Despite jumping out to a 4-0 lead after two complete innings, Solanco's baseball team suffered a 6-5, extra inning loss to Lebanon Friday, April 21.

The Cedars made a comeback with three runs in the third and two more in the fifth to go ahead 5-4. Solanco tied the game in the bottom of the seventh when Nate Harnish singled the first pitch he saw, plating Tyler Burger who opened with a triple.

That momentum was short-lived. Lebanon opened the eighth with two singles and a one out base hit that plated the go-ahead run. Solanco went three up, three down in their half of the inning.

Both teams were credited with eight hits and the Cedars committed six errors but still pulled away. Burger was the big hitter of the day, going 3-4 with one RBI as the only multi-hit batter for the Mules.

Kayden Strong pitched the first 4.1 innings, giving up five earned runs while striking out five and walking three. Sawyer Weyman pitched 3.2 innings in relief and fanned three batters.

On a bigger stage Monday night, the Mules faced Section Two leader Lampeter-Strasburg at the Clipper Stadium but could not even the score against the Pioneers, suffering an 8-2, one-hit loss.

The Pioneers held a slim 1-0 lead heading into the fifth inning but broke the game open with six runs in the fifth, sparking the 8-2 final. A solo homer by Lampeter's Anthony Turek in the top of the sixth capped the scoring.

"They worked a few walks and with two outs had two big two out, two strike hits to score," recalled head coach Mike Miller.

Brayden Herr got the nod to start and suffered the loss, striking out five and walking six. Strong and Weyman pitched the final two innings with Strong working four strikeouts.

"This has been a tough stretch," said Miller. "The story has been the lack of clutch hitting. We were not able to capitalize with runners on. We left eight on base against Lebanon and ten against LS," he added. "We have to get more quality at bats to get those runs across.

In a Wednesday night game that featured three hits, five walks and one error by each team, the Mules dropped a 1-0 heartbreaker at Ephrata. A one-out walk in the second inning scored, what proved to be the game winner, on a sacrifice fly.

Owen Underwood, Harnish and Lucas Vilk were the hitters for Solanco.

Harnish struck out five over five innings. Dillon Dean pitched one inning in relief.

SOFTBALL

As the first batter of the game, Josie Janssen's solo homer ignited Solanco's 20-4, four-inning win at Lebanon on Friday, April 21. Jansen's 2-5, 3RBI effort was one of many solid at bats as Solanco collected 16 hits in the win and took advantage of four errors and five walks. Ava Martin and Zoey Evans both went 4-4 and combined for five doubles. Sara DeFrancesco clubbed a pair of home runs and plated three runs. Samantha Coble also finished with two hits, including a homer, and had 3RBI. Ava Fedoruk added a 3RBI day and Delaney Gote, with a pair of doubles, pushed in two runs.

The visitors built a 14-0 lead after two innings before Lebanon got on board with a four-run fourth. That momentum was squashed when Solanco scored six runs in the bottom half.

Kira Roark struck out six and walked five. Holly Grube collected four strikeouts and walked one over the last 1 1/3 inning.

Solanco hosted Lampeter-Strasburg for round two of their Section Two series on Monday and evened the score with a tightly contested 5-4 victory.

"It was a big game and a big win," said head coach Brett Miller. "Both teams played well enough to win it. We were fortunate and won."

Anna Sexton, in her first start in the circle, went the distance, striking out five and scattering seven hits.

"Anna, except for Brooke Zuber's two home runs, kept them at bay for the most part and we made the plays behind her," said Miller. "We caught a lot of fly balls."

Gote started the scoring with a lead off homer in the second inning. Three batters later, Sexton (2-3, 2RBI) helped herself with a two-run triple.

"They tried to throw Anna out at third but threw the ball away, so we picked up another run," said Miller.

L-S came back with two in the top of the third, compliments of Zuber's round-tripper, and Solanco got one back in the bottom half when Grube doubled in Roark who reached with a base hit.

Solanco capped their scoring in the bottom of the fourth on Janssen's (2-3, 1RBI) base hit. L-S closed the gap with two in the fifth, one via a second Zuber home run.

"Both teams calmed down after that," said Miller. "We did not play well at all the first time we played them and got the result like we played. L-S is much better than their record (5-7 overall), but this is just one game. For it to mean anything, we have to get the next one. We can't take anyone lightly."

TRACK

Solanco's track and field teams swept the Spartans at Garden Spot Monday, April 24 with some strong results in the field events. "We surprised ourselves on the girls' side with some amazing throws and only giving up five points," noted head coach Jen McDowell.

The girls swept the shot and the discus en route to an 85.33 - 64.66 victory. Martha Weaver led the way with a pair of firsts, including a big PR in the shot (35-3.25). Taelor Martin and Gabbi Kline followed in the shot while Avery Caldwell and Kyleigh Murphy did the same in the discus. Weaver was also third in the javelin with Paige Althoff taking second.

Oli Oravitz led the jumpers with firsts in the long (17-2.5) and triple (34-3.25) while Katie Urbine cleared 11 feet to win the pole vault and Maite Granga finished in third. Oravitz also won the 200 (26.8) while Urbine triumphed in a very close 100 with a 12.4.

Other highlights included the distance team of Daria Neaves, Emma Baxter and Anna Linde sweeping the 3200. Emma Housekeeper won the open 400 and was third in the 100 with a 12.6.

The boys' team also dominated in the field, racking up six first place finishes and going 1-2 in four of those. Noah Baber was the top jumper, clearing 6-1 in the high and going 20-6 in the long. Tucker Kyler followed with a second in the high and Josiah Forren was second in the long and won the triple jump (40-11 PR).

"It was a team effort for the boys, who only gave up 17 points in the jumps and throws," said McDowell. "Braden Caldwell had a big night with two PRs."

Wyatt Armstrong rounded out the jumping wins, clearing 10-6 in the pole vault.

In the throws it was freshman Frank Lucarino (117) and Braden Caldwell going 1-2 in the discus and Caldwell (136 PR) and Ford taking first and second in the javelin. Caldwell was also second in the shot (48-3 PR).

On the track, Anthony Solis Morales led the scoring with a pair of wins. The senior was first in the mile (4:51) and the 800 (2:07).

Ian Althoff picked up five points in the 400 and was second in the 100 behind Riley Ford's top time of 11.1.

Bradley Weder rounded out the winners with a 16.9 in the 110 hurdles and just missed first in the 300's by .3 seconds.

The teams also competed in the Leonard Stephen Invitational on Sunday where the girls finished in fifth place out of 18 teams. The top three place-winners included: Urbine- first in the pole vault; the 4x800 team of Granja, Baxter, Mosteller and Neaves, third; and Weaver- third in the shot.

For the boys, Baber won the long jump and was second in the high jump.