Photo Courtesy of Hillcrest Academy

The Hillcrest Academy Raven baseball team is ready for their second shot at top ten Burlington, Notre Dame when they match-up with the Nikes tonight in the Class 1A Substate 5 Final. The Ravens wrapped up the District 10 Championship Saturday night in Kalona with a come-from-behind 8-4 win over Iowa City Regina. Hillcrest enters play with a 21-4 overall record. They were undefeated champions of the North Division of the Southeast Iowa Superconference. The Ravens hit .338 as a team with 245 runs on 217 hits. Luke Schrock leads the way at .480 with 40 runs scored and 36 hits. Grant Bender has a team best 39 RBI. The Raven pitching staff has a 1.87 combined ERA, on a .201 opponent average with 109 hits, 39 earned runs, 44 walks and 143 strikeouts. Schrock, Rowan Miller, Seth Ours and Phoenix Anderson are 17-2 collectively with a 1.61 ERA.

Burlington Notre Dame is 25-6. The Nikes went 11-1 in the South Division of the Supercconference to claim the crown. They are ranked No. 8 in the final Class 1A poll of the year, issued by the Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association. The Nikes are hitting .336 as a team with 251 runs on 273 hits. Individual leaders include Caden Schwenker at .427. Spencer Brent has 43 hits with 38 driven in and Landry Haberichter has scored 42 times. The Nike staff has a 2.61 ERA with a .170 opponent average on 148 hits, 72 earned runs, 111 walks and 230 strikeouts. Jaxon Sadler, Payne Prottsman and Hunter Shipley together are 19-2 with a 2.41 ERA. Following their District title Saturday, Hillcrest head coach Danny Hershberger joined the KCII Postgame show to talk about the rematch with the Nikes. “They’re obviously a really good team and we are familiar with them. In the first matchup, we didn’t hit the ball like we wanted to. They’re going to have some good pitchers throwing. They’re going to play good defense. We have to come ready to hit. We have to pitch the way we’ve been pitching and play defense. We’re excited for the opportunity Tuesday brings.”

Notre Dame beat Hillcrest 6-0 at Duane Banks Field in Iowa City on June 19th. The winner of this contest advances to the state tournament at Merchant’s Park in Carroll. The Ravens are looking for their third all-time state bid, and first since 2008. You can hear all of the action live tonight between the Ravens and Nikes on FM 106.1 KCII and KCIIradio.com, beginning with the Jessica Yoder and Sarah Bigley with Lepic Kroeger Realtors Pregame Show at 6:30 and first pitch at 7p.m. from Community Field, home of the Burlington Bees.