The baseball team pushed its winning streak to seven over the last week with Section Two victories over CV (5-1 on April 21), Solanco (8-2 on the 24th) and Lebanon (8-2 on the 26th). They currently sit on top of the standings with an 8-1 mark.

"The guys are doing a great job right now," said head coach Jeff Swarr.

The Pioneers battled back from a 1-0 deficit against the Bucks with a three-run third and then gained some breathing room with two runs in the sixth. Jason Long's three-run, bases loaded double was the big hit of the day in Lampeter's 4-hit final. Anthony Turek, Peyton Harsh and Will Bailey also collected hits and Turek went the distance on the hill with six strikeouts.

In Monday's victory over Solanco, it was a five-run top of the fifth that powered the Pioneers. Long again sparked the inning with a three run double while Brenneman's base hit pushed in two more.

Tureks' solo home in the sixth made it 8-0 before Solanco managed single runs in their last two at bats.

Harsh gave up one hit and one run over 5.2 innings, striking out four. Kyler Branco finished out in relief.

Wednesday L-S out hit Lebanon 8-7, scored four runs in the fifth and handed Lebanon an 8-2 loss. Harsh finished with two hits, Turek added two RBI and Long picked up the win, striking out five in six innings of work. Coe struck out one in the final inning.

GIRLS' LACROSSE

The lady Pioneers earned another win on Tuesday, April 25, and with it clinched the Section Two crown, Lampeter's first. Hat trick performances by Bethany Stoltzfus, Ryann Logan (1a) and Rowan Kimmel sparked L-S to a fairly close 11-7 final at Elizabethtown.

The visitors led 6-3 at the half and held off an E-town rally.

"They brought an intensity that caught us off-guard," said head coach Marshall Krebs, "but our defense played steady, making the slides they needed to stifle E-town's offense.

"Sophia Labrecque (2g, 3a, 2 caused turnovers) intercepted a ball on an Etown clear and took it to the house," Krebs recalled. "This type of determination kept us ahead of Etown in the scoring column.

"Defender Emily Lapinsky had three ground balls and three caused turnovers and while they don't show up in the stats, Molly Gochnauer, Rachel Lee and Ellie Moyer played consistent and disruptive defense as they have all season," stated Krebs. "Offense gets the accolades, but defense is always there to right the ship. Defense is what will carry us through an extremely competitive remainder of the regular season and playoffs."

Zoe Dilling needed two saves to pick up the 'W', facing 9 shots.

TRACK

The track teams traveled to Manheim last Monday, April 24 where the Barons dealt them a pair of losses.

The boys won two relays and swept the mile but suffered an 89-61 loss after winning just seven (of 18) events. Yasin Abdi won the triple jump, was third in the long jump and teamed with Carson Coleman, Owen Keener and Liam Lutz for a 4x100 victory.

Ben Devine led a sweep in the mile with Luke Smith (2nd) and Owen Witmer (3rd) following. He also ran the second leg of the winning 4x800 with Colin Whitaker, Smith, and Andrew Cramer. Whitaker also finished second in the 800 behind Stoner's impressive 1:57.2 and settled for second in the 3200 behind Michael Colosi's winning time of 10:46.

Also in the field, Aidan Wiley cleared 11-6 to win the pole vault.

The girls had a tougher time as Manheim won all but three events en route to a 99-49 home win.

"Maggie Swarr had a great day, winning the javelin (132') and the discus with a big PR of 110-8," said head coach Cal Esh. "She was also second in the shot."

Lampeter also picked up a win on the track with the 4x100 team of Maya Brenneman, Natalie Holland, Maddie Weichler, and Toni Heiserman recording a 52.0. Brenneman was also second in the 100 and third in the 200 behind Weichler. Holland went on to claim second in the pole vault with Meadow Shussler grabbing third.

Also in the field, Elly Brunner went up against Division One recruit Maddie Knier and came away with seconds in the high, long, and triple jumps.

