Photo Courtesy of the University of Iowa

An exciting venue and contest await a pair of KCII area baseball teams tonight when Hillcrest Academy and Highland travel to Iowa City to face off at Duane Banks Field, home of the Iowa Hawkeyes. Hillcrest is 4-4 on the year after an 8-1 loss at New London Friday. They are hitting .229 as a team, led by Luke Schrock at .424 with 14 hits and 11 runs scored. Jace Rempel has a team best nine driven in. The Ravens have a collective 4.15 ERA with Schrock throwing 18 innings with a 2-1 record and 4.67 mark. Seth Ours has a 1-1 record in 15 innings with a 2.39 ERA.

Highland is 11-1 this season and receiving votes in this week’s Class 1A poll from the Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association. Their last game was a Thursday win in Riverside 9-6 over Central Lee. For the season, the Huskies are hitting .328 as a group with five players over .400, led by Trevor McFarland’s .463 with 19 hits and 14 driven in. Luke Miller has scored 17 times. Highland’s team ERA is 2.13 with Ethan Paisley and Chase Schultz a combined 8-1 in 55 innings with a 1.37 ERA and 75 strikeouts. Highland won this matchup on opening night 12-5 in Riverside. Highland has won the last three in the series. You can hear all of the action 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 Duane Banks Field in Iowa City.

The Hillcrest softball team is 2-6 this year, off of their second victory of the season Thursday 9-8 over Columbus in Cedar Rapids. The Ravens are hitting .267 together with four over .300, led by Grace Miller’s .421 average. Malia Yoder has nine hits and eight RBI, Esther Hughes has scored seven times. In the circle, Leah Bontrager has thrown 44 innings with a 7.16 ERA. Highland is 7-6-1 this year. The Huskies fell to No. 5 in Class 3A Northeast Goose Lake 4-2 over the weekend. They are hitting .311 as a team with six players at .300 or better, led by Sarah Burton’s .400 average with 24 hits, nine RBI and 21 runs scored. Highland has a 3.71 team ERA with Grace Batcheller and Jessica Kraus working 84 innings, striking out 71. The Huskies beat the Ravens on opening night 13-0 in three innings and have won 18 straight in the series. Action starts tonight at 7p.m. at Hillcrest Academy.