That winning feeling is becoming all too familiar to this years’ Hillcrest baseball squad. After battling and vanquishing Winfield-Mount Union in a home game on June 2, with a final score of 4-2, the Ravens improved its unblemished record to 5-0.

This win for Hillcrest over WMU was unlike any of its other victories this season because this game actually lasted the full seven innings of regulation. The Ravens won every game this season by virtue of the mercy rule before this game.  

After the first inning the score was tied 1-1. This score would hold until Hillcrest came up to bat at the bottom of the third inning. 

But, before the third inning began the officials were notified of lightning being spotted in the area, resulting in a 30 minute lightning delay. 

During this delay music with a theme started playing. “Here Comes the Rain Again” and “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head” were just a couple of the weather related songs that played during this delay. As the time for the delay was almost up the music shifted to songs such as “I Can See Clearly Now” and “Here Comes the Sun”. Besides a light sprinkle that occurred the weather did not play a factor in this game and this 30-minute break was the only delay of the game. 

Senior Luke Schrock was the first batter up for Hillcrest in the bottom of the third inning. He was able to hit the ball into the outfield and took off running, rounding first with the intention of taking second base as well.

While he was making his dash to second a WMU player, who did not possess the baseball, was in his way. This caused a collision between Luke and the WMU player. They both fell to the ground, but Luke was able to get back to his feet quickly and claim second base. 

After some discussion between officials this collision was deemed an base-running interference and Luke was allowed to walk to third base. 

While Luke was at third freshman Rowan Miller came up to bat. He hit a pop-fly into the outfield that was caught, but this allowed Luke to score, giving the Ravens a 2-1 lead. This would be the score the third inning would end on. 

Going into the bottom of the fifth the Ravens would still be clinging onto its one point lead. First up to bat in this inning was sophomore Seth Ours. After getting hit by an inadvertent pitch Ours was allowed to walk to first. 

The next batter for Hillcrest was Luke and while he was batting Ours was able to steal second. Luke would then hit a ball toward third base and it bounced off the ground with such great speed the WMU player attempting to field the ball could not corral it. It ended up being double for Luke and this also led to Ours rounding third and heading home to give the Ravens a 3-1 lead. 

After giving up that run WMU decided a pitcher change was necessary. After senior Jace Rempel hit a pop-fly that was caught Miller stepped up to the plate. Miller would proceed to pull off a powerful hit deep into the right outfield, resulting in a single, but more importantly resulting in Luke coming home for the second time to give Hillcrest a 4-1 lead. 

Once the fifth inning ended WMU were able to respond somewhat by scoring in the sixth inning to update the score to 5-2. 

The top of the seventh inning saw a pitcher change for Hillcrest. Instead of sophomore Phoenix Anderson, Luke would take over pitching duties for an inning. It was a short inning. 

Luke would strike out his first batter faced. The second WMU batter would hit a pop-fly that would be caught by Ours and the third WMU batter would also hit a pop-fly, but this one was caught by sophomore Mason Bender. Since Hillcrest had the lead the game would end after the top of the seventh inning, giving the Ravens a 4-2 victory. 

Hillcrest 17, Pekin 2

It only took Hillcrest four innings to defeat Pekin, 17-2, in a home game on May 30. Looking at how the game played out as a whole, Hillcrest only really needed one inning to claim victory and improve its record to 3-0. 

After shutting out Pekin in the top of the first inning Hillcrest exploded on offense, scoring 11 points in the bottom of the first. This was a wall Pekin could not overcome, leading to the mercy rule coming into play after the fourth inning concluded. 

Hillcrest scored at least one run in the four innings they played and everyone on the team joined in on the scoring party. Sophomore Liam Schrock scored three runs, sophomore Seth Ours scored two runs, senior Luke Schrock scored three runs, senior Jace Rempel scored one run, freshman Rowan Miller scored two runs, sophomore Mason Bender scored one run, senior Grant Bender scored one run, senior Josiah Beachy scored two runs, and sophomore Phoenix Anderson scored two runs. 

Beachy was on the pitching mound for Hillcrest in this thorough drubbing of Pekin. He threw 70 pitches in four innings, facing 17 Pekin batters, striking out six of them. 

Hillcrest 14, Wapello 0

It’s become a trend for Hillcrest after four games played, invoking the mercy rule. The Ravens went on the road and shutout Wapello, 14-0, on June 1 to stay perfect on the season, 4-0. Hillcrest, after four games played, still have not played a full-regulation game this season, ending this contest against Wapello after five innings played. 

Kicking off the top of the first inning with five runs scored Hillcrest would carry that momentum into the second inning, scoring three more times to give themselves a 8-0 lead after two. 

After scoring one more point in the fourth, the Ravens would put this game to bed in the fifth inning, scoring five more points to reach its final score of 14. Keeping Wapello with a goose egg in the points column this would be Hillcrest’s second shutout win of the year. 

Sophomore Seth Ours took care of the pitching duties for Hillcrest in this away game against Wapello. In five innings Ours had eight strikeouts with 58 pitches thrown. 

Multiple players scored in bunches in this game with brothers sophomore Liam Schrock and senior Luke Schrock leading the pack. Both Liam and Luke scored three runs each in this one-sided victory over Wapello. One of Liam’s runs scored came after he hit a solo home run. 

Ours, senior Jace Rempel, and freshman Rowan Miller also contributed to the scoring department with two runs each.

Hillcrest 9, Mediapolis 6

Still shying away from the loss column, Hillcrest recorded its sixth straight victory when they stayed home to battle against Mediapolis on June 5, with a final score of 9-6.   

Unlike Hillcrest’s other contests this season the Ravens found themselves trailing after Mediapolis scored four runs, the most points Hillcrest had given up all season, in the top of the first inning. But, Hillcrest would return the favor along with a little bit more, scoring five runs in the bottom of the first to take the lead.  

Hillcrest would add another run in the bottom of the second, but Mediapolis would respond with two runs of their own in the top of the third inning to tie the game at 6-6. The bottom of the third would see the Ravens take the lead yet again after scoring twice and this time the lead would stay. 

After scoring once more in the sixth inning Hillcrest would arrive at the final score of 9-6 in their own favor. 

Hillcrest had sophomores Luke Schrock and Mason Bender to thank when it came to runs scored, with this sophomore duo each scoring two each. Although, it was a well balanced attack for the Ravens overall. Seven of the nine players in the Hillcrest lineup scored at least once. 

It was senior Josiah Beachy who had the big momentum swinging hit of the game. He was able to clear the bases with a three-run double in the first inning. Beachy finished the game with 3 RBI’s and recorded two hits when up to bat.

When it came to pitching Beachy was on the mound for the first six innings with sophomore Seth Ours taking the last inning. Beachy struck out five batters while Ours recorded one strikeout. 

The Ravens (6-0) traveled to Riverside and faced off against Highland (5-3) on June 6. In a quick turnaround the Ravens went on the road and battled against Van Buren (10-1) on June 7. In a varsity double header Hillcrest will be on the road yet again to compete against Lone Tree (1-4) on June 9. The busy week of baseball will finish when Hillcrest goes on the road to challenge New London (2-7) on June 12.