For most mid-staters, April showers bring May flowers, but the Elizabethtown boy's lacrosse team would be OK with those showers bringing something more. Five games into their 2022 season the Bears sit at 0-5 after losses to Berks Catholic and Penn Manor. Even Mother Nature proved to be a formidable opponent with E-town's March 31st game with Warwick halted at halftime due to lightning.

The most recent setback came on April 4th with Penn Manor posting a 14-5 win. Joe Zink turned away 15 shots, but it was not enough to stem the Comet push. Elijah Poulos nabbed three of the five goals with Addison Johnson and Holden Haver tacking on one goal and one assist each.

Two days prior the Bears dropped a Saturday morning affair to Berks Catholic by a 14-0 final.

TRACK

The track teams slipped in a dual meet opposite Lampeter-Strasburg on April 4th, avoiding the wet weather that plagued other sports during the week. The result was a 98-52 loss for the boys and a 96-54 loss for the girls.

Despite similar scores the Lady Bears managed more wins on the day, picking up six total including all three relay races. Sierra Kapcsos, Jordan DiRisio, Ali Fink and Liah Drager opened the meet with a win in the 3200m relay while Addy Hoak, Drager, Lily Heistand and Genna McDonald closed the meet with a win in the 4x400 relay. In between it was Heistand, McDonald, Morris and Hoak picking up the 400m relay win. Fink claimed two of the three remaining wins in the 1600m and 800m while Anna Rank topped the pole vault field.

On the boys' side there was just one relay win thanks to the work of Zach Verghese, Tavan Sholenberger, Juan Lopez and Owen Dommel in the 400m relay. Taidou N'Dikwe nabbed the other track victory, taking the 400m while Carlton Wise (pole vault) and Zackary Lippold (shot put) picked up the final two wins.

BASEBALL

The baseball team has found the going difficult in April with losses to Conestoga Valley and Lampeter-Strasburg dropping the Bears to 1-3 on the year.

E-town opened the month on the 1st with a 9-3 setback to CV. Kaden Kimble got the start and took the loss, allowing eight hits and seven runs over two and two-third innings. Thaddeus Poff and Kaleb Daley covered the final three and one-third innings with each allowing a run during his time on the hill. Cole Chrzanowski, Elijah Macfarlane and Alex Baker combined for five of Elizabethtown's six hits with each adding an RBI to their day.

April 4th brought Lampeter-Strasburg to town, resulting in an 11-0 setback. This time it was Pike Burkett getting the start and loss, covering the first three innings and five Pioneer runs. Mitchell Garber and Poff tossed the final two innings and surrendered the final six L-S runs. Garber and Poff were also responsible for two of the three Bear hits with Chrzanowski picking up the final base knock.

SOFTBALL

Not all teams have it, but a great trait is the ability to bounce back after a loss and it appears the Lady Bear softball has just such an ability.

Elizabethtown flexed that ability on April 1st, topping Conestoga Valley 8-7 just two days after falling to Ephrata by a 14-5 final. Brooke Bryan was in the circle for both affairs, covering all 14 innings, finishing with 10 combined strikeouts and just three walks. The hurler also provided the game winning hit against CV, poking a two-out single in the bottom of the seventh to thwart CV's own late inning rally that made it 7-6 with just the last half inning remaining. Jess Zimmerman and Astyn Calaman also drove in two runs to help the cause.

Against Ephrata, E-town was unable to keep pace with the Lady Mountaineers' 18 hits and 14 runs despite single RBIs from Zimmerman, Calaman, Sydney Stewart, Nizaly Ortiz-Kreiner and Carli Zerphey.

Elizabethtown kept their ship rolling on the 4th with a 4-3 win over Lampeter-Strasburg. Bryan picked up another win after scattering eight hits and allowing three runs. Zimmerman provided a much-needed insurance run with her RBI single in the fifth while Zerphey, Calaman and Leah Aldous set the stage with RBI singles of their own.

TENNIS

The changing of the calendar has led to three straight losses for the boy's tennis team, after opening the season 6-0, the Bears now sit at 6-3. E-town opened April with a 5-0 loss to Lancaster Country Day on the 1st and followed with a 6-1 loss to Manheim Township on the 4th. The Bears nearly pulled out their April 5th showdown with Hempfield, falling 4-3.

Luke Risser was the lone victor against the Blue Streaks, picking up a number three singles win. He, and Jack Nyveldt picked up one of the two doubles wins against Hempfield with Jared Louie and Emery Morgan accounting for the other. Steven Dupler needed three sets but pulled out a win at number two singles.

VOLLEYBALL

The boys' volleyball team is doing the sports version of the two-step, win one - lose one. That back and forth started on March 30th with a 3-0 setback to Warwick and continued the 1st with a 3-0 win over Northern Lebanon. A 3-1 April 4th win over Manheim Township coupled with a 3-2 loss to Garden Spot on the 5th finished the Bear's dance.

Billy O'Connell (15 assists, six aces) and Seth Rajnic (eight kills, two blocks) led the way in the 25-21, 25-15, 25-13 NL win while Dylan Shepherd (24 assists, four aces) and Elijah Miller (18 digs, four aces) took the lead in the 23-25, 25-14, 25-15, 25-21 win over Township. Rajnic (five kills, three blocks) and Shepherd (eight digs, seven assists) paced the team in the 25-14, 25-17, 25-13 loss to Warwick while Damian Tobias (16 digs, two blocks) and Bryan Murray (12 kills) did the same in the 26-28, 17-25, 25-23, 25-18, 9-15 loss to Spot.

GIRLS' LACROSSE

The girl's lacrosse season continues to be a tough one with a 14-6 loss to Warwick, a 14-8 loss to Berks Catholic, and a 5-4 setback to Penn Manor, dropping the Lady Bears to 0-5 on the year. Sydney Pope tallied 32 saves over the three games while Moira Shott tallied seven goals. Aiesha Rios added three goals and one assist while Danielle Bruno chipped in with three goals and one assist.