, including a loss Thursday to Lone Tree 14-13. Hillcrest started a game Friday at Central Lee but the contest was suspended in the second inning. On the year the Ravens are hitting .240 led by Eli Ours with a .500 average, including six hits. He is tied with Luke Schrock for the team lead with four runs scored. London Schrock has a team best four RBI. On the mound the Ravens have a 6.65 team ERA led by Noah Miller at 1.50 with a 1-0 overall record and .133 batting average against. This week, Hillcrest head coach Danny Hershberger talked about what he has seen from his team in the early season. “Our hitting continues to get better each day. As we get more game experience it is continuing to improve. We are being patient at the plate, waiting for our pitch, and when we get it, we aren’t missing it.”
Mediapolis comes into the game still undefeated on the early season with wins over Wapello, Winfield-Mt. Union, Keokuk and Columbus. They have outscored their opponents 58-23 through those first four games. As a team the Bulldogs have a .333 average led by junior Max McClure at .615. He has a team best eight hits, has scored nine times to hold the team lead along with Tyler Samuel in that category and driven in 11 runs. MEPO has posted a 3.36 team ERA led by Jordan Anderson and Samuel, each at 1-0 on the year with no runs allowed through their first starts of the season. These two teams finished first and second in the Superconference North Division a season ago with the Bulldogs taking the title and Ravens finishing just one game back. They split a doubleheader last season with the Bulldogs taking a 13-3 win in game one and Hillcrest rebounding for a 7-4 win in game two. You can hear all of the action tonight between the Ravens and Bulldogs 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. from Mediapolis High School.