When the playoffs come around it’s all about earning the right to play more baseball. Win and advance or lose, watch the season come to a screeching halt. With neither team ready for the latter, Hillcrest and Regina battled it out in a Class 1A District 10 Championship matchup on July 8. 

Proving to have the mettle and grit to win a high stakes postseason game Hillcrest, earning the title of District Champions, defeated Regina, 8-4, on July 8.  

A home game for Hillcrest, this championship contest was filled with spectators, but it was the Regina dugout who made the most noise early on.

Up to bat in the top of the first the Regals took immediate control of the game. With one Regal on base, senior Danny Gavin decided to detonate, blasting the ball far far away for a two-run home run.

If the Regina dugout was loud before this HR turned the dial of the noise meter all the way up to 11. The high-octane energy of the Regals and their ability to score so quickly put a bit of a dour mood over Hillcrest early on.

“We just had to settle down a little bit. Regina brought a lot of energy. Anytime you get a home run like that to start the game like they did, you know, that’s a huge momentum play,” Hillcrest coach Danny Hershberger said. “I think once we were able to kind of get the nerves out of the way and settle in and we just had to settle and start playing baseball the way we know how to play.”

Regina scored again in the top of the first to take a 3-0 lead and they threatened to do even more damage on offense when their bases became loaded with only one out.

Credit to Hillcrest for being able to not let Regina’s wave of momentum overwhelm them, getting the two outs they needed to end the inning, stranding three Regal baserunners. 

Turning the tides in the second frame Hillcrest found its footing on defense and offense.After surrendering no runs in the top of the second, despite the bases becoming loaded again, the Ravens went to work at bat. 

Three consecutive fielding errors by the Regina defense set the stage for senior Josiah Beachy to bring in Hillcrest’s first run of the game. Scoring a base hit RBI, Beachy brought fellow senior Jace Rempel home. 

“Josiah has been huge for us, he steps up and just does a great job of living in the moment and comes with a huge hit there to get some guys in,” Hershberger said. “Then once we had the momentum, I thought the guys did a great job of just getting back to what they have done all year, just finding ways to hit the ball hard and put pressure on the other team to make some plays.”

With the bases loaded and no outs the Ravens had the grand opportunity to turn the tables, but Regina attempted to quell the potential Hillcrest comeback by securing two straight strikeouts. Unfortunately for the Regals, those two outs brought up the top of the batting order for Hillcrest, sophomore Liam Schrock. 

No stranger to making big plays, Liam hit a game changing base hit to bring in two Ravens to tie the game. Senior Grant Bender, who scored the tying run, was fired up after crossing home plate. With all the energy and momentum now residing with the Ravens, Bender roared toward the home crowd to acknowledge their cheers while also hoping to intensify them. 

Not satisfied with just tying the game Hillcrest ended the run happy inning by taking the lead. Sophomore Seth Ours brought in Beachy to give the Ravens a 4-3 lead with his RBI base hit. 

Despite starting off the first frame ever so sharp on offense, Regina found themselves going scoreless for three consecutive innings. The Hillcrest defense brought out the clamps and this defensive effort was spearheaded by senior Luke Schrock. 

Exuding mental toughness Liam shook off Regina’s three run inning and locked in on the mound. 

“What a great performance by him. Obviously not the start he wanted or envisioned, but to just keep battling, just continuing to compete out there for us, he stepped up. That’s what great players do,” Hershberger said about Liam’s pitching performance. “They deal with adversity, and they come back stronger, and they do their thing. Really proud of him for stepping up and starting to pitch the way he knows how to do it the rest of the game and just really did a great job of not letting Regina get anything going.”

Running up the score in the fourth the Ravens put together another four-run inning to take a commanding 8-3 lead. Once Hillcrest scored its eighth run when Miller reached home plate for a team leading second time, courtesy of an RBI double by Bender, Regina made the choice to change pitchers. 

Breaking a three-inning scoring drought the Regals scored a single run in the top of the fifth to cut their deficit to four. 

This score would hold all the way to the seventh inning and the game came down to Hillcrest’s defense to secure the win, but with Liam reaching the pitch count limit in this inning, finishing the game with seven strikeouts, the Ravens brought in Rempel to wrap up the game on the mound. 

