The Hillcrest Academy softball team opens the class 1A regional tournament tonight with a trip to New London to face the Tigers. Hillcrest comes into the game with an overall mark of 0-22. They finished the regular season Friday with a 12-2 loss at Danville. On the season, the Ravens are hitting .261 as a team with an ERA of 10.92. Individually, they are led by Evelyn Gerber and her .405 average with 15 hits and six runs scored. In the circle, Leah Bontrager is 0-17 in 92 innings with a 12.33 ERA. The Ravens have dropped 35 consecutive contests dating back to 2019.

New London is 6-22 for the year, winless in the south division of the Superconference. In their last game they were beaten by Van Buren 12-0. For the season, the Tigers are hitting .289 as a team with a 4.68 ERA. Individually, New London is paced by Elly Manning with a .429 average at the plate, 36 hits, 27 runs and eight RBI. In the circle it’s also Manning with a 6-14 record across 120 innings with a 3.51ERA. These two teams met in Kalona on the final day of June with the Tigers taking a 15-1 win. This week, Hillcrest head coach Kent Blossom talked about what his team can take from that first game. “They did what most teams have done this year, put us on our heels by scoring early. I still feel good about how we match up with them. We need to limit the production from the top of the order for them. We need to be more aggressive overall.”

New London has won the last three in the series. The winner of this game advances to Wednesday’s 1A Regional Quarterfinal at No. 13 Winfield-Mt. Union. You can hear all of the action live tonight on FM 106.1 KCII and KCIIradio.com, beginning with the Washington HyVee pregame show at 6:30 and first pitch at 7p.m.