Third time being the charm might work for most but not for the E-town softball team, at least not when it comes to the Lampeter-Strasburg softball team. With an 11-4 victory in the L-L Championship game on May 20th, the Lady Pioneers are officially responsible for half of Elizabethtown's six losses on the year. This one does have a bit of dejà vu to it as L-S also topped the Lady Bears back in the 2019 championship game.

As for the 2021 title game, E-town appeared to be on their way to a win after a four-run burst in the top of the third broke open a scoreless game. Carli Zerphey led off the frame with a triple and looked to be stranded there after two quick outs. Ava Fair got the scoring started when she reached on an error that allowed Zerphey to score for a 1-0 lead. Jess Zimmerman (1-2, RBI, run scored) followed with a one-run single before Megan Gray (2-3, 2 RBI, run scored) capped the rally with a two-run shot and a 4-0 lead.

Elizabethtown enjoyed that lead for just over an inning before Lampeter-Strasburg began chipping away at the cushion. The Pioneer comeback started with a two-run fourth and continued with another two runs in the fifth. The Lady Bears were unable to counter the Lampeter-Strasburg push, leaving the game knotted at 4-4 until the bottom of the sixth. That is when the Lady Pioneers sent 11 batters to the plate, scoring seven runs on eight hits that put E-town in an 11-4 hole with just three outs to find a way out. Keiva Middleton kept Elizabethtown in that hole with three quick outs to secure the win and the Lancaster-Lebanon League Championship for Lampeter-Strasburg. Kristin Geesey took the loss for the Elizabethtown after covering all six innings.

With the L-L bracket complete, the Lady Bears turned their attention to the District 3-5A bracket where another familiar foe awaited in Solanco. The district tangle between the two clubs would give one side the season advantage after Solanco took the April 13th tilt by a 3-2 final and E-town the May 7th affair by a 10-9 count.

This time around the Lady Bears used a big sixth inning rally to capture a 6-1 victory, ensuring edges of seats remained free and fingernails remained unchewed. Geesey was the star of the show, helping her own cause with a two-hit, three-RBI day while picking up the win.

Geesey's work in the circle was not dominant but did result in the victory thanks to six strikeouts, three walks and just a single run allowed in the third inning. That run came as a result of one of those walks putting Emily Sims on first, coupled with a two-out Holly Grube double that allowed Sims to score.

The comeback officially got underway in the fourth where the Lady Bears used a combination of Solanco errors and Gray's lone hit of the game, a single, to tie the game at 1-1. Elizabethtown took the lead with another single run in the fifth, this one off Astyn Calaman's lone hit, a double that plated Madison Bell, making it a 2-1 contest.

Geesey made the one-run lead hold through Solanco's half of the sixth, setting up the game clinching half of the frame. Zimmerman led off with a single and Gray followed with a walk before a passed ball moved both into scoring position. Finch pushed the first of E-town's four runs across via a fielder's choice, making it 3-1. Julie Zook was hit by a pitch, loading the bases with her free pass. Solanco's Anna Sexton appeared to get out of the jam after back-to-back fielder's choice plays left the bases loaded and two-out but one swing from Geesey changed everything. The senior ripped a triple that plated Zook, Bell and Zerphey, extending the lead to what would become the 6-1 final.

TRACK

Elizabethtown's annual trek into Cumberland County for the District 3 Track and Field Championship took place on Friday May 21st and Saturday the 22nd with five Lady Bears competing in a total of seven events. The quintet snagged three medals and 11 team points, good enough for 20th out of 42 schools represented.

Madeline Quinn was responsible for two of the three medals after competing in both distance races over the weekend. Quinn opened her weekend on Friday, finishing the 3200m in 11:07.13, good enough for seventh place and returned to Shippensburg on Saturday for another four trips around the track, covering the 1600m in 5:03.63 and taking fifth in the process.

Carly Sedun competed in the shot put and discus and snagged the final Elizabethtown podium trip with a fourth-place toss of 119-4 in the discus. The senior also added a 16th place heave of 30-6 in the shot put.

Elizabethtown had two other Lady Bears compete in field events at the district meet. Francine Ohlson joined Sedun in the discus competition, finishing 16th with her best toss of 95-8, and Zoey Myers earned 10th place in the javelin thanks to her 110-7 throw.

One other Lady Bear, Genevieve McDonald, enjoyed a multi-event weekend. McDonald clocked a 26.69 in her 200m prelim heat, sneaking into the semifinal as the last time-based qualifier. McDonald was a few steps slower in her semifinal run, a 27.10 leaving her 0.72 seconds from a finals berth. Her other event was the 400m relay where Adyson Haak, Lilly Heistand and Breauna Wertman joined her to post a 51.95, good enough for a 14th place finish.