Carl Langley commented, "Our offense was the best it has ever been."

The Pequea Valley baseball coach was referring to the Braves' 24-2 victory at Lancaster Mennonite on Friday night, May 14, in a Lancaster-Lebanon League Section Four battle.

The Braves got solid pitching from junior Jaden Estevez as well as a senior, who had to convince the coach into letting him pitch.

"Luke Brown, our third baseman, has been bugging me to pitch all year," Langley laughed. "We let Luke pitch the final inning and he pitched a perfect inning.

"Jaden Estevez had pitched a really good game," added the coach.

As for the offense, Brown had a memorable day at the plate as well.

"He had his best game all year," Langley said. "He went 3-for-4 with three doubles and two runs batted in."

Dylan Knott slugged a three-run inside-the-park home run for Pequea.

"Christian Smucker, our sophomore catcher, had two hits, including a ball that landed on the warning track - just short of a home run," Langley added.

"We had our best offensive game of the year," continued the coach. "Obviously, the score got out of control. We also drew a lot of walks."

In a season with plenty of scheduling challenges, the Braves' final game on the schedule was not played. PV had three games cancelled this season, ending the year with a 5-12 mark.

"We didn't get to play the game against Elco," said Langley. "Ending the season with the Lancaster Mennonite game was ending it on a high note.

"I knew coming into this season that it was going to be challenging," Langley said of the schedule and the COVID-related cancellations/postponements. "But looking ahead to next year, we have a good core of players returning. We're very much looking forward to next year."

SOFTBALL

The Pequea Valley softball team prepares for the start of the District Three Class 3A playoffs as the third-seeded team in the power rankings.

While those playoffs are scheduled to begin on May 27, Pequea Valley did take part in the L-L League playoffs, hosting Penn Manor on Monday, May 17.

This showdown was between the Section One runner up Comets team (17-4; 12-3 league) versus the Section Four champion Braves.

"That's what we use as our inspiration - to be playing in districts," said Pequea head coach Doug High. "Start play in March to be playing in June."

Behind the pitching of Bella Peters, the Comets topped the Braves 2-0 at Kinzers with Peters striking out eight and scattering four hits.

Olivia Ammon struck out eight for the Braves, who fell to 9-5 on the year (8-3 league). She allowed two runs in the top of the third and sailed smoothly through the rest of the game.

The Braves' rally in their final at bat came up just short despite having an ideal situation to stage a walkoff win.

"We had the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the seventh," High said. "Penn Manor had to be sweating.

"Emily Ammon, who's hitting over .500, was up," continued the coach. "They walked a batter and hit a batter. We failed to sacrifice them. My leadoff batter - the fastest kid on the team - drew a walk."

As for the pitchers' duel, High commented, "We had four hits and they had three hits - what did she do differently than our pitcher? Not much."

The Comets scored their two runs after a lead-off walk and an RBI double made it 1-0 and a sacrifice fly made it a 2-0 game.

"We had a good crowd and a chance to win in the seventh," High said. "I hope it makes them feel a lot more confident in themselves."

Penn Manor went on to lose its second-round game 4-3 to Section Two champion Lampeter-Strasburg at Millersville University the following afternoon with the Pioneers punching their ticket to the league championship contest versus Elizabethtown.