As any sports fan knows, the intensity and pressure go up exponentially once you reach the postseason. The Manheim Central baseball team handled all of that exceedingly well on their way to a 2-1 win over New Oxford in the District 3-5A first round clash.

"The playoffs are going to be tight games and to come out on top is big for the teams' confidence. Super proud of their efforts yesterday. Survive and advance," said head coach Jason Thompson.

The Barons survived on the pitching performance of Jared Murray with help from Connor Rohrer and a small ball offense led by Mason Weaver. Murray was a bit wild, issuing six walks, but he added eight strikeouts to go with just one earned run on his way to the win. Rohrer covered the final three outs, allowing two hits but no runs with one strikeout.

Weaver was the spark of the offense, going three-for-three with three singles and two runs scored. The first of those runs came in the third when Weaver got free pass courtesy of being hit by a pitch. A stolen base and an error later and Weaver was on third when New Oxford's Mason Weaver uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Central's Mason Weaver to tie the game up at 1-1.

Both sides kept throwing zeros on the scoreboard from there until the bottom of the seventh inning when Manheim scored the game winning run. Once again Weaver kicked the inning off only this time it was a single down the third base side. A New Oxford error allowed Weaver to move to second with Brady Harbach moving him to third. Two intentional walks later and Manheim had the bases loaded with one out and Cayde Connelly ready to play hero. Connelly came through, getting enough of a pitch to allow Weaver to beat the throw home and secure the win.

SOFTBALL

The Lady Baron softball team was not able to extend their season in a similar fashion, instead dropping a 5-4 heartbreaker to Lower Dauphin where the Lady Falcons scored the game winner with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning.

"If you have to lose a game, that's the way to do it," was head coach Janelle Heying's simple statement. "Giving a much higher ranked team a run for their money and going into extra innings. I'm very proud of our team and all they accomplished this season."

Those accomplishments included a 14-7 final mark and the D3-5A berth that ended with the loss to LD on the 23rd. Gabby Wettig took that loss, covering all seven and two-thirds innings and finishing with no strikeouts and four walks to go with five runs on nine hits. Wettig did help her own cause, knotting the game at 4-4 in the top of the fifth courtesy of a solo blast but Manheim was unable to breakout of the deadlock. Riley Hostetter accounted for Central's remaining three runs, connecting on a three-run shot in the third. Emma Damon collected three of the Lady Baron's seven hits.

TRACK

The track and field teams made their way to Shippensburg University on May 20th and 21st for the 2022 edition of the District 3 Championship. Two athletes, Landon McGallicher and Madison Knier did well enough to clinch berths in the state meet.

Knier will take part in three events at the PIAA championships after snagging silver in both the high jump (5-4) and javelin (126-10). Knier added a fifth place in the long jump with her top leap of 17-10 also granting her access to the state meet. She did miss a podium finish with her 11th place jump of 35-3.25 in the triple jump.

McGallicher's state qualifying run came in the 110 hurdles where he claimed sixth place with a time of 14.97. That was a tick better than his semifinal round time of 14.98 that slotted him fourth in his heat and put him in the finals. McGallicher earned that semifinal spot with a third-place time of 15.24 in his preliminary heat.

The junior just missed qualifying for states in the 300 hurdles where his 39.85 was good enough for the top spot in his heat but fell 0.05 seconds short of the PIAA qualifying standard and left him in fourth place at the district meet.

Only two other boys took part in the district meet. Tyler Fahnestock finished in 10th place in the discus with a toss of 135-5. Kahlen Watt posted an 11.65 in his 100m prelim heat, finishing sixth and bringing his season to a close.

Back on the girl's side, Rachel Nolt joined Knier in the long jump competition, finishing 17th with a leap of 16-2.75. Laci Nelson was the only other Lady Baron to take part in a field event, finishing 11th in the shot put with a throw of 33-1.

The Lady Barons picked up one more podium finish thanks to Abbie Reed and her eighth-place time of 16.27 in the 100 hurdles. Malea Stoner and Liz Voegele also competed in the 100H, but Voegele bowed out in the preliminary round with Stoner exiting in the semifinals. The trio also took part in the 300H with Voegele posting the top finish, her 47.68 good enough for ninth place. Reed posted a 48.08 to finish 14th while Stoner's 48.18 was one spot back in 15th.

Milan Snell was the final solo athlete to just miss the podium, finishing 10th after posting a 59.13 in the 400m. The 1600m relay team of Snell, Sarah Forry, Stoner, and Reed settled for 10th place thanks to their 4:11.64.

Rachel Nolt also competed at districts with her day ending in the 100m prelims.

VOLLEYBALL

They say revenge is best served cold but a post season victory over the same team that handed you two of your five regular season setbacks would top most sport's fans revenge lists. The Barons got to play out that exact scenario by outlasting Lancaster Mennonite on May 21st, securing a 3-2, District 3-2A quarterfinal win, with scores of 25-21, 20-25, 19-25, 25-20 and 15-11.

The back-to-back wins to close out the match with their backs against the wall left head coach Craig Dietrich saying, "We played our best match defensively to date. The guys responded to their season being on the line in game four and they weren't going to be denied.

"I am extremely proud of their effort, which included monster games from Jacob Moyer, Trent Groff, John Wenger, Dylan Musser and Barend Oostdam. Musser finished with 47 assists, eight digs and two aces while Wenger collected 28 digs. Moyer (17 kills), Groff (13 kills) and Oostdam (11 kills) all hit double digits while adding 11 digs for Groff, seven blocks for Oostdam and eight digs, three aces and two blocks from Moyer."