KALONA

In their second game of a home tournament, the Ravens faced a less than ideal start.

Their opponent, Keouk, got rolling in the first by scoring a quick six runs. The Ravens needed to trek the comeback trail for the win and in a slow and steady manner, that’s exactly what they did.  

By shutting out Keokuk (3-7) in the next five innings and scoring at least one run in the next four innings, Hillcrest (10-9) ended their weekend tourney with another victory, 10-9, on June 15.

“Not a great start, but, proud of the way the guys stayed composed and just kept chipping away and didn’t get down on ourselves,” Hillcrest coach Danny Hershberger said about his team’s ability to overcome adversity. 

“Just kept fighting and kept fighting and we were able to get a couple hits there to get back in it and then had a big inning to take the lead.” 

Every inning after the first, Hillcrest crept closer and closer to the Chiefs. 

Scoring one run in the second, one in the third, and three in the fourth, the Ravens cut their deceit to just a single run and this set up a pivotal fifth inning. 

Holding Keokuk to a goose egg once again in the top of the fifth, Hillcrest went to work when it was their turn at bat. Finding the home plate five times, the Ravens went through their entire batting lineup in the fifth.

The breakthrough came when the bases were loaded, and Lincoln Miller hit a 2 RBI single to give Hillcrest the lead. Also, in this inning Liam Schrock captured his third RBI of the game, the team lead. 

“If we just continue to stick with it, we know we have an opportunity. We’re a good hitting team,” Coach Hershberger said. “Really proud of the way the guys stuck with it and were able to come out on top today.”

In the top of the seventh Keokuk had one last chance to turn the game in their favor. Getting close but just missing the mark, the Chiefs scored three in the seventh before Hillcrest shut the door by recording the final out. 

As a team Hillcrest had 10 hits with Liam Schrock leading the team by going three for four at bat. 

Going from one impressive Schrock performance to another, freshman Lawson Schrock got the win on the mound in his first varsity start at pitcher. Lawson pitched in six innings and one third of an inning, tallying three strikeouts and giving up six hits. 

“Outstanding job by [Lawson]. “That’s mental toughness there. You give up six runs like that, it’s easy to get down yourself,” Coach Hershberger said about Lawson’s performance in the win. 

 “I thought he did a great job of just settling in and making good pitches and letting the defense make some plays behind him. The defense stepped up and was able to get quite a few double plays to get out of some innings. Just a total team effort, but really proud of the way Lawson stepped up for us when we needed someone to step in and pitch and he did a great job of it.” 

Looking at Hillcrest’s earlier game of the tournament, they defeated the winless English Valleys Bears in five innings, 12-2.  

“Happy with the way we hit the ball, we gave up two runs early in that game to kind of get behind and then came back and that was all we gave up in the game,” Coach Hershberger said about the win over English Valleys. 

Pitching in all five innings and getting the win on the mound was Liam Schrock, retiring seven batters and only giving up two hits. 

“Liam did a great job on the mound for us. After the first inning, only giving up one hit after the first inning. Just a really good performance from him. 

Scoring one run or more in every inning, the Ravens ended the game with nine hits as a team. Both Rowan Miller and Bryce Bailey had two hits to lead the team. Phoenix Anderson’s triple brought in two runs, the team lead.  

“Our lineup stepped up and everyone was contributing to hitting the ball and finding ways to get guys in,” Coach Hershberger said. “That’s what we need to continue to do. Hit the ball the way we’ve been hitting this week and continue to carry that, going forward.” 

Hillcrest 11, New London 0

Earlier in their week, the Ravens earned a shutout home victory over the New London Tigers on June 12.

Hillcrest (7-2) ended this contest in five innings to capture their second shutout of the season and for New London (4-5) this was their second straight game where home plate eluded them. 

Highlighted by a Liam Schrock home run, his first of the season, the Ravens had eight hits as a team. Bringing in a team high three RBIs was sophomore Rowan Miller. 

Miller also showed his skills as a pitcher, throwing a no-hitter in his second start of the season. Throwing a total of 69 pitches he allowed two walks and struck out eight batters. 

Hillcrest 12, W-MU 5

Breaking out the brooms at home, the Ravens earned a season sweep of the Winfield-Mt Union Wolves when they defeated their conference foe on June 13.

With this win Hillcrest (8-2) stays at the top of the SEISC with a 6-1 record in conference play and W-MU (4-5) suffers their 12th connective loss to Hillcrest, with their last win over the Ravens coming in 2016. 

Through five innings the Ravens built up a 10-run advantage, scoring their most runs in the first (6) and fifth (4). W-MU was shut out in every inning except for three. 

Collecting 12 hits as a team, the Ravens were led by Lincoln Miller, Seth Ours, Rowan Miller, Phoenix Anderson, and Lawson Schrock who all recorded two hits. 

Ours also went the distance on the mound, getting the win after pitching in seven innings. He struck out six, gave up nine hits, and allowed two walks.

Up next for Hillcrest (10-2) is a home conference contest against the Pekin Panthers (5-7) on June 20.