Manheim Central earned the first of what it hopes are many rewards during its stellar baseball season this year, capturing the Lancaster-Lebanon League Section Three title with its 12-2 victory over Donegal last Monday. It is the third straight crown for the Barons.

"It was good to win against Donegal today and wrap up the Section Three title," Barons' coach Jason Thompson said. "It was good to see the hitting spread out and the guys get key hits when we needed it."

Colton Book and Wyatt Becker combined for a five-inning no hitter. This was Central's second no-hitter this season. Book struck out 13 batters and Becker fanned two. The Indians scored two runs in the in fifth, courtesy of a few walks and hit batters.

Brady Harbach, Riley McGalliche and Book all scored in the third inning on wild pitches, as the Barons sent nine batters to the plate. Harbach and Book each had RBI doubles in the second inning.

Eight of the nine Barons had a hit, but no player had multiple hits. Malakai Zilinski knocked in two runs on his smash to deep left-center field. Drew Mylin also had two RBIs and Cam Eberly scored three runs.

Manheim was back at it the next day, pounding out 14 runs on 10 hits to beat Octorara 14-4. Connor Rohrer earned the win on the mound, throwing five innings and striking out nine. Becker came in relief in the sixth and struck out four.

Manheim scored three runs in the second, but the Braves responded with four in the bottom of the inning for a 4-3 lead. The Barons erupted for six runs in the sixth inning to pull away.

Then Manheim exploded for a 14-1 triumph over Northern Lebanon. Dylan Yoder blasted a 2-run homer. Trey Derck was strong on the mound, pitching into the sixth before his pitch count expired.

VOLLEYBALL

The Barons made quick work of Ephrata on May 6, winning in three games on scores of 25-14, 25-12 and 25-20.

The teams were tied at 7-7 in the first game, but Manheim scored seven of the next eight points to take a 14-8 lead. Ephrata cut Central's lead to 16-14, but this would be as close as the Mounts would get. Scoring eight straight points behind Blake Wagner serving, Central scored the last nine points of the game to pull away.

Manheim led 22-20 in the third game and scored the last three points, getting two kills from Peter Burkhart (six kills, two blocks) and a kill from Wagner (12 kills, two blocks, two aces and one dig) off a pass from Jeremiah Zimmerman (23 assists, one dig, one block, one kill and one ace). Barend Oostdan registered six kills and two blocks in the match.

Some younger players, like Burkhart, established themselves during the match, said Jim Graham, who was filling in as Manheim's coach for Craig Dietrich who was at home after an injury.

"I think he is finally understanding what we are asking of him," Graham said about Burkhart. "For a smaller guy, he can really jump, and I think it just came down to finally getting his timing and being able to swing at the ball and not be worried if it is going into the net or out of bounds; just have confidence. I think they (the freshmen) are all slowly getting there, but I think Pete kind of moved ahead of all of them on that, but they've all grown a lot."

The Barons lost 3-0 against Garden Spot May 12 in a battle for the Section Two title. Games scores were 25-20, 25-18 and 25-18.

SOFTBALL

Manheim rallied to beat Northern Lebanon, 9-6 in eight innings at Northern Lebanon. The win was Central's sixth in seven games.

Gabby Wettig struck out 10 to gain the win in the circle and helped her cause with a big day at the plate, collecting four hits. Miranda Ober went 3-for-5 with three RBIs.

The Vikings tied the game at 5-5, after scoring three runs in the bottom of the seventh. The Barons responded with four runs in the extra inning and that proved to be enough of a cushion.

Under the lights on Senior Night on May 12, the Barons jumped out to a 2-0 and 3-1 lead against Donegal, but the Indians rallied for a 4-3 victory in Manheim.

Manheim came out aggressive, scoring twice in the first inning. Mickey Lauver led off with a single and scored Ober's first of two triples in the game. Wettig knocked Ober in.

Ober led the third with a triple and Emma Damon knocked her in with a ground out, making it 3-1. But then Manheim's bats went silent when they needed hits. The Barons left the bases loaded in the fifth and left two on base in the sixth.

"We just didn't keep at it," Barons' coach John VanBlargan said. "We kinda fell off a little bit. We got runners on, but couldn't push them in. Couldn't keep the pressure on them. It's a big deal when you keep the pressure on the other team. They make different choices."

TENNIS

Central's top-seeded player, Andrew Rajaratnam, was the first alternate for districts and got a chance to compete, battling Red Lion's Cooper Wheeler in the first round of the District Three singles tournament.

The first set was certainly a battle and Wheeler knew he was in a match, holding off Rajaratnam for a 6-4 victory. Rajaratnam came out hot, jumping to a 2-0 lead and had opportunities for points to go up 3-0, but Wheeler shook off some early nerves and started winning points and games. Rajaratnam lost 6-0 in the second set.

The two met during a non-league contest earlier this season and Wheeler won 6-2, 6-2, but the match was closer than that Barons' coach Ryan Jeckel said. The goal in the rematch was to hit the ball deep and keep Wheeler guessing. It worked until Rajaratnam got off script and Wheeler got his legs and started driving, Jeckel said. Overall, the coach was proud of how his senior performed.

"I'm glad he got to compete in districts. He deserved to be there," Jeckel said. "He won all the matches he was supposed to win this year."

TRACK

The Central boys finished the season with a 5-1 record and second place in the section after an 86-64 victory over Ephrata. Manheim's big advantage was the field events, where Kahlen Watt (high jump), Caleb Sick (pole vault), Kade Kegarise (javelin), Zach Witmer (long and triple jumps) and Landon Watson (discus and shot put) helped the Barons win all seven events.

Landon McGallicher won the high hurdles (15.2) and the 4x800 relay team of Michael Greenwald, Brady Knier, Gabe Redcay and Luke Redcay posted a time of 8:37 for first place.

The Lady Barons suffered their first loss in their last regular season meet, falling to unbeaten Ephrata, 84-66, in a battle for the section title. Central earned seven first place finishes, but the Lady Mounts did them one better with eight.

Maddie Knier continued her super sophomore season, sweeping all four events (javelin, discus, high and long jumps) she participated in for the fifth time this season. Malea Stoner won both hurdle races and Chloe Enck won the shot put.