Photo Courtesy of Kent Blossom

Good things come to those who wait. Well, the wait was a little longer than they liked for those within the Hillcrest Academy softball program, but when it came to an end Thursday, it was better than they imagined. The Ravens were winners for the first time since the summer of 2019, taking a 10-9 Southeast Iowa Superconference victory over Mediapolis in Kalona. There were plenty of fireworks throughout the contest, with 10 half innings featuring scoring. The Bullettes jumped on top 2-0 in the first with the Ravens answering back with a single run in the bottom half. MEPO answered with one of their own in the top half and then Hillcrest built their biggest cushion of the night, using an 11 batter, six run second to go on top 7-3. Mediapolis chipped away from there, getting back within 7-6 after the road half of the fifth. Hillcrest scored twice in the bottom half to go back up 9-6, MEPO tied things in the sixth and then drama unfolded in the Ravens last at bat. With one out, Morgyn Nafziger, Esther Hughes and Evelyn Gerber all singled in a row before Malia Yoder drew the walk-off, bases loaded walk for the victory. She talked after the game about the at-bat. “I was stressed and definitely nervous, but I wanted to get a run in. During the night we knew we didn’t want to fall behind. I didn’t want to swing at the last pitch, I wanted to walk to get the run in. I figured that was the best chance of getting on. After she released it, I knew, and I was so excited. It was our first win in a long time.”

The Ravens collected the win with 10 runs on eight hits and overcame four errors. Leah Bontrager went the distance surrendering nine runs and 12 hits while striking out three. Hughes scored three runs, Malia Yoder drove in two, Bontrager had an RBI. The win snaps a 40 game losing streak for the program, their last victory was 2019 senior night, an 11-3 victory over Columbus. This is the first win for the program since the name change to Hillcrest Academy and the first for head coach Kent Blossom after taking the head coaching reigns back for the second time. The Ravens are now 1-4 this year and will travel to Pekin Friday.