Under some ominous clouds, the bats for Hillcrest Academy provided the thunder as the Ravens downed WMU 12-5.

It was 12 runs off 12 hits for a Hillcrest team that trailed 2-0 after a half inning. Riley Kaalberg roped one of his three hits to the wall for a leadoff double. He and Lane Genkinger would score to give the Wolves an early and short-lived lead. The Ravens sent 10 batters to the plate in the bottom of the first including five hits, one walk, one hit batter, and a Winfield error.

While Hillcrest pitcher Seth Ours blanked the Wolves in the second, WMU starter Riley Kaalberg would exit for Kason Dopler. He entered into a 7-2 game with the bases loaded and one out, minimizing the damage to just one run from there. Ours scored the eighth run for the Ravens following a double, one of three in the game for Hillcrest.

In the third, Winfield-Mt. Union/Columbus drew closer as Tyson Kaalberg and Trevor Phillips came around to score. It would remain 8-4 until the fifth, where four more were plated by the Ravens. They saw two-hit performances from Ours, Rowan Miller, Lawson Schrock, Phoenix Anderson, who had two RBIs, and Lincoln Miller who added one.

Ours allowed just five more base-runners after the third inning, striking out six Wolves in the complete-game win. He improved to 4-1, while Hillcrest stays atop the Super Conference now 8-2. Dopler finished out the game for WMU on the mound, giving up four runs off six hits in five innings, fanning five.

The Ravens host English Valleys and Keokuk this Saturday in the Hillcrest Classic. After their first loss in a week, WMU gets back at it tonight with a doubleheader against Lone Tree.