The Hillcrest Academy Raven baseball and softball teams are in Packwood Thursday for a pair of contests with the Pekin Panthers. The Raven softballers are 1-1 on the year after splitting contests with Winfield-Mt. Union and Lone Tree in their first week of action. On the season, the Ravens are hitting .279 as a group with a .444 on base percentage and .393 slug with 23 runs on 17 hits with 18 walks and 27 strikeouts. Individually, Yoder is at .714 with five total hits and four runs scored. Delaney Shaw has a team best five driven in. Yoder has done all of the work in the circle with 14 innings thrown, 13 hits allowed, 13 earned runs, 11 walks, 25Ks and a 6.50ERA.

Pekin is 0-3 after losses to Winfield-Mt. Union, Columbus and Highland to start the season by a combined 41-12 score. They are hitting .088 collectively with a .253OBP and .103 slug, scoring 12 runs on six hits with 15 walks and 17 strikeouts. Individually, Myah Bainbridge is hitting .375 with three htis and three runs scored. Katelynn Schultz and Carlie Gambell have each driven in two. In the circle, Ezra Parsons is 0-3 with nine innings of work, giving up a .257 opponent average, 19 hits, 34 runs, 18 earned, 19 walks and eight Ks for a 13.50ERA. The Panthers have won 21 of the last 26 in the series, but the Ravens swept the two meetings last year by 14-10 and 13-6 scores.

On the baseball diamond, Hillcrest is 2-0 after wins over Lone Tree and Winfield-Mt. Union to start the year by a 17-9 total. Hillcrest is hitting .242 as a team with a .398 on base and .318 slug with 17 runs on 16 hits with 13 walks and 13Ks. Individually, Rowan Miller, Seth Ours and Phoenix Anderson are all at .500 or better with Miller’s .571 leading way, Ours best with five hits, four runs scored and four RBI. On the mound, Hillcrest has thrown Ours and Anderson so far, with the two owning a combined 2.62 ERA with 10 hits, six earned runs and walks allowed with 17 punchouts and a .172 opponent average.

Pekin is 1-1 this year, dropping a 3-2 game to Highland, but beating Winfield-Mt. Union 5-2. The Panthers are hitting .213 as a team with a .368OBP and .246 with seven runs scored on 13 hits with 12 walks and eight Ks. Best bat is Will Adam with a .429 average and three hits. Deklan Hampton has scored twice and Riley Smith and Henry Adam each have an RBI. The Panther pitching staff has a combined three ERA with an .078 opponent average, five hits, three earned runs and 30Ks. JaeDon Wolver is 1-0 in six frames with 13Ks and one hit allowed with no runs. The Ravens have won four in a row in the series including a pair last year by a 26-4 total. Action in both baseball and softball starts tonight at 5:30 at Pekin High School.