Cooper Lehman and Eric Jordan both made it to the championship matches of their respective singles flights of the L-L League Championships. The tournament opened on Thursday, April 26. The championship matches wrapped up on Monday, May 1 at Conestoga Valley.

"We were at CV on Thursday and with anticipated rain for the weekend, at Hempfield Rec Center on Friday," said head coach Mindi Bell.

Lehman made it through the Class-AAA Flight One rounds fairly easily, defeating Ben Ginder of Manheim Central 6-0, 6-1 and also winning 6-1, 6-1 against Cedar Crest's Joe Shkreli.

He then topped Lance Wilson of Ephrata 6-1, 6-2 in the semis, setting up a championship match against another Crest player, Viseth Meng.

Meng came close in the second set, but fell short as Lehman triumphed 6-2, 7-5.

"That was a tough match," said Bell. "Meng is a really good player. On top of that, there were the crazy windy conditions that both of them had to deal with.

"Meng doesn't make errors," Bell added. "Cooper had to hit a lot more balls to win points. He had to work harder. The second set, especially, was really tight."

Meng and teammate Charlie Robbins captured the Flight One doubles championship, bouncing back from a 6-1 loss to Lehman and Jordan to win the next two sets 6-3, 10-8 in the semis. Jordan and Lehman were the top seeded twosome in those brackets, earning a first-round bye and posting a 6-0, 6-2 second-round win.

In the Flight Two singles, Jordan finished as the runner up. Zack Taylor of Manheim Township finished first with an 8-1 defeat of Jordan in the finale. Jordan won 8-0 before posting an 8-2 win against Hayden Winey of Pequea Valley. In the semis, he topped Pierce Leaman of McCaskey.

"Eric played a tough kid from McCaskey," Bell said. "He had not faced him during the regular season because Eric played number two singles."

In Flight Three and Flight Four singles, the Knights were represented by Andre Hurst and Sam Keener, respectively. Hurst fell to Krishna Chinasammy of Township in the semis. Keener lost his semifinal match to MT's Jake Palandjian.

"Both of them lost to the eventual champion," Bell pointed out.

Tristan Coyne and Ryan Malesic placed second in the Flight Three doubles. They posted back-to-back 8-3 wins and won their semifinals match 8-5.

"They were unseeded and they placed second, which is very exciting," Bell said.

Keener and Hurst fell in the second round of Flight Two doubles to Taylor and Chinasammy

SOFTBALL

Hempfield belted 12 hits and defeated McCaskey 16-0 on Friday, April 27, earning their third straight win. Chloe Diener was 3-for-4 with four RBI. Sydney Weaver threw a three-inning no-hitter.

On Monday, the Knights topped Warwick 4-1. Two costly Warwick errors helped Hempfield plate four runs. The Knights also collected nine hits.

"We've given them their only two losses in the section," head coach Chris Landis pointed out. "We have an outside chance of winning the section because of the season tiebreaker."

Credit also went to pitcher Carley Ernst, who baffled the Warwick batters.

"Carley Ernst allowed only two hits to arguably the best offense in the league," Landis said. "She had 10 strikeouts."

Ernst kept on racking up the strikeouts. In the Manheim Township game on Tuesday, May 2, she recorded her 100th strikeout of the season. Hempfield provided plenty of run support for their ace, winning 12-3.

Ernst went 3-for-4 with three runs. She struck out 15 in a complete game effort.

"I pulled up Trina Beck from JV," Landis said. "She took advantage of her opportunity and drove in two runs on two base hits."

The win streak reached six as the Knights topped Cedar Crest 15-0 on Wednesday, May 3. Ernst (5K) went two innings. Weaver pitched the third inning.

Kali Peifer was 3-for-3 with four RBI's, dashing around the bases on an inside-the-park home run. Diener was 2-for-3 two RBI's Mikayla Hughes hit a home run and drove in two.

VOLLEYBALL

Hempfield won a solid 3-0 Section One match over CV on April 27, improving to 6-3 on the year. It was the Knights' third straight win.

Hempfield won 25-19, 25-17 and 25-20.

"The CV match was nice to see," head coach Ken Eiser said. "We weren't trusting ourselves early in the season. Penn Manor and Conestoga Valley were good steps in the right direction."

Aiden Beiler and Finley Hunt led the team in kills with 12 and 11, respectively. Brady Rigard recorded 19 digs while Cole Jackson racked up 30 assists. Ethan Earhart registered three blocks.

"Everyone has been working hard to iron out mistakes and play within the system - play with each other," Eiser added. "It's great to see when they're clicking. But there is always more to work on."

On Tuesday, May 2, Hempfield hosted Warwick.

