Hillcrest softball perseverance allows fun to be had

Perseverance is a valuable trait to have, and the Hillcrest softball team has acquired it, helping them in the sport and eventually in life.

“Obviously, we have lapses like every team does,” senior third baseman and catcher Sarah Miller said. “I think playing through things is something we do well and makes us better people.”

The Ravens last won a game June 18, 2019, and it was against Mediapolis, Wednesday morning’s opponent after rains moved the game from Tuesday night.

Mediapolis had won in six innings 18-8 June 3. Wednesday, Hillcrest took an 8-1 lead and maintained the edge, closing the fifth inning up 12-6, before losing 17-12, its 41st straight loss.

“You get that large of a lead, then you’re feeling good, and you should win,” Hillcrest head coach Kent Blossom said. “Sometimes you just need a little extra to get over that hump.”

Hillcrest has yet to find that little extra as the hump still exists.

Mediapolis had a little extra with a solo home run in the first inning by Jayde Eberhardt and a three-run, two-out blast from winning pitcher Hallie Mohr in the sixth inning.

Blossom brought eighth-grader Malia Yoder in to pitch in the sixth inning, but the visitors “just kept on pounding the ball.”

Yoder is one of seven eighth-graders out for the team, which certainly bodes well for the Ravens’ future.

The present has seen a welcome addition in Madeline Fox, whose senior year is her first at Hillcrest.

“She’s played a lot of ball in youth leagues growing up and been playing at Clear Creek,” Blossom said. “She sure knows her way around the field.”

Fox has a .407 batting average to lead the team. She leads in extra-base hits. Yoder and Esther Hughes and Fox have the most singles. Evelyn Gerber has the second-highest batting average at .381, as well as the only triple.

Sarah Miller has played for the Ravens since she was in eighth grade when current assistant coach Calli Shaw was a senior.

“It’s fun to see how things change and how we’ve grown as a team with her help,” Miller said. “I think playing through struggles is something our team does very well.”

The Ravens’ Thursday game against Lone Tree (an 11-10 loss after Lone Tree had won 12-0 in four May 28) went nine innings, which equaled the amount of seven inning games they have played.

“Thursday was a lot of fun because we were able to string together some hits and runs,” Miller said.

Sarah Miller said, "I wish we could’ve won today but we had good quality at bats and it was fun to see my teammates hitting and scoring, just playing good softball.“

Hughes, Fox, Yoder and Grace Miller each had two hits Wednesday, and Yoder had four RBI.

“If we are playing softball, we are having fun,” Sarah Miller said.