Hillcrest Academy played host to a Southeast Iowa Superconference baseball/softball doubleheader Thursday night when the Ravens welcomed Lone Tree to Kalona. On the baseball diamond, Hillcrest scored a 12-5 victory. Things were back and forth in the first two innings, with the Lions getting on the board in the first when Adam Knock came home on a Raven error to make it 1-0. Hillcrest would answer in the bottom half when Luke Schrock crossed home plate on a Lion error to tie it. The Lions bounced back in the second to take a 2-1 lead when Matt Hemstead came home on a wild pitch. Things stayed that way until the home half of the third when Hillcrest exploded, scoring eight times on nine hits and sending 14 men to the plate in the frame. The seven run cushion was more than enough for Hillcrest to finish out the night. Lone Tree put up single runs in the fourth, sixth and seventh but didn’t seriously threaten down the stretch. The Ravens also added on with two in the fifth and one in the sixth. After the game, Hillcrest head coach Danny Hershberger talked about the big inning and night from his offense. “I was proud of the way we bounced back after a tough start. We were patient at the plate on offense. We took what they gave us. We hadn’t seen live pitching in about a week, so it took a while to get going again. The guys did a good job of settling in even when we got behind early. They just needed to make the routine plays and throw strikes. We have a good enough offense to come back.”

Every Raven in the starting lineup scored at least once, seven of the nine had a hit and seven of the nine drove in a run. Josiah Beachy led Hillcrest with four hits, three RBI and a run scored. The Ravens pounded out 17 hits in the game. Eli Ours got the win on the mound, going all seven innings, allowing five runs, one earned and striking out 11. Cade Shield took the loss for Lone Tree, going three and two thirds innings allowing 14 hits, nine runs, walking one and striking out five. Tyler Bell led the Lions at the plate with a double and a solo homer. Hillcrest improves to 5-5 on the year as Lone Tree falls to 7-8.

The softball contest was a wild back and forth affair with the Lady Lions eventually prevailing in extra innings 11-10. Lone Tree controlled action early, scoring twice in the second and twice in the third to build a 4-0 lead. The Ravens tied things with a four spot in the sixth and the teams rode the seesaw through regulation and extras. The Lions put up two in the seventh to lead 6-4. Down to their final three outs the Ravens answered with two of their own. After a scoreless eighth for both sides, the Lady Lions scored five times in the top of the ninth, Hillcrest scored four in the home half, leaving the tying run stranded at second. The two teams combined for 21 runs on 40 hits. Skylar Smith had four hits for Lone Tree, Ellen Carow and Rylie Shield each had three, with Carow driving in a pair. Malia Yoder led Hillcrest with two RBI. Both pitchers, Arlie Lorack for Lone Tree and Leah Bontrager for Hillcrest went the distance with Lorack getting the win while striking out six. Lone Tree is now 7-11 on the season. Hillcrest is 0-8.