The tennis team kept pace with Cocalico throughout the regular season and both teams entered the final week undefeated, setting up a showdown for the section title at L-S Wednesday, April 19. And with the final volley complete, the Pioneers, who lost three of their top five players from last year, prevailed, 4-3, and defended their Section Two crown. They sit at 11-2 overall.

Twin brothers Spencer and Cole Teaman grabbed an 8-3 No. 2 doubles win over Cocalico brothers Sebastian and Nicholas Neustadter while Justin Gouger and Kenny Finn turned in a solid 8-2 result at No. 3 over Luke Main and Aaron Wilczek.

Singles play featured Spencer and Cole Teaman winning in straight sets at No. 2 and 3 respectively, wrapping up the win.

Joe Fitzgerald and Kyle Pawson almost made it a clean sweep in doubles play, battling to a 9-8 loss.

The boys were coming off a 7-0 Monday shutout against Lebanon. Fitzgerald and Owen Lapp, C. and S. Teaman, and Gouger and Finn handled doubles play while Fitzgerald, C. Teaman and S. Teaman all won 6-0, 6-0 in singles and Gouger, at No. 4, won 6-0, 6-1.

BASEBALL

The baseball team ran its winning streak to four straight, three coming over the last week.

Friday, April 14, they got a no-hit effort from Anthony Turek and blanked CV 7-0.

"Anthony made a bunch of quality pitches, and we made the defensive plays," said head coach Jeff Swarr. "He ended up striking out six, picked off one, and was consistently ahead in the count. We had quality at-bats and continued to put pressure on them until we broke it open with five runs in the top of the seventh. Almost everyone in the lineup was on base at some point," he added, "and Anthony scored twice because he was HBP twice."

After a 2-0 loss to the Bears on April 10, L-S evened the score on Monday, April 17th, with a 10-4 victory. A four-run first sparked the attack and a six-run sixth pushed the lead to 10-0 before L-S stymied an Elizabethtown rally.

"Peyton Harsh threw a great game and worked ahead in the count, though he struggled after we scored those six runs," recalled Swarr. "He sat for a long time when we scored those runs."

Tanner Groff went 2-4 with a homerun and four RBI. Will Bailey collected three RBI on a 3-4 outing, seeing 25 pitches in four at bats. Turek was 3-3 with one RBI.

Wednesday, Ephrata and L-S both scored two seventh inning runs but Lampeter's solo scores in the fourth and fifth innings pushed the Pioneers past the Mounts, 4-2.

Long went 2-4 with two RBI and pitched a complete game with four strikeouts and four walks to lead the way.

TRACK

The track teams put up some close numbers in a mixed result final on Monday, April 17. The boys' split first place finishes but used their depth to secure an 82-68 win over Garden Spot while the girls' dropped a heartbreaker, 70-60.

"We got a real team effort from the boys with a sweep in the javelin (Danny Jones, Braden Bauer and Braden Weese) and Carson Coleman winning the 100, 200 and joining Owen Keener, Aidan Black and Damoj Gray to take the 4x100," said head coach Cal Esh.

Ben Devin and Parker Stoner went 1-2 in the mile and Colin Whitaker claimed the 800. All three, along with Doutrich, opened the meet with a 4x800 relay win.

Whitaker was also second in the 3200 behind Michael Colosi.

Lampeter's final win was a 10-6 vault by Aidan Wiley with Greyson Myers taking second.

"The throwing girls had a huge day," praised Esh. "Maggie Swar took three firsts, and they swept the shot and discus with Kelsey McTaggart (third in the javelin) and Brooke Hess taking seconds and thirds. But we didn't win any of the relays."

Also in the field, Elly Bruner won the high jump, was second in the long and finished third in the triple while Meadow Shussler and Natalie Holland went 2-3 in the pole vault.

On the track, Lyndi Wall was her usual speedy self, winning both the 100 and 200. Keira Smecker won the mile and Merin Kauffman led the 3200.

GIRLS LAX

The girls' lacrosse team kept its unbeaten streak intact with convincing wins over Garden Spot (April 13), Cocalico (April 17) and Lanc. Co. Day (April 18) last week and are poised to win the section title if the winning continues.

