The Hillcrest Academy Raven softball team takes the first step on the tournament trail Friday when they travel to Tri-County for a Class 1A Regional playoff opener. The Ravens enter the night with a 7-16 overall record, after finishing 4-10, in sixth place in the North Division of the Southeast Iowa Superconference. They closed the regular season with a 16-0 loss last week to Columbus. On the year, the Ravens are hitting .278 overall with 119 runs on 130 hits. Delaney Shaw has a .455 average with 25 hits to lead the way. Malia Yoder has a team best 23 runs scored and Lydia Beachy leads with 20 driven in. The Hillcrest staff has a 9.93 ERA with a .241 opponent average on 175 hits, 157 earned runs 137 walks and 114 strikeouts. Yoder has a 7-13 record in 97 innings with a 6.90 ERA.

Tri-County is 10-9 overall, finishing 10-6, third place in the South Iowa Cedar League. They dropped a 3-1 contest to Montezuma to close the regular season. The Trojans are hitting .331 this year with 126 runs on 158 hits. Individual leaders include Peyton Icenbice at .410 with 25 total hits. Lily Randall has driven in 16 and Ayla Hall has scored 22 times. In the circle, Tri-County has a 4.55 staff ERA with a .134 opponent average on 75 hits, 73 earned runs 84 walks and 107 strikeouts. Delanie Little is 9-5 in 86 innings with a 3.32 ERA. Tri-County has won three of the last five meetings between the two schools, the most recent contest was a 7-4 Hillcrest victory in 2016. The Ravens are in search of their first playoff win since 2015. The winner advances to the quarterfinal round of the Region 8 tournament to meet second seed English Valleys Wednesday. You can hear all of the action live tonight on AM 1380, FM 102.5 and KCIIradio.com, beginning with the Jessica Yoder and Sarah Bigley with Lepic Craiger Realtors Pregame Show at 6:30 and first pitch at 7p.m. in Thornburg.