Ravens' Yoder having a solid rookie season

By Jeff Yoder
Posted 7/7/21

While the Hillcrest softball team was unable to get a win during the regular season this year, a few individual performances have given the Ravens some excitement about the program moving …

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Ravens' Yoder having a solid rookie season

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While the Hillcrest softball team was unable to get a win during the regular season this year, a few individual performances have given the Ravens some excitement about the program moving forward. 

One of those individuals is Malia Yoder, who was 2 for 2 with a double and two RBIs in a 13-3 loss to Holy Trinity on Thursday. 

The eighth grader has struck out just five times in 22 games — the fewest strikeouts in the Raven lineup. 

“She just brings a lot of  headiness,” Hillcrest coach Kent Blossom said.  “As you can probably tell, she’s played a lot of softball. 

“And so she uses that instinct to her advantage and it really helps us defensively and then also being aggressive at the plate and using her strength and not doing anything so crazy or complex in her at bats and it’s worked out for her.”

Yoder has driven in 11 of Hillcrest’s 49 runs this year. Seniors Meredith Blossom and Yani Gutierrez are tied for second in RBIs with six each. 

Yoder said that she does look forward to those opportunities. “For sure,” she said, “I just try to hit the ball and get runners in.”

On defense, Yoder plays a key role at shortstop. 

“She definitely has a calm, cool, collectedness about her,” Blossom said. “Certainly what you need at that position. We’re not asking her to do superhuman things, and she does a lot of the routine really well.”

While the Ravens finished the regular season 0-22, the team is looking forward to another chance at a victory in the postseason at New London (6-22), who finished last in the SEISC South. 

“We’ve definitely improved,” Yoder said. “It might not show up as far as wins, but yeah, we’ve definitely improved.”

Junior Esther Hughes and eighth grader Delaney Shaw each had two hits in the loss to Holy Trinity as well. 

Hughes and senior Madeline Fox lead the Ravens in total hits with 19 each this season. Fox has drawn twice as many walks as anyone else on her team and leads Hillcrest with an on-base-percentage of .492. Junior Evelyn Gerber leads the Ravens with a batting average of .405. 

Junior Norah Yoder had two hits as the Ravens wrapped up the regular season with a 12-2 loss to Danville on Friday. 

Hillcrest suffered a 15-1 loss to New London on Wednesday, but the Ravens hope to play much better in the return trip to New London on Tuesday for the first game of the Regional tournament.