Despite only playing in a couple games as pitcher this year, Rempel stayed calm, cool, and collected. Needing two outs to end the game he struck out the first batter he faced and then when the next batter hit a grounder towards him, he gathered it and tossed the ball to first for the out. 

“That’s his personality, he’s going to be ready for the moment, that’s Jace, he’s been in big moments,” Hershberger said about Rempel. “He’s the anchor on the golf team that just won state. He’s been in high pressure situations. He’s got that clutch gene. We knew he’s a guy you want on the mound. Just really proud of him stepping up. Not being on the mound in a live action for quite a few days to go out there and get two outs like that is huge for us. Huge confidence boost for him going forward as well.”

Hillcrest, the newly crowned District 10 Champions, were awarded medals after the game. With this win the Ravens obtained a 21-4 record, the most wins for Hillcrest baseball since 2009. 

Semifinals: Hillcrest 4, Keota 3

A unique ending to say the least, Hillcrest’s home semifinal game against the Keota Eagles concluded in a way no could have expected. Needing extra innings to decide a winner, the bottom of the eighth saw Hillcrest load the bases.

 With two outs sophomore Phoenix Anderson stepped up to the plate and brought in the winning run by getting hit by the first pitch thrown. A bit of an anti-climactic way to end an exciting playoff game but nevertheless Hillcrest advanced to the District Finals by virtue of a 4-3 victory over Keota on July 5. 

Setting the table for such an atypical ending this game was scoreless after two innings. Breaking the scoring drought, the Eagles took the first lead of the game by scoring a single run in the third frame. 

This run came about after an errant throw by Hillcrest sophomore pitcher Seth Ours went past the catcher, allowing Keota junior Cole Kindred to sprint home for the score. Staying level-headed, Hillcrest’s offense responded in the bottom of the fourth. 

Walks and stolen bases proved to be the key for Hillcrest to score its first runs of the day. 

The leadoff batter for the Ravens in the fourth, senior Luke Schrock, was walked. One out later freshman Rowan Miller was also walked to first. While senior Grant Bender was up to bat Miller stole second base, beating the throw by the Keota catcher. Schrock, who was at third, seized the opportunity the ball being thrown to second provided and raced home to score and tie the game. 

Bender, who was still at bat, was eventually walked by Keota’s senior pitcher Aidan Anderson. This was the third Raven walked in this inning. Aidan Anderson ended the game giving up four walks in total but these three in the fourth frame proved to be costly for Keota. 

Taking advantage of two Ravens on base, senior Josiah Beachy brought in both Miller and Grant with a base hit. Flipping the game on its head, Hillcrest ended the fourth with a 3-1 lead. 

Like any great playoff game Keota responded immediately with a counter punch. 

After a nifty double play by Hillcrest, it looked like the Ravens were going to keep the Eagles scoreless in the fifth inning, but the third out proved to be elusive. The next two Keota batters got onto base after getting hit by the ball. Aidan Anderson brought in one Eagle baserunner with a base hit and junior Chase Sieren followed suit, also hitting a base hit to bring in another run scored to tie the game.

With both teams failing to score in the next two innings this game ended regulation deadlocked at 3-3. One extra inning was needed to crown a winner.

Keota went three up and three down in the top of the eighth. This concluded Ours’ winning night. On 81 pitches he finished with six strikeouts, giving up four hits and hitting four batters. 

Hillcrest began the bottom of the eighth with senior Jace Rempel earning a leadoff walk. Bender was the next Raven to get on base after he hit a single. Reaching the 110-pitch count limit Aidan Anderson’s night came to an end and replacing him on the mound would be junior Tanner Waterhouse. 

Waterhouse walked his first batter to load the bases for the Ravens. This led to Phoenix Anderson getting hit by a Waterhouse pitch to send Rempel home to break the tie and win the game for Hillcrest. 

A game winning walk off RBI for Phoenix Anderson in extra innings and even if it was a humdrum way to win the game this didn’t stop his teammates from crowding him with loud cheers of celebration. 

Hillcrest (21-24) faced off against the Burlington Notre Dame Nikes (25-6) in a substate matchup on July 11. A championship game in its own right, the winner of this contest advanced to the State Tournament. This game was a rematch from an earlier contest in the regular season, it was a game the Nikes won, 6-0.