TENNIS

After clinching the Section Two title with a 4-3 thriller over Cocalico, the Pioneer racket club toppled Pequea Valley (12-1), the Section Three runner-up, in the quarterfinals of the L-L League tennis championships in Lampeter Friday, April 21.

Kyle Pawson and Owen Lapp opened with an exciting win over Joel Peifer and Cole McAvoy at No. 1 doubles. They lost the first set 3-6 but rallied to win 6-4, 10-7.

At No. 2, Justin Gouger and Kenny Finn dominated with a 6-1, 6-0 win, meaning L-S needed just one singles victory to win. Spencer Teaman took care of that, holding off Hayden Winey 7-6, 6-3 after PV's Wade Stoltzfus blanked Joe Fitzgerald at No. 1 singles.

That put L-S in the semifinals opposite undefeated Section One champ Cedar Crest on Monday, April 24. The Falcons, who defeated the Pioneers 5-0 on April 3, posted another shutout, this time 3-0.

"Cedar Crest is strong," said head coach Mark Trach. "We actually had a 5-2 lead at second doubles (Gouger-Finn) in the second set when the match was called, and we were down 4-5 in the second set of No. 2 singles."

Fitzgerald lost 6-2, 6-0. S. Teaman lost 6-0, 6-2 and Pawson and Lapp fell 6-0, 6-3.

"It looks like we will be either the 7th or 8th seed in districts," Trach added.

SOFTBALL

The softball teams' up-and-down season continued over the last week with a 7-2 win over CV on Friday, April 21, then a 5-4 loss to Solanco on the 24th.

"CV has a nice pitcher," noted head coach Earl Rutledge, "but she dropped a fly ball that cost her three runs and some breathing room."

L-S needed just two innings to tally those seven runs. They plated four in the third, all with two outs. Paige Baxter's (2-4, 1RBI) two-run double was the big hit.

CV got two back in the bottom of the fifth before L-S picked up three in the top of the seventh courtesy of Scranton's dropped fly ball, scoring one, and Baxter's second two run double.

Maura Savoca earned the win, striking out three over 4.2 innings. Ally Raub closed out with two strikeouts.

Three days later, the Pioneers out-hit Solanco 9-8, including a pair of home runs by Zuber, but couldn't muster enough runs to pull out a win. They committed two errors in a tightly contested 5-4 loss in the team's second round meeting.

"Solanco played much better defense this time," said head coach Earl Rutledge. "I would have liked a fenced in ballpark. That cost us a couple of runs. They just have a nice team."

Solanco opened with a three run second thanks to a solo homer, a run scoring triple, and an error.

L-S got two back in the top of the third on Zuber's two run homer and Solanco came back with one in the bottom half to maintain a 4-2 lead. They loaded the bases in the fourth but managed just one run.

The Pioneers cut it to one in the top of the fifth on Raub's groundout and another homer by Zuber, this one a solo shot.

Neither team threatened after that.

Chloe Meck, Zuber (3RBI) and Mack each recorded two hits in the loss.

Maura Savoca went the distance with two strikeouts and one walk.

BOYS' LACROSSE

A four goal, two assists by Colin Sullivan and 11 saves by Bryce Thomas highlighted Lampeter's 13-10 non-league win over Dallastown Saturday, April 22. The hosts led 5-3 lead in the first quarter and were up 8-5 at the half. That proved to be enough as both teams tallied five second half goals.

Zach Lebrecque (3g, 2a), Chase Barber (3g, 2a) and Cole Lopez (2g) also scored multiple goals in the win.

April 25 the Pioneers tallied 14 straight goals for a dominating first half lead over winless Elizabethtown and settled for a 17-3 home victory. Labrecque topped the scoring in this section win with five goals and one assist. Sullivan led with three assists and scored four times. Jack Groff scored twice while Barber, Morgan Smith, KJ Kessler, Grant Filius, Cole Lopez, and T Stinson rounded out the balanced effort with one goal each. Alex Weese added an assist.