The track teams took the measure of Conestoga Valley Monday, May 1, and were dealt a pair of losses.

"We're fighting some soreness and tiredness from running the double meets (Cy Fritz Invite on Saturday)," said head coach Jen McDowell. "We will refocus for our last dual meet."

The boys, despite a 109-41 loss, scored the bulk of their points in the field. Josiah Forren claimed the triple with a 41-6 PR and Noah Baber won the long (21-1) and was second in the high jump. Kyler Tucker added thirds in the triple and high.

Braden Caldwell won the shot (44-6) and was third in the javelin. John Sankus added a second in the shot and followed Jordan Kephart's second in the discus with a third.

Wyatt Armstrong cleared 10 feet to win the pole vault.

On the track, Anthony Solis Morales finished second in both the mile and two mile runs. Wyatt Tomison added a third in the 3200 and Ian Althoff was third in the open 400.

The girls battled to a respectable 81-68 final but CV claiming three relay wins helped to sway the Buckskin victory.

Emma Baxter earned two wins, taking the mile (5:47.4) and the 3200 (12:20.1) but CV took charge after that.

In the field, Martha Weaver's winning 33-6 led a sweep in the shot with Taelor Martin and Gabbi Kline following. She also won the discus (87-7) with Kyleigh Murphy taking third. Paige Althoff added a second in the javelin and was third in the triple.

Oli Oravitz continued to show her strength in the jumps, winning the long (16-10.5) and triple (34-2) while picking up second in the 100 and third in the 200. Claire Graybeal also placed in two events, taking second in the 100 hurdles and third in the 300's.

Maite Granja wrapped up the winners with a first in the pole vault.

The teams turned in some solid individual efforts in the rain at the Cy Fritz Invitational on April 29. Oravitz won the long jump and the 4x800 team of Granja, Daria Neaves, Baxter, and Lexi Groff posted the winning time.

Unseeded in the 3200, Isaac Esh finished second. Sarah Bard added a third in the 100 and Weaver and Caldwell both claimed fourth in the shot put as did the 4x800 team of Althoff, Tomison, Jimmy Hartigan and Solis Morales.

SOFTBALL

Solanco's three game run through the early part of last week opened with a 6-3, come-from-behind, under the lights win over Lampeter-Strasburg at Garrett Park (May 1).

Less than 24 hours later they clinched the Section Two title, head coach Brett Miller's 19th in 34 years, with a quick dismantling of Elizabethtown (11-1) and on Wednesday they shut out CV behind Roark's no-hitter.

"We've been getting the hits when we need them and taking advantage of opportunities," said Miller. "Lately there have been a number of two out hits. It's been a team effort up and down the lineup. Everyone is doing their job."

Anna Sexton hit the first batter she faced with her first pitch. She walked the second one and after one out, walked another loading the bases. But the senior hurler buckled down and struck out the next two batters to squash Lampeter's hopes.

"To get out of that jam with a pair of strikeouts is pretty meaningful," said Miller. "She got stronger as the game went on."

Sexton finished with four strikeouts and five walks and helped herself at the plate with a huge two run single in Solanco's six run sixth inning that tied the game. The visitors batted around that frame. L-S made a pitching change at that point and Gote followed with a fly ball that was dropped, loading the bags, again. Fedoruk (3-3) added a run scoring single and freshman Ava Martin, who started the rally with a leadoff walk, ripped a two out single to short that was booted, and plated two more runs.

"Getting out of the inning with a 6-3 lead instead of a 4-3 lead was a big difference at that point in the game," said Miller.

L-S put two runners on in the bottom half and Sexton worked a groundout, a strikeout and another popout to Holly Grube at second to end the game.

At home against E-town Tuesday, seven different batters accounted for six doubles and a pair of triples in Solanco's 11-1, five inning victory. Sexton led with 3RBI and a double, Grube had 2RBI and a triple and Kylie Roark added 2RBI on two doubles and a base hit. Josie Janssen walked twice and scored three runs.

"The girls were ready to play," said Miller. "They didn't want to lessen what happened the night before. Holly's base hit in the fifth gave us the winning run. And Anna pitched well and didn't need many pitches to finish the game."

At home again Wednesday, Roark faced 15 batters, struck out six, including the side in the fifth inning and did not give up a hit in a 10-0 result against CV. Solanco plated five runs in the first, three as a result of Fedoruk's triple, and never looked back.

Grube ripped a pair of triples, DeFrancesco another and Janssen added a double as five of Solanco's nine hits were of the extra base variety.

Solanco currently sits at 11-1 (14-1 overall) with the rest of the section saddled five losses, or more.

Solanco's hectic schedule began Thursday, April 27, with a 6-4 come-from-behind win over visiting Ephrata. In a game that featured nine hits, zero errors and five strikeouts by both teams, Solanco spotted the Mounts four runs over the first 4.5 innings, and then clawed its way back, scoring two in the bottom of the fourth and taking the lead for good with a four run fifth.

Delaney Gote's two out, two run single sparked the fourth inning scoring while the hitting came alive in the fifth. Zoey Evans (single), Martin (RBI triple), Janssen (RBI single), Roark (single) set the stage for Grube's run scoring base hit that put Solanco in front. Sara DeFrancesco' RBI single made it 6-4.

Anna Sexton (5K, 0W, 9H) did the work over the final three innings, retiring eight of nine hitters. Grube went 3-3 on the day with Roark (2-3) and Gote (2 RBI) contributing.

BASEBALL

Despite jumping out to a 3-1 first inning lead at Elizabethtown Thursday, April 27, the Mules dropped a 13-3 result, finishing with just three hits on the day while giving up ten. Both teams combined for five errors and 13 walks in a sloppy game.

Austin Wenger's two out triple plated two runs and an error allowed Nate Harnish, who reached on a base hit, to score. Owen Underwood's two out triple in the fourth rounded out Solanco's hitting.

"We have played them well all season but couldn't get enough going to stay in the game," said head coach Mike Miller.

Monday (May1) the Mules bounced back with a 4-2 nod over L-S, a team battling for the section title. They finished with just two hits on the day but took advantage of four errors and four walks.

L-S walked the first two batters of the game. A Tyler Burger groundout and a Nate Harnish sac fly gave Solanco a quick 2-0 lead. Both teams traded runs in the third and seventh innings with Owen Underwood's two out triple in the seventh sparking Solanco's final run.

"Herr was cruising behind great defense by Austin Wenger and Owen McElroy," said Miller. "We had great heads up plays on defense to catch some extra runners in the middle innings that helped us build momentum. We capitalized on the errors but mostly beat them with working walks and getting runners moved when we needed to.

"Nate pitched his way out of a bases loaded jam to secure the victory," he added. "And freshman Luke Herr (2B) made his first varsity start.

"Our season is coming down to the last few games and we are trying to make the best push we can. We believe we have the talent to do it, now we have to prove to ourselves we can make it happen."

They took a step in the right direction with Wednesday's 10-8 win at CV. Tied at 8-8 in the top of the seventh, Underwood connected for a base hit that scored the last two runs of the game.

Solanco trailed 4-0 after three and 6-3 after four before a five run fifth gave them a short 8-6 lead. CV responded with a two-spot in the sixth, setting the stage for Underwood's (3-5) heroics.

Burger, Harnish, Lucas Vilk and Wenger all collected two hits with Wenger and Harnish plating three runs each.