Garden Spot handled Penn Manor in the first round of the Lancaster-Lebanon League boys' volleyball playoffs. The Spartans downed the Comets 3-0 on Thursday, May 14, requiring some extra services to finish the sweep.

The Comets, who fell to 6-6 in league play, forced added effort by the Spartans in the second set, which ended with a 27-25 Garden Spot victory as well as the third set, 28-26.

Garden Spot (16-1, 13-0 league) was playing on their home court in this match. Helping Spot reach the league semifinals was a team effort, led by Jordan Martin, with 26 assists and three blocks, and Joseph Sharp, who poured in seven kills. In addition, Tanner Laukhuff and Tyler Martin each recorded 12 digs while Chandler Xiong served up two aces.

In the league semis, also played at Garden Spot, the Spartans ran into a Warwick squad that narrowly missed winning the Section One crown and went on to be the league runner-up. The Spartans came up short against the Warriors, who posted a 3-0 victory, winning by scores of 25-15, 25-16 and 25-16.

Laine King came through with seven kills, a block and one ace for the Spartans. Jordan Marin dished out 18 assists while Griff Witmer finished with one service ace and one block. Xiong and Tyler Martin each recorded seven digs.

Garden Spot will brush off this defeat and head into the District Three Class 2A playoffs. The Spartans enter the districts as the second-seeded team and are earning a first-round bye. On May 24, and again on their home court, the Spartans are scheduled to play a quarterfinal match, hosting the winner of the Fleetwood vs. Lancaster Mennonite match.

TRACK

The L-L League track and field championships took place at Hempfield on Friday and Saturday, May 14-15. The Garden Spot girls scored 21 points to finish ninth in the team standings.

Bryna Kelly was one of the top performers for the Spartan girls, capturing the 100-meter dash in 15.2 seconds. She also took third in the high jump with a 5-foot-0 jump. Kelly competed in the 4 x 100 relay, teaming up with Avery Stauffer, Elyse Mundorff and Lauren Horning for a 10th-place finish in 53.10.

Another 10th-place relay went to Nicole Kelch, Kaleigh Watkins, Cloe Martin and Julie Hoover, who had a combined time of 10:44.31 in the 4x800.

Stauffer went on to take seventh (48.70) in the 300-m hurdles.

Chloe Grady's 15-foot-5.5 long jump was good for 10th. Mundorff took ninth place in the triple jump with a 32-3.5 effort.

Also in the girls' field events, Christy Martin's 95-foot javelin was good for 10th place while Logan Martin's discus toss of 80-5 earned her 13th place.

Horning crossed the finish line in 1:04.35 in the 400-m race for 13th place. Melanie Esh took 11th in the 3,200-m (12:35.42) and 16th in the 1600 (5:45.94)

In the boys' meet, Alex McFalls earned 10th place (2:04.29) in the 800 and teamed up with David Rodriguez, Finn Wenrich, and Kupa Agbokah for a time of 3:38.71, earning 11th in the 4x400.

The 4 x 800 yielded a 14th-place finish (9:11.01) for a Spartans foursome of Jaxon Kulp, Joel Benedick, Sean Kelch and Thomas Watt.

Wenrich had a solid 53.47 pace in the 400, good for 12th place. Alan Krock registered 4:51.53 for 16th place in the 1,600.

In the boys' field events, Tristin Sadowski had a top-10 finish, making a 5-8 high jump to take ninth place. Aiden Durante's 28-1.25 triple jump was good for 12th place while Gavin Miller's 19-6.5 long jump earned 16th place.

SOFTBALL

Garden Spot wrapped up the regular season with a pair of non-league contests. The Spartans lost to Twin Valley and Kutztown by respective scores of 10-0 and 9-0 on Thursday and Friday, May 13-14.

Garden Spot's softball team finished its season at 7-12. Four of those losses were to non-league teams as the Spartans earned a 7-8 L-L League mark.

BASEBALL

After beating Elco 6-4 in the next-to-last game of the season, the Spartans wrapped up the regular season with a non-league game at Elizabethtown on May 13. The Bears pounded out 11 hits, including homers by seniors Josh Kreider and Tanner Breault, who finished with five runs batted in. Also, Mitch Garber and Tyler Sauders tripled for the Bears in the 15-0 defeat of the Spartans.

Garden Spot finished the year 4-14 (3-9 L-L League).

In that defeat of Elco, Mason Graybill went the distance, allowing one walk and scattering 12 hits.

Evan Myers finished with three RBI's. Justin Petersheim went 2-for-2 with a homer and two runs batted in. He also stole a base and finished the game with three runs scored.

Junior George Rohrbaugh was 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI. He also scored two runs.