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13 Hits Highlight Solanco’s Win Over CV

BY MONA STEINHAUER

The baseball team picked up its second win of the season last Monday, May 2 with a 13-hit effort at Conestoga Valley, the third-place team in Section Two at 4-2 (6-9 overall).

“We had a season-high with hits,” said head coach John Girvin. “We actually hit well in our 11-3 Friday night loss to Ephrata, finishing with nine. We had a little too much air under the ball that night with six fly balls caught by the right fielder and two by center field. But we’re moving in the right direction.”

The Mules led from start to finish against the Bucks. After a one run first, Solanco loaded the bases in the second when Joey Underwood beat out a bunt, Avery Jacobsen reached on a misplayed bunt and Brayden Herr followed with a walk. Blake Cheyney, who went 2-3, pushed the first run in with a base hit and Nate Harnish added a two run double. Herr made it 5-0, scoring on a throwing error to the cutoff.

Kody Moyer’s base hit in the fifth plated Dillon Dean who doubled. Jacobsen’s fielder’s choice pushed in Moyer and Herr’s sac fly put the Mules in front 8-0.

“Of course, we have to make things exciting,” said Girvin. “They had three legitimate hits in the bottom half, but we committed two errors and just like that it’s 8-4.”

Kaden Strong relieved Ty Burger, who had not given up a hit through the fourth inning, in the sixth. CV greeted Strong with a pair of singles and a RBI double.

“With two on and two out, Avery made a game-saving catch in right field to end the inning,” Girvin pointed out.

Austin Wenger’s two run single in the seventh, along with Cheyney’s run scoring base hit, pushed the lead to 11-6. Strong struck out the side in the seventh, retiring the 3rd, 4th, and 5th hitters in the CV lineup.

“Blake has really been hitting well,” said Girvin. “He was up five times, walked twice had two singles and hit a lineout.”

Against Ephrata Friday night, April 30, a two out single by Harnish gave the Mules an early lead. Unfortunately, a five run fourth by the Mounts was too much to overcome.

“That inning was really the difference,” said Girvin. “Take that away, it’s a 6-3 game. We did have opportunities.”

Solanco tied the game at 2-2 in the top of the third when Wenger’s delayed steal allowed Herr to scamper home. Ephrata got two back in the bottom half and broke things open with that five-run fourth.

Cheyney’s full count single plated Solanco’s last run in the fifth inning.

SOFTBALL

After a string of four straight losses midway through the season, the softball team has regrouped and is focused on qualifying for the post-season. They have collected four straight wins, two via shutout. They currently sit second in Section Two at 8-4 behind L-S (9-2) with two league games left, L-S and E-town.

Playing three games in five days, Solanco topped E-town 12-8 on April 28th and the following afternoon defeated Ephrata, 7-1.

“We fell behind 4-0 against Etown but battled back,” said head coach Brett Miller. “The windy conditions created havoc for both squads. We were just fortunate enough to make more plays than they did. It was a team effort.”

Solanco trailed 4-1 in the first, 6-4 in the second and 8-7 after four complete. They made their move with a fiverun fifth and held on for the win. A two run double from Kendal Janssen and Holly Grube’s two run homer highlighted the inning. Janssen was the big hitter of the day with two doubles, a triple and seven RBIs.

Anna Sexton picked up the win in the circle with six strikeouts and three walks.

Against Ephrata on Friday, Solanco gained all the momentum they needed with a five run fourth inning. The hosts scored the first two runs that inning on passed balls. Josie Janssen and Marlee Haupt followed with backto-back run scoring doubles while Grube’s (3-4, 2RBI) base hit made it 6-0. Both teams traded single runs over the final 2.5 innings. Solanco finished with 16 hits on the day.

Sexton recorded a seasonhigh 14 strikeouts against a single walk and scattered four hits.

“It kept the streak alive,” said Miller of never losing on his birthday.

Last Monday, May 2, Solanco pounded out 18 hits, including a 4-4 effort by Emily Sims, scored 11 runs in the third inning and crushed CV 15-0, this coming after a 2-0 thriller over the Bucks on April 4.

“They had a couple errors and a couple walks and we had timely hitting around that,” said Miller.

Sexton tossed a two-hitter with 11 strikeouts.

TRACK

The boys’ track team, with a 92.5 - 57.5 win over visiting Garden Spot last Monday, May 2 finds itself in a tie for second place in Section Two. Both L-S and Solanco sit at 4-1 behind undefeated Ephrata.

The Mules showed their strength in the field against the Spartans with a 48.5 14.5 advantage. Elijah Reimold led sweeps in both the pole vault (Brian Coleman-2nd, Braden Burger- 3rd) and long jump (Noah Baber2nd, Josiah Forren- 3rd) and finished second behind Baber in the high jump.

Also in the jumps, Trent McDowell, who led a sweep in the 110 hurdles (Garrett Grove-2nd, Caleb Fuller- 3rd) and was second in the 300’s, and Trenten Henry went 2-3 in the triple.

Braden Caldwell led the throwers with a first in the shot and second in the discus while John Sankus added thirds in both events. Brian Coleman won the javelin and Connor Smith finished second, just one inch behind.

Relays highlighted the track events with Solanco winning two of three. Curtis Hills, Joey Hartigan, Wyatt Tomison, who was second in the 800, and Jimmy Hartigan opened the meet with a 4x800 relay win while Jonathan Morales, Forren, Michael Banguna and Riley Ford were tops in the 4x100. Ford, who was second in the 100, and Banguna went on to finish second and third in the 200.

Anthony Solis-Morales rounded out the victors with the top time in the 3200.

The girls’ team fell to 1-3 with a hard-fought 87-63 loss to the Spartans.

Hannah Wood, Katie Urbine and Emma Housekeeper each won two events to spark the scoring. Wood commanded both the shot and discus with teammate Martha Weaver adding seconds. The pair finished second and third, respectively, in the javelin.

Urbine continued her mastery of the pole vault with a winning 12-2 vault and claimed the 100 dash as well. She was also third in the triple jump.

Housekeeper raced to victory in the open 400 and the 200 and settled for third in the 100.

Other winners included Emily Powl in the 800, Emma Baxter in the 3200 and Olianna Oravitz in the long jump.

At Millersville on Saturday, April 30th, Urbine, Oravitz, Carly Rose and Housekeeper set a new school record in the 4x100 with a 50.63, breaking the old record of 50.8 set by Jodi Emling, Bridget Merrick, Tammy Peters and Michelle Spitko set in 1988.

photo by Mona Steinhauer

In Ephrata Friday night, Solanco’s Kaden Strong beats the throw home to catcher Coy Schwanger in a Section Two victory by the Mounts. for more photos visit www.townlively.com