With a chance to stay out of the basement of the Section One standings, Penn Manor (3-8 overall) edged past a winless Warwick squad 4-3 in Lititz last Monday, April 17.

"Grant Rost, at No. 3 singles, had a close first set of 7-5 and actually came back from 0-4 when the game score was 4-5, saving the match point and then winning three consecutive games. He grabbed that fourth point to win the match for us, winning the second set slightly easier, 6-2," said head coach Amanda Pryzbylkowski.

PJ Fahey handled Justin Weist 6-2, 6-1 at No. 1 and Aidan Karlow, at No. 4, defeated Zah Weiser 6-2, 6-0 for a 3-1 Comet advantage in singles.

William Steltz and Rost secured an 8-2 No. 2 doubles win to account for the scoring.

"PJ found his rhythm and quickly defeated Warwick's No. 1," noted Pryzbylkowski, "and Will and Grant had amazing communication and were very aggressive at the net.

"Aidan played strong and steady," the coach added. "He changed pace and constructed smart points, keeping his opponent guessing."

The Comets were coming off a 5-2 loss against McCaskey, Thursday, April 13.

"Our record and match scores do not indicate how close and competitive the guys have been playing this season," Pryzblkowski said.

Fahey picked up a hard-earned win at No. 1 (2-6, 6-4, 10-3) and teamed with Karlow for an 8-5 win at No. 1 doubles.

TRACK

The boys' track team earned its second win of the season with a 90-60 result against Warwick on April 17. Drew Lebo sparked the scoring with firsts in both hurdle events and the pole vault. Kaleb Kabakjian added wins in the mile and 3200 while Jason Andro and Quinn Poole went 1-2 in both the long and triple jumps.

"And Trevor Schneider (5-10) remains undefeated on the year in the high jump," noted head coach Nick Loreto.

The girls faced a talented Warwick squad and lost 102-46. Kate Harnish won the long jump and pole vault, Jireh Ellis took the 100 hurdles, Annie Bibus and Madison Martin went 1-2 in the 3200 and Cassidy McCollum was tops in the javelin.

BOYS' LACROSSE

The Comets picked up back-to-back wins last week, topping Ephrata 9-6 on Friday, April 14 and coming back with a 13-5 win over Warwick, out of Section Two, on Saturday.

In a tightly contested first half, Manor fell behind the Mounts 5-4 but dominated the third and fourth quarters 5-1 to pull out the victory.

Eli Warfel led the attack with four goals and one assist while Benedict Flinchbaugh, who leads the team in scoring to date, added two goals and two assists. Willard Smith (1g, 1a), Grant Bradburn (1g, 2a) and Adam Hollinger (1g, 2a) rounded out the scoring.

Bradburn, a freshman, led the first-half scoring against Warwick with a hat trick. "Adam, a senior, back from injury also had a hat trick with two assists," noted head coach Connor Rowe.

The Comets, who won 13-5, took charge with a 9-1 first half advantage. "We were able to play a lot of our JV guys in the fourth quarter.

"We have younger guys stepping up all over the field," he continued. "Their future is bright."

Manor's three game winning streak ended with Tuesday's 21-6 loss to Manheim Township. Bradburn's two goals and one assist paced the offense.

SOFTBALL

The Comets notched a bounce-back win on Friday, April 14, coming away from Landisville with a 4-2 win over Hempfield. The visitors posted single runs in both the first and second innings and made it 4-zip in the top of the fourth with a two-spot. The Knights answered with single runs in the bottom of the fourth and fifth but couldn't get closer.

A ten-hit attack was led by Maddie Mitchell who went 3-3 with a double. Amelia Trout was 2-3.

Julie Bowmaster surrendered five hits with one strikeout and one walk in the win.

That winning momentum was short-lived as the Comets dropped a 4-3 heartbreaker in Neffsville last Monday despite taking a 3-0 lead in the first inning. Township slowly crawled back, scoring one in the third, two in the fourth and the game-winner in the fifth. "We did not take advantage of our opportunities and had four costly errors," said head coach Dave Stokes.

The Comets, with six hits and five runs in the first inning, earned a 10-0 shutout over Cedar Crest April 19. Mitchell added a solo homer in the fourth and Trout went over the fence in the fifth for two more Comet runs.