"We are in the driver's seat to win our first ever section title, but we have to win out," said head coach Marshall Krebs. "We beat Cocalico 16-6, but it was a tight game. We steadily pulled away. The team played well and played together as evidenced by 13 assisted goals."

Rowan Kimmel was impressive with four goals and four assists while Abigail Welchans (4g, 1a) and Bethany Stoltzfus (3g, 2a) weren't too shabby in the stats department either.

Other scores included Leigha Saurbaugh (1g), Hannah Cissne (2g, 4a), Ryann Logan (1g) and Trinity Wise (1g, 2a).

In the crushing victory over Garden Spot, which featured a 12-1 halftime lead, Cissne and Kimmel led the way with five goals each.

Lancaster Country Day was no match for L-S on April 19. The Pioneers racked up a season-high 24 goals and gave up four in a lopsided win. Saurbaugh (5g), Kimmel (4g, 2a), Stoltzfus (4g), Cissne (3g, 2a), Logan (3g) and Welchans (2g, 2a) were the multiple goal scorers.

SOFTBALL

Looking to make it three wins straight last Monday, April 17, the Pioneers dropped a slugfest against visiting Elizabethtown, 16-7. The Bears scored seven runs on two hits in the fourth to seal Lampeter's fate. Both teams collected 15 hits on the day.

"That was a tough one to swallow because we played so well against CV," said head coach Earl Rutledge. "Etown had that one big inning where things went their way."

Chloe Meck went 2-4 with two RBI and Julia Gerard also had two RBI, going 1-5. Brooke Zuber (3-4), Ally Raub (2-3), Mackenzie Mack (2-3) and Maura Savoca (2-4) also finished with multiple hits.

In Monday's 8-3 win against CV, the Pioneers rallied from a 3-2 deficit with four runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth and took advantage of five errors. Zuber's three run homer sparked that fourth inning rally.

"Brook has three 'no doubt about it' home runs," said Rutledge. "Ally pitched a really good game, hitting her spots," said Rutledge, "and we did play better defense."

Raub went the distance in the circle, striking out eight, walking three and scattering eight hits.

Meck, who went 2-3, was the only batter with two hits.

Ephrata avenged an 8-5 April 3 loss with a 10-3 victory over L-S on April 19. The Pioneers scored all three of their runs in the third inning, struck out 10 times and committed five errors. Kara Scranton collected two of Lampeter's three hits.

BOYS' LAX

After a 9-4 loss to section leader Cocalico in their first meeting, the Pioneers were looking to even the score Monday, April 17. An efficient offense in the second half paid off for L-S. Down 4-2 at the half, L-S outscored the Eagles 7-5 over the final two quarters to force overtime. Unfortunately, the Eagle remained undefeated when Evan Youndt scored the game-winner in the sudden victory extra period.

KJ Kessler tallied six second-half goals to spark the visitors. Cocalico's goal with 25 seconds left in regulation send the game to overtime.

Leading scorer Colin Sullivan finished with two goals and one assist and Zach Labrecque added one goal and one assist to round out the scoring.

L-S currently sits in second place as their four-game winning streak ends.

The Pioneers were coming off a 20-3 thumping over Wyomissing on April 15. Sullivan led the way with eight goals and three assists. Gavin Denlinger (6g) and Chase Barber (4a) also contributed.

L-S also posted a 13-3 victory over Garden Spot on the 13th. Sullivan again paced the scoring with five goals and three assists. Labrecque (3g, 3a), Barber (1g, 2a), Gavin Denlinger (1g), Owen Krause (1g), Kessler (1g), Grant Filius (1a) and Anthony Carson (1g) also contributed to the attack.

"We played great team defense and cleared the ball very well," said head coach Mike McConomy.

L-S took care of business on Wednesday, April 19, turning a 12-2 first half lead into a 19-7 home victory. Sullivan exploded for a season-high eight goals and dished four assists to spark the win. Denlinger (3g, 2a, Barber (2g), Carson (2g) and Todd Landis were the multiple goal scorers.