The lineup that Hempfield softball coach Chris Landis put together came through in a big way as the Black Knights topped Hershey 13-3 on Saturday, April 22, in a non-league game at Landisville.

"We had a four-run inning, but there really wasn't a big inning," Landis said, alluding to the fact that the Knights had three other innings with three runs each.

Avery Landis went 2-for-2 with three runs batted in to lead Hempfield. Landis raised her batting average to .500 and her slugging to .890 as she drove in her 19th run on the season.

Carley Ernst struck out five batters and evened her won-lost mark at 4-4. Opposing batters are hitting a mere .196 against Ernst.

The Hershey game ended after five innings due to the 10-run rule. Monday's Lancaster-Lebanon League game at Warwick, on the other hand, was a pitchers' duel - one that Ernst won as the Knights edged the Warriors 2-1.

Ernst recorded eight strikeouts and allowed only two walks in the complete game two-hitter. The Warriors' only successful rally was in the seventh inning, which she extinguished for the win.

Hempfield improved to 8-3 (6-3 league).

BOYS' VOLLEYBALL

The Knights rebounded from a 3-0 loss to L-L League rival Cedar Crest the previous week as they downed Penn Manor 3-1 on Thursday, April 20 in Landisville.

Speaking of bouncing back, the Knights had to do a bit of that in this exact match.

"It was nice to seeing the fight the team displayed after losing the first set 26-28," head coach Ken Eiser said. "They boys played well. We all stayed aggressive."

The Knights charged back to win three straight sets (25-20, 25-23, 25-18).

Aiden Beiler poured in 17 kills for the Knights while Cole Jackson distributed 42 assists on the day. Also contributing were Brady Rigard, with 23 digs, Michael Hester with three blocks and Finley Hunt, who served up three aces.

"Our two returning starters, Aiden Beiler and Ethan Earhart, continue to lead us offensively," Eiser said.

"Looking ahead to the rest of our league matchups, we really need to keep that same aggressive style," he replied. "We have put ourselves in a fairly deep hole and will need to pick up some difficult wins.

"But the talent is there, and we'll look to build on the Penn Manor win," added the coach.

Eiser's outlook translated into a victory for the Knights in their next Section One match. On Tuesday, April 25, Hempfield topped Manheim Township 3-0 on the road.

The Knights rolled to an opening set 25-14 victory but had to scuffle for a 26-24 triumph in the second set. Hempfield (5-3) placed this match in the books with a 25-16 win.

Jackson delivered 26 assists while Hunt went for eight kills on the day. Tyler Bechtel led the team with three aces.

BOYS' LACROSSE

Having scored in double digits for nine straight matches, the Hempfield boys' lacrosse team ran into the only team which had handed the Knights a loss this year - Manheim Township.

Hempfield (7-2 league) played three matches in five days, starting with an April 20th 18-4 victory at Ephrata. On Saturday, April 22, the Knights held off Cumberland Valley in a non-league home game 17-7.

Monday, however, the Streaks strengthened their hold on first place in Section One by holding Hempfield to eight goals in a 14-8 match. The Streaks improved to 7-0 (league).

Jason Hilton's hat trick and two goals from Julian Morales led the way for Hempfield. Carston Rankin, Logan Klinger, and Stephen Pitts each scored one goal.

In the Knights' two victories, Hilton, who also had an assist, and Morales each scored four. Phillip Krauser notched a hat trick.

Hilton had six goals and an assist in the Cumberland Valley game. Zach Antesberger finished with four.

Also scoring against Ephrata were Antesberger (1g, 2a) Isiah Martin (1g, 1a), Klinger (2g, 0a), plus individual goals by Rankin, Cole Gibbons, and Toby Marco.

Sophomore goalie Aidan French made three saves against the Mountaineers. Gabe Colon-Munoz had two and Sean Tollet snagged one save.

The scoring in the CV match included a two-goal game for Kauser as well as for Marco, who assisted twice. Drew Bennett also chipped in with one goal.

The Eagles had to be held back with Colon-Munoz making eight saves and French grabbing three.

GIRLS' LACROSSE

In the girls' lacrosse action, Hempfield came up empty against Manheim Township on Monday. The Streaks outscored Hempfield 13-1 with Calli Campagna scoring four times. Whitney Hershey scored the Knights' lone goal as Hempfield fell to 11-3 (7-2 league)

In a non-league contest at Susquehannock on Saturday, April 22, the Knights posted a 10-7 win. Ella Ashton made four crucial saves in the close win.

Hat tricks by Hershey and Isabelle Masengarb paced the offense. Mia Brennan tallied two goals while Hattie Mack and Aubrie Buckwalter each scored once.

In their 16-2 romp of Ephrata on Thursday, April 20, the offensive barrage included a five-goal game by Masengarb plus hat tricks from Hershey and Natalie Bole. Brennan, Mack, Haley Knouse, Lexi Mehaffey, and Ava Covino each scored once.

BASEBALL

Two days following their Saturday, April 22 non-league, 5-1 loss to Hershey, the Knights' bats erupted for eight runs as they defeated L-L League rival Warwick 8-4.

In the home half of the fourth inning, Hempfield overcame a 3-0 deficit by plating five runs.

In the fourth inning, starting pitcher Stephen Katch singled and trotted home two batters later when Aiden Rodenberger's single scored Katch and Drew Benchich, who had doubled.

The Knights' rally continued with RBI singles by Michael Riker and Peter Fiore, the latter of whom drove in two with his hit.

With Warwick having inched closer, the Knights manufactured runs in the home half of the sixth inning. Leading 5-4 and with two runners on base - a walk and a Warwick error - the Knights not only moved both base runners over on a bunt, Fiore's one-run single capitalized on the opportunity. Josh Toole's double gave the Knights their winning margin of 8-4.

In Saturday's loss to Hershey, Benchich's RBI single scored Katch with Hempfield's lone run of the game.

TRACK

McCaskey's girls' and boys' track & field teams topped Hempfield in a Section One meet on Monday with the boys' meet ending in a 93-56 Red Tornado triumph while the girls' team won 113-37.

In the boys' 4x800 relay, Aidan Hodge, who won the 800-meter race at a 2:00.99 clip, joined Spencer Ashba, Joseph Fahrney, and Sam Freedman. The foursome clocked an 8:13.42.

Fahrney went on to win the 1,600 (4:29.82) and Tate Martin took the high hurdles in 16.37.

In field events, Eddie Asadu won the long jump at 20-foot-6 while Braydon Felsinger triple-jumped 41-1 for a win there.

Julia Sweigart came through with a win in the high hurdles (51.11) and Lydney Rhoads won the high jump at 4-8.

TENNIS

The boys' tennis team wrapped up the regular season with a non-league match at home with Dallastown on Thursday, April 20.

Ben Curtin and Will Keppel won a 6-2, 6-4 victory at number two doubles. Cooper Lehman returned to the number one singles post and took care of business in straight sets 6-0, 6-3.

Eric Jordan came up just short in a 6-4, 6-3 number two singles result.