Photo credit: Stephen Bender

A successful season for the Hillcrest Academy baseball team came to an end Tuesday night, as the Ravens fell to No. 8 ranked Burlington Notre Dame 4-3 in the Class 1A Substate 5 Final at Community Field in Burlington.

After the Nikes loaded the bases to begin the contest, a double play turned by Luke Schrock and putout from catcher Liam Schrock kept it scoreless. Burlington Notre Dame would break the scoreless tie in the second, however, on a suicide squeeze play, and tacked on two more runs following a throwing error. The score would remain 3-0 until the fifth inning, when an RBI single for the Nikes added what would prove to be the deciding run.

While the Raven bats were kept in check for a majority of the game, they refused to go quietly as consecutive singles from Jace Rempel, Rowan Miller, and Grant Bender loaded the bases for Hillcrest in the sixth. It was Mason Bender who got the Ravens on the board, taking a hit by pitch, scoring Rempel. Trailing 4-1, Liam Schrock delivered a two-run single to cut the deficit to one. The Raven comeback was stymied in the seventh thanks to a timely double play from the Burlington Notre Dame defense.

Seth Ours was efficient on the mound, as he had been all season long, going six innings and allowing just one earned run in the loss. Nike pitcher, Hunter Shipley limited the Hillcrest Academy offense to one hit through four innings. He earned the win, while Jaxon Sadler handled the final three frames.

As their 2023 campaign comes to a close, the Ravens finish with a 21-5 record, earning their first conference title since 2009 and most wins since that same year. They say goodbye to seniors Luke Schrock, Josiah Beachy, Jace Rempel, and Grant Bender.