KALONA

Conquering the conference for the second straight year, it was another impressive season on the baseball diamond for the Ravens. 

“We had to replace four outstanding players from last season’s team, and we had guys step up and take on bigger roles and step into starting roles to help our team win the conference again this season,” Hillcrest baseball head coach Danny Hershberger said. 

This 2023-24 squad was brimming with talent, and this was not overlooked as seven Ravens scored spots on all-conference teams and coach Hershberger was named the conference coach of the year. 

Making noise on the offensive and the defensive sides of things, Liam Schrock was named first-team all-conference as a catcher and was a 1A Southeast District second-team all-district selection. 

First up in the batting order, Schrock was a big-time playmaker for the Ravens. He led the conference in home runs (3) and runs scored (29). With a batting average of .364, he knocked in 14 runs and had 24 hits. 

The junior also saw playing time on the pitcher’s mound. Pitching in 21 innings, he had a 3-0 pitching record and tallied 13 strikeouts. 

“Liam was a huge part of our offense at the top of the line-up and really had a great second half of the season at the plate,” coach Hershberger said. 

When not pitching he was the team’s starting catcher and Schrock was as dependable as ever behind home plate. 

He had a fielding percentage of .984 (third best in the conference) and threw out seven baserunners stealing (tied for the most in the conference).  

“He does an outstanding job defensively blocking wild pitches and also preventing runners from stealing bases,” coach Hershberger said about Liam. “As the catcher he is the leader on the field for us and leads with his consistent play.”

Making a splash in his sophomore year, Rowan Miller was first-team all-conference as an infielder and named second-team all-district. 

“Rowan had another incredible season for us,” coach Hershberger said about Miller. “He does a great job of getting runners in when he has the opportunity.”

No one in the conference had more RBIs than Miller, who brought in 23 runs. The talented sophomore had a batting average of .407 (third best in the conference) and an on base percentage of .525 (also third best in the conference). 

The other aspect of Miller’s game that was a great boon for the Ravens was his pitching ability. Ending with a 5-0 pitching record (his five wins being tied for the most in the conference), Miller had an ERA of 2.03 and recorded a team high 34 strikeouts.   

“He did a great job stepping into a bigger pitching role for us this season going 5-0 on the mound and leading us in strikeouts,” coach Hershberger said about the impact Miller had on the team. “Rowan was a huge part of our team’s success this season.”

Another stellar pitcher and all-round player for Hillcrest was Seth Ours, who was named first-team all-conference utility. 

“Seth has been a huge part of our team’s success the last four seasons and continued his strong play this year.” coach Hershberger said. 

Scoring the second most runs (26) in the SEISC North, Ours went 21-for-70 at the plate to end his junior year with a batting average of .300.  He also had 16 RBIs and his seven doubles are tied for the fourth most in the conference. 

“Seth is always going to be a tough out at the plate and led our team in doubles this year,” coach Hershberger said. “Seth’s pitching and defense at shortstop helped us win a lot of close games.”

When on the mound, Ours had a 4-3 pitching record (his four wins being tied for third most in the conference) and struck out 31 with an ERA of 3.20. 

When playing shortstop, he was always ready to make the heads-up play, accounting for 26 putouts and 44 assists, tied for the second most in the conference. 

Another junior awarded a postseason accolade was Mason Helmuth, who was chosen second-team all-conference as an outfielder.

Helmuth had a batting average of .333 and he accounted for 19 hits and 16 RBIs. More often than not, his hits were just what the Ravens needed to turn the game into their favor. 

“Mason did a great job of getting clutch RBI hits for us this season,” coach Hershberger said. “There were multiple games where Mason had the RBI hit to either tie the game or give our team the lead.”

Joining Helmtuh on the second team is teammate and fellow junior Phoenix Anderson. 

Selected to the second-team all-conference as a utility player, Anderson had the second most RBIs and strikeouts on the team. 

“Phoenix really improved his hitting this season for us and became a middle of the line-up hitter for us,” coach Hershberger said. “He also led us in innings pitched and pitched really well against some tough teams this year.”

Anderson’s 19 RBIs are the second most in the SEISC North and his 39 innings pitched are tied for fourth most in the conference. With an ERA of 3.77, he accumulated 31 strikeouts. 

In his second year of Hillcrest baseball but the first year he saw playing time as a starter, Lawson Schrock shined as a freshman and was awarded honorable mention all-conference. 

Schrock was one of two Ravens to hit a home run this season (the other Raven being his brother, Liam) and with a batting average of .250 he had 16 hits and 13 RBIs. 

“Lawson got better and better throughout the season and played with more and more confidence,” coach Hershberger said. “He had some big hits for us this year including a homerun at Highland.”

The final Raven awarded a postseason accolade was Mason Bender, who was also selected honorable mention all-conference. With a fielding percentage of 1.000, Bender shined in the outfield, accounting for 32 putouts on 33 total chances.  

“Mason moved from leftfield to centerfield and made some incredible plays in the outfield, taking away hits in the gaps,” coach Hershberger said. “Mason was playing his best baseball of the year at the end of the season and really hit well in the postseason.”

A high-volume scorer (tying for the third most runs scored in the conference with 20), Bender knocked in 13 scores and had 10 hits on a .164 batting average. He also went eight for eight on stolen base attempts. 

For the second year in a row, Hershberger was named the SEISC North Coach of the Year. This is the third time in Hershberger’s coaching career he has been awarded coach of the year honors. 

“I would like to thank the players and Phil Schintler, our assistant coach, for all their hard work in making our season successful,” coach Hershberger said. 

While they finished with less wins than a year ago (16 this year compared to 21 last year) the Ravens still had a knack for defeating conference opponents. With a conference record of 9-2, Hillcrest were once again the champions of the Southeast Iowa Super Conference North. 

A team filled with young talent that featured no seniors, the future looks bright for the Ravens who saw their season end in the second round of the playoffs. 

“Our postseason run was shorter than we would have liked but we can look back and be proud of what we accomplished throughout the season,” coach Hershberger said.