Photo Courtesy of Hillcrest Academy Yearbook

The awards for the Hillcrest Academy Raven baseball team extend beyond the diamond this summer. Head coach Danny Hershberger has been named Southeast Iowa Superconference North Division Coach of the Year for the second straight season.

Under his direction, Hillcrest did it in all aspects. The Ravens led the league, hitting .273 as a group with a .421OBP and .363 slug. Hillcrest hitters drove in a conference best 136 runs, while collecting a league leading 125 walks and scoring a Superconference high 174 times.

Hillcrest had the highest team fielding percentage in the conference at 93%. As a pitching staff they led the Superconference with a collective 3.04ERA and 1.29WHIP, surrendering just 60 earned runs and 50 walks both conference lows. This week, Hershberger joined the KCII Radio Coaches Corner to talk about what the award means to him and the program. Hershberger said, “It’s really a team award. Conference champions back-to-back seasons is never an easy thing to do. I think that’s something our guys can be pretty proud of, even if the postseason didn’t go the way we wanted. Winning conference is a statement for our team. You want to improve each time out and stay on top of the conference.”

The Ravens won the North Division title in the Superconference for the second straight season with a 9-2 record, having won 21 of their last 23 conference games dating back to last season. They finished this season with a 16-5 overall record. This is the third time Hershberger has won this award. He was also recognized in 2023 and 2019.