It’s an all-KCII area matchup tonight when Hillcrest Academy and Highland get together for Southeast Iowa Superconference baseball and softball. The Hillcrest softball team was 0-12 a season ago, hitting .158 as a team, led by Sarah Miller who is back for her senior year after hitting .300 as a junior. Esther Hughes also returns after hitting .265 last season. The Ravens had a 7.77 ERA a year ago with Leah Bontrager throwing each inning.
Highland softball was 9-7 last year. The Huskies hit .324 as a team and return eight players from that high powered offense, led by Dani Laughlin and her .600 average as a freshman with 33 hits and eight RBI. The Huskies finished with a 3.53 ERA and return everyone who threw a pitch last season, led by Grace Batcheller and her 63 innings of work with a 7-4 record and 3.52 ERA. These two teams met twice a season ago with Highland sweeping the series by 12-0 and 13-1 scores.
It’s the regular season finale tonight for the Hillcrest Academy and Washington boys’ soccer teams when the two squads meet for a non-conference bout in Kalona.
The Demons sit at 9-4 on the season and last had a come from behind 3-2 victory over Columbus on Thursday. Zac Stout has found the back of the net 28 times and that ranks seventh in the state regardless of class. The Ravens are 7-5 and they placed second over the weekend in the Southeast Iowa Super Conference tournament. Noah Miller leads the squad with eight goals.
It is senior night for Hillcrest Academy and they will honor Eli Ours, Dominic Bouse, Will Kolck, Aaron Hershberger, Aidan Yoder, London Schrock, John Hughes, and Johnny Diaz.
Hillcrest Academy and Columbus will face off tonight in Mediapolis to open the Southeast Iowa Superconference soccer tournament. The Ravens come into the match with a 5-4 record on the season. They were 2-1 winners at Danville last time out with goals from Eli Ours and Jorge Canchola. On the season, Hillcrest is led by Noah Miller with six goals, John Hughes with four assists and Aiden Krabill with 58 saves and a 78.4% save percentage.
Columbus stands at 7-5 on the season after suffering a 3-2 loss to the Washington Demons at home on Thursday, where they saw a 2-0 lead slip away. On the season, the Wildcats are led by Gary Molina with 20 goals, Javier Panchillo with five assists and Bryan Miranda with 23 saves and a 53.5% save percentage.
The Hillcrest Academy boys soccer team started a winning streak this weekend with a 7-1 blasting of visiting Tipton in Kalona Saturday. This is on the heels of a 2-0 victory at Wapello Friday night. Hillcrest put three on the board in the first half, two from Noah Miller and one an own goal off of a redirected Andrew Starr shot. The Ravens opened the second half with a John Hughes goal to push the advantage to 4-0 before the Tigers got on the board on a corner kick set piece to make it 4-1. From there the Ravens pilled on insurance goals with Miller scoring twice more to make it a hat trick plus one and then Eli Ours with his left foot inside the 18 came up with a scoring finish. The win moves Hillcrest to 4-3 on the season.