The Warriors dominated in the first and third sets, winning 25-12 and 25-17.

"We played well in sets 2 and 4, winning 25-17 and 25-18," said Eiser. "It was a great match overall and hopefully we will get another shot at them in districts," Eiser concluded.

Earhart had 17 kills and seven blocks. Jackson added 34 assists and 19 digs. Hunt served two aces.

BASEBALL

The Hempfield lineup was coming off consecutive games with 10 runs each coming into Tuesday's game with Manheim Township. In the home game on Friday, April 27 as well as Monday's game at Warwick, the Knights won 10-0. Tuesday, Township used a five-run third inning to help defeat the visiting Knights 8-5.

Drew Benchich doubled to drive in two Hempfield runs in the fifth inning, cutting the deficit to 5-3. Hempfield made it a one-run game on Brayden Hostetter's sacrifice fly in the top of the sixth.

Charles Sheerer's two-run single started things off in the Warwick game. Hostetter had a two-out bases loaded single for two more runs. A two-run homer by Benchich also highlighted the offense as did a Logan Harelson's RBI double.

In the McCaskey game on Friday, a triple by Katch plated two early runs. He scored on a Benchich sacrifice fly. Sheerer's triple plated two runs in the third inning. Katch singled in one run and Aiden Rodenberger drove in another.

Hunter Williams pitched a two-hit shutout.

GIRLS' LACROSSE

Coming off a tough loss to Manheim Township, the girls' lacrosse team topped South Western 10-8 on Monday, May 1 at Hempfield. Ella Ashton recorded four key saves in the close contest.

On the offensive side, Natalie Bole notched a hat trick while Whitney Hershey, Isabelle Masengarb (1a), and Mia Brennan each scored twice. Hattie Mack also chipped in with a goal.

BOYS' LACROSSE

The boys' lacrosse team won two of its last three games with a 14-5 loss at Lampeter-Strasburg sandwiched between victories over Penn Manor and New Oxford

Hempfield edged Penn Manor 11-7 on Thursday April 26 as Jason Hilton poured in five goals. Zack Antesberger (1a) notched a hat trick while Toby Marco, Drew Bennett (1a) and Isaiah Martin each tallied one goal. Phil Krauser added one assist.

Saturday at Lampeter-Strasburg, Marco scored two for the Knights with one goal each by Martin, Hilton, and Bennett.

The offense found its groove in Wednesday's non-league 19-4 win. Hilton's five-goal production and four goals by Logan Klinger led the way. Julian Morales added a hat trick while Antesberger had two goals and two assists.

Martin and Krauser each scored once as did Evan Bush, Dylan Ashlskog and Logan Pennell

TRACK

On Senior Night, Monday, May 1, both the boys' and girls' track teams claimed victories with the girls' team topping Lebanon 98-51 and the boys posting a 109-41 win.

Speaking of seniors, Aidan Hodge had a special night on the track.

"Aidan's record-setting 800 was phenomenal," said head coach Curt Rogers. Hodge ran a time of 1:52.55, setting a school record and earning a L-L League Meet qualifying time.

Also earning first was the 4x100 relay team of Eddie Asadu, Tate Martin, Gabe Benjamin and 200m winner Xavier Peralta. Asadu also won the 100m dash with an L-L League qualifying time of 11.24. Martin won both hurdling events.

Benjamin, who placed second in the 100m, was part of the winning 4x400 with Sam Freedman, Carson Lieberman, and Spencer Ashba.

Brody Weachter's first place pole vault, Andy Garcia's 20-foot-7 long jump, Pete Wenzel's 148-11 javelin toss and Jordan Thode's 116-3 discus also highlighted Hempfield's day. Thode also won the shot put at 37-4.5 and Garcia also claimed the triple jump at 42-8.75 - good for an LL qualifier.

Joe Fahrney won the 3,200 and 1600.

Bella Heisey and 100m winner Izzy Heisey teamed up with Elli Yaeger and 400m winner Evi Sahd for a win in the girls' 4x400.

"Ella Wolfe's 1600 looked effortless," said Rogers, referring to the sixth fastest time (school history) of 5:18.55. Ashley Page took the 3,200 in 13:58.15.

Selena Lee, Norah Rynier, Ava Pagano, and Callie Herr won the 4x800. Roz Scott (2:31.83) was first in the 800m.

The 4x100 team of Mya Thompson, Leah Brenneman, Arianaliz Olivencia and Izzy Heisey also had a winning time. Bella Heisey (300 hurdles) and Julia Sweigart (100m hurdles) also earned first.

"Our jumpers are starting to get their best jumps as the season is heading into the championship meets," Rogers added.

Kylie Ridilla took second in the triple jump, and Sydney Rhoads won the high jump.