It was feast or famine for the Donegal baseball team in the District Three Class 5A playoffs. The Indians had entered the district brackets as the ninth-seeded team. They reached the semifinals with a convincing 12-2 victory at home, winning the quarterfinals battle over Gettysburg on Thursday, May 26. But five days later, playing Ephrata at War Memorial Stadium, the Indians lost 11-1 to the fourth-seeded Mountaineers. The loss dropped Donegal to 16-7 while Ephrata improved to 17-6.

Despite the loss to the Mountaineers, the Indians have qualified for the PIAA Class 5A state playoffs.

"I'm extremely proud of this team," Jeff Hartman, the Donegal head coach, remarked. "We were 8-11-1 last year, so a huge turnaround.

"To my knowledge, it's the first state appearance," he added.

In the Gettysburg game, Andrew Small went big, slugging a home run and a double, driving in four runs out of the number three spot.

Small batted behind Landon Robertson in the lineup that afternoon. The Donegal junior also doubled and drove in two runs.

"A.J. Small has come up big for us in the second half of the year," Hartman remarked.

Donegal's big inning was the fourth where a 2-1 deficit turned into a 10-2 lead. Gettysburg had actually taken a 1-0 lead after one inning. After the Indians had tied it in the second, the Warriors inched ahead 2-1. Ahead that is, until the nine-run outburst by the home team.

On the mound it was one of the reliable arms in Nick Eichelberger. The senior starter improved to 5-1 on the year as he pitched a complete game four-hitter, striking out three and allowing three walks.

He helped himself by going 1-for-3 with a double and two RBIs at the plate.

"The senior class has exceeded expectations," Hartman said. "They have all contributed in different ways."

Coy Allman helped turn the lineup over, going 2-for-4 with one RBI in the number nine hole. The freshman raised his team-leading hits total to 25.

"Coy Allman has been awesome all year," Hartman remarked.

"Even better news is that we have many underclassmen getting valuable experience for more success next year, looking forward to a state playoffs opportunity," added the coach.