KALONA

In a game where scoring was hard to come by, the Ravens found themselves in the driver seat by building up a three-run lead over the Lady Lions going into the 7th.

Lone Tree, who has not lost to Hillcrest since 2017, needed to rally to keep their winning streak against the Ravens intact and as if on cue their offense came to life in the top of the 7th. 

Turning the tables on their conference foe, the Lady Lions erased their deficit, took the lead, and shut out Hillcrest in the bottom of the 7th to win the game, 7-5, on May 28. 

With no runs scored in the first three innings, defense dominated the beginning of the game. 

Hillcrest finally broke the scoring drought in the bottom of the 4th when junior Lydia Beachy hit a sacrifice fly to bring home fellow junior Malia Yoder. The Ravens doubled up their score in the same inning when Delaney Shaw stole home after a pitching error. 

With the scoring seal finally broken, Lone Tree made their first appearance on the scoreboard in the top of the 5th when junior Alex Dautremont hit an RBI double to bring home senior Hogan Eden, but the Ravens had an answer.

Scoring three runs in the bottom of the 5th, Hillcrest took their largest lead of the night, 5-1. It was during this inning that Lone Tree made a change at pitcher, going from Abby Zaruba to Dautremont. 

Lone Tree scored only one run in the top of the 6th, setting up a 7th inning where Hillcrest just needed to prevent Lone Tree from tying the game to take the win. 

Saving their best for last, the Lady Lions scored five runs to take the lead. Now it was Lone Tree’s turn to prevent Hillcrest from scoring to take the win. 

Closing the door on the Ravens was Dautremont, who struck out the first batter, caught an infield pop fly, and struck out another to complete the comeback win. 

Leading the Ravens in hits (3) and RBIs (2) was Yoder. She also pitched a full game, striking out nine Lone Tree batters. 

For the Lady Lions they were led in hits (3) by Eden. It was a team effort when it came to RBIs with Dautremont, Ava Christofferson, Kayleigh Rundlett, and Rylee Shield all batting in a single run. 

Dautremont also took the win on the mound, giving up only one hit and striking out five Ravens.  

Lone Tree 13, New London 1

Playing in their home opener, the Lady Lions made sure the home crowd went home happy when they took care of business against the New London Tigers in four innings on May 29. 

Lone Tree, after taking a 3-1 lead after two and a half innings, broke open the game in the bottom of the third by scoring seven runs. The Lady Lions added to their lead when they scored three more times in the fourth to bring the game to an early end. 

It was a great day at bat for senior Lila Bell. Stepping up to the plate three times and connecting with the ball all three times, Bell hit two singles and a double. Her hits garnered a team leading three RBIs. 

As a team Lone Tree had 14 hits with Bell, Rylee Shield, Sami Branson all recording a team high three hits each.

Getting the win on the mound for Lone Tree was Alex Dautremont. Pitching in four innings, Dautremont gave up four hits, one run, walked one and retired three batters. 

Lone Tree 13, Pekin 1

Following a similar script from their last game, the Lady Lions roared ahead in front of their home crowd to take a large early game lead, to eventually defeat the Pekin Panthers in four innings on May 30.  

With this win, Lone Tree keeps their record perfect at 4-0 and improves their conference record to 2-0. 

The Panthers scored their first and only run in the top of the first, but the Lady Lions responded in kind by tying up the game in the bottom of the first and then they put the game to bed in the next inning. 

Scoring 10 runs in the bottom of the second, Lone Tree took a commanding 11-1 lead before scoring three more in the third to end the game early. 

  As a team, Lone Tree recorded 11 hits with Alex Dautremont, Rylee Shield, and Cate Sexton all connecting on a team high two hits. Sexton also led the team with two RBIs. 

Pitching in three innings for Lone Tree and getting the win on the mound was Abby Zaruba, allowing two hits, one run, and striking out four Pekin batters. 

Up next for Lone Tree (4-0) is a home game against conference foe Louisa-Muscatine (5-2) on June 6.