Bowmaster pitched the two-hit victory with six strikeouts.

BASEBALL

Coming off their first two losses of the season, the Comets needed a win on Friday, April 14 and things were not looking good, falling behind 4-1 in the first and 6-4 after four complete. Then, in the bottom of the seventh, Manor rallied and pulled out a 7-6 thriller on Spencer Stuart's two-strike single that scored Grant Fry whose base hit cut the lead to 6-5. Isaac Braegelmann singled to tie the game and set the stage for Stuart.

"It was an awesome inning, team at bat after team at bat, selfless, effective and smart," said head coach Tom Fish. "One we won't soon forget."

Cole Miller and Bryce Avery opened that inning with back-to-back walks.

"A big hit in our comeback was a two-run single by Trevor Adams in the fourth that brough the score to 5-4," noted Fish, "and maybe for the first time gave us confidence that we could win this game."

Adams' single scored Peter Skiadas and Fry who both reached on base hits.

"Grant got his first start and pitched well, going five innings with six strikeouts and one walk," said Fish. "Hempfield hit the ball well in the first, but Grant settled down and kept us in the game as we chipped away.

"Bryce pitched two scoreless innings in the sixth and seventh and earned the win in relief."

That momentum, however, was short-lived as the Comets dropped a 3-1 result to Township on April 17. Brayden Eckert struck out six, walked two and surrendered nine hits over five and two-thirds innings to take the loss. Adams went 3-4 at the plate.

With the game tied at 2-2 after four complete innings, Cedar Crest plated two runs in the bottom of the sixth and escaped the Comets with a 4-2 win on Wednesday.

GIRLS' LACROSSE

In back-to-back games last week, the Comets handled Ephrata on Friday, April 14 and used a strong first half to get past Warwick, 8-6, less than 24 hours later.

Clinging to a 6-4 first half advantage, the Comets took control of Ephrata with a 7-1 run through the second half. Joelle Kroesen and Mia Jones (1a) each notched hat tricks. Erin Shipley (2a) and Lillie Swanson each scored twice while Catherine Rabatin (1a), Jarliah Ferko and Emily Kemmer added one goal apiece.

On Saturday morning it was a 6-4 first half that proved to be the difference against the Warriors as both teams scored two second half goals.

Claire Eckroat's three goal effort matched Warwick's Paige Sheppard, but two goals each from Shipley and Ferko along with a goal by Swanson pushed the Comets to victory.

On Tuesday, Shipley's second half goal prevented a shutout in a 14-1 loss at Manheim Township.

Goalies Brooklyn Ayala and Mackenzie Nafziger combined for 20 saves in the three games.

VOLLEYBALL

The volleyball team broke up a two-game losing streak with a 3-0 sweep over McCaskey in a home match Tuesday, April 18. The Comets won 25-19 in the first set but got stronger as the night went on, winning 25-15, 25-13.

Harry Whited continued a strong presence at the net, racking up eight kills but got help from Luke Thomas (6K) and Noah Reen (7K). Wyatt Rohrer ran the offense, dishing 25 assists and serving five aces. Thomas added a pair of blocks and Andre Weaver added three aces.

"It was great seeing guys like Wyatt Hopstetter, Vinnie West, Reece Andreychek and Andre Weaver see more play time," said head coach Chris Telesco. "They stepped up big."

The Comets were coming off a 3-0 loss to section leader CV and then dropped a close one to Warwick on Thursday, April 13 with game scores of 25-21, 25-20, 25-18.

"We played them (Warwick) well, but they had more consistency," said Telesco. "We proved to ourselves-and maybe others-that we can play with great teams. We gave further evidence of this at the Koller Classic."

Manor split with the No. 10 team in the state, Northeastern, who won the whole tournament. They later split with the No. 2 team in the state, Emmaus. "That earned us a 5-3 record and set us up against Hempfield, who we beat for the first time in a while, 25-22 in a one-set match," said Telesco.

The Comets lost to Cumberland Valley in the quarterfinals.

Whited and Noah Reen each had five kills against Warwick. Jason Osman added four. Rohrer settled for 16 assists, one ace and one block. Elijah Julian recorded 11 digs and Carrett Cortez served one ace.