The Pequea Valley softball team defeated Lancaster Mennonite in a one-sided victory on Monday, May 3 at home. The Braves improved their record to 7-2 in the Lancaster-Lebanon League (7-3 overall) as they topped LMH 16-0.

"We had a bunch of hits and walks, and we scored a bunch of runs," head coach Doug High attempted to sum it up in simple terms. "We drew eight walks and had eight hits."

Among those eight hits was a home run by pitcher Olivia Ammon. The senior starting pitcher helped her own cause while she tossed a mercy-rule shortened shutout with eight strikeouts.

"The game ended after three innings," said High. "We had 14 batters come to the plate in the first inning and 13 batters in the second."

Pequea plated nine runs in that first frame and tacked on the other seven runs in the second.

Emily Ammon went 2-for-3 with three runs batted in. Hailey Yothers was also 2-for-3, driving in one run. As for Olivia Ammon, High explained, "They pitched to her only one time - she hit a home run. They walked her intentionally the next two times up."

Also contributing to the offense were Carisa Mulder, who had two RBI groundouts, and Shania Smoker, who had one base hit, one RBI and two runs scored.

The Braves strengthened their hold on first place in Section Four of the with a 13-1 victory over Columbia on the road Wednesday.

Olivia Ammon went five innings with nine strikeouts and only one walk. At the plate, she was 2-for-4 with a double while Emily Ammon went 3-for-4 with a single and two triples. Abi Tobelmann was 3-for-4 with a pair of RBIs. Yothers also had an RBI and a hit.

"Our first four batters in the lineup had six RBI's" High noted. "This squad is, as far as run scoring and hitting, the best I've been involved with.

"It was also a great defensive effort," said the coach, praising his fielders.

While the big bats produced a number of runs, High also singled out a freshman who got some playing time Wednesday.

"Meghan Ebersol got her first varsity hit," High pointed out. "She also stole a base and scored a run."

The Braves raised their league mark to 8-2 while Lancaster Catholic won its game to improve to 6-4. Catholic has lost three games by a one-run margin, including a 1-0 loss to Elco, as well as winning a close game - a 3-2 defeat of Pequea on March 30.

The Braves have also moved up in the District Three Class 3A power rankings to third seed, trailing only Trinity and Littlestown.

"It will be nice to reach second in districts," High said. "As long as you keep winning, the playoff games will be at home except for the final.

"Right now, we're focused on being healthy and in good shape for the post-season," added the coach.

TENNIS

In the L-L League Championships, Burns reached the finale of the Flight One Class-AA singles, which was played at Conestoga Valley on Saturday, May 1. Burns was the league's Class-AA champ as a freshman. He faced number one seed Nile Abadir of Lancaster Country Day in the final.

Burns had a first-round bye and proceeded to defeat Ross Conway of Lancaster Catholic in the second round, 6-3, 6-4. In the semis, he blanked Casey Hess of Annville-Cleona 6-0, 6-0.

Abadir, who had a first-round bye, won his second-round and semi-finals match in straight sets.

Burns came up short in the title match as Abadir won 6-2, 6-1.

Abadir and Fred Bloom also won the Flight One 2A doubles championship.

Burns and Josh Jarvis reached the Class 2A doubles semi-finals. The third-seeded pair posted an 8-4 victory in the second round but came up short in an intense semi-final, losing to LC duo of Brendan McNamara and George Brubaker 9-8 (7).

In Flight Three singles, Wade Stoltzfus defeated Lancaster Country Day's Aryan Kalidindi 6-1, 6-4 but was halted by Tyler Snavely of Manheim Central in the second round, 6-1, 6-0.

In the District Three Class 2A Team Championships, Lancaster Catholic topped PV 3-0 at the Hershey Racquet Club on Wednesday afternoon.

Brubaker and Chris Carl defeated NeheMiah Glick and Jazee Itegi 6-0, 6-2 at number one doubles. McNamara downed Burns 6-4, 6-1 at number one singles, and Conway defeated Stoltzfus 6-0, 6-1 at third singles, giving the Crusaders three team points and the other matches not needing to finish.

Of note, among the matches not finished, the Pequea pairing of Sam Arena and Joel Peifer were tied 6-6 in their second set after dropping a 6-1 set at number two doubles. Jarvis split his first two sets with Miles Durrett 2-6, 6-4 at number two singles.