WAPELLO

Going on the road to start the postseason, Hillcrest knew the biggest obstacle in their way from reaching the second round was the pitcher with the third most strikeouts in the state, Wapello senior Ada Boysen.

“The entire focus was against their best player, Ada and trying to find ways to, to punch runs across,” Hillcrest coach Kent Blossom said about how his team approached this first round 1A regional tournament game against conference foe Wapello on July 8. 

Once again Boysen, who ended with an impressive 17 strikeouts, and the Arrows proved to be too much for Hillcrest to handle as the Ravens saw their most successful season since 2013 come to an end with a 6-2 loss. 

“I just view it as strong,” coach Blossom said about how his team battled against Wapello, a team that defeated them twice in the regular season.  “I think our girls came out and they were prepared, and they were hungry. Just given the realities of the recent past seasons and wanting to go after it.” 

Coming out of the gate with a purpose, Hillcrest struck first when Malia Yoder connected on an RBI double to bring in teammate Morgyn Nafziger, giving the Ravens a quick 1-0 lead. 

This lead was short lived however, as the Arrows answered back with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning and then went on to score twice in the second and one more in the third to take a 4-1 lead. 

“Defensively we could have buttoned up just a little bit better in some key situations there which allowed them to score some runs,” coach Blossom said. 

Hillcrest’s next and final run came in the fourth. Delaney Shaw began the inning with a triple, her third of the season. She was eventually brought home after Kylee Statler was able to put the ball in play and reach first due to an error by Wapello. 

The Ravens seemed to be on the verge of a potential comeback with only one out and two on base after the Shaw score but Boysen, who has reached 278 strikeouts this season, struck out two Ravens in a row to end the inning. 

The bottom of the fourth saw the Arrows put up two more runs to reach their final score of six and then they shut out Hillcrest in the last three innings to take the victory in front of their home crowd.

Wapello went on to battle English Valleys in the second round while Hillcrest saw its season end with a 12-14 record, an impressive accomplishment as it is the first time the program has reached double digit wins since 2013. 

Malia Yoder ends a tremendous junior year against Wapello by striking out five, surrendering five hits, and allowing two walks with an ERA of 2.33. 

Whether it was pitching (striking out 173 this year) or batting (connecting on 44 hits with a batting average of .571) Yoder was a force for the Ravens all throughout the season. 

“I just think she just became way more composed this season. Wasn’t on her heels, as much as maybe she was last year,” coach Blossom said about Yoder’s splendid junior season.  

“We had her at the top of the order last year and I thought, being inside the circle, being a leadoff hitter, we needed to make a slight change, so we moved her to second in the batting order, and it just lit up for her.”

The Ravens will now head into the offseason but with no seniors on their roster they can expect great roster consistency for next year. 

“Overall, I’m just very happy for our ballclub,” coach Blossom said. “To go out on a good game and it helps us to look forward to the future as well.”