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Urbine Earns PIAA Sixth Place Medal

BY MONA STEINHAUER

Solanco’s Katie Urbine had a breakout season. The sophomore grabbed a sixth place PIAA 3A medal in the Track and Field Championships held at Shippensburg University on May 29. Despite the event moving indoors due to the weather, Urbine cleared 11-6 on her first vault, exceeding her 10th place seeding and earning another medal.

“That (11-6) has been her PR this season,” noted head coach Jen McDowell. “She hit that height against Ephrata and at districts and now states. She had three great attempts at 12 feet.

“Katie won all the regular season meets,” she added. “She has worked hard this year and powered through each meet. It was challenging at times with her also running the 100 and 200 meter sprints as well as competing in the long jump but she took it in stride and with focus. I am looking forward to the upcoming year as she continues to get stronger.”

Urbine was a third-place medal winner at the District Three 3A championships and took home the gold at the L-L League Championships.

SOFTBALL all-stars

“It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great.” By Jimmy Dugan from a League of Their Own

Solanco would certainly agree that this season was not easy. A young squad with just one senior slowly finding its groove gets knocked back by covid and its protocols. They take it in stride. Work to get back on track and qualify yet again for the District Three championships, an accomplishment that escaped them just five times in program history.

“I was pleased with our progress,” said head coach Brett Miller. “We had a young group that had to gain experience as quickly as possible and had to overcome the interruptions we faced throughout the season. We needed those last two non-league wins against Susquehannock and CD East to qualify for districts. And our win over Manheim Township was huge.

“There were times when we had to see who was available before we could determine a lineup,” he continued. “And there were times when we were too generous. But mostly, this group was resilient. They didn’t let mistakes compound themselves. They seemed to have the capacity to move on.” The Mares, who finished third in Section Two with an 8-8 mark, were led by their five all-stars. Leading that group was Jade Eshleman. Solanco’s lone senior was recognized not only as a Section One all-star but is an All-League selection for Sections One and Two.

“This is the third time she’s received all-league recognition,” noted Miller. “She’s an all-star, literally, and our team MVP. She is probably the best catcher I have ever had, and we will miss her next season but look forward to what she will do at Lancaster Bible College.”

Eshleman hit .500 for the year with six home runs, four triples, 27 RBIs and 20 runs scored.

Joining Eshleman with First Team all-star recognition were juniors Becca Foulk, Marlee Haupt and freshmen Holly Grube and Emily Sims.

Foulk led the team with a .521 batting average that included five doubles, three triples, three home runs, 20 RBIs and 25 runs scored.

“She is one of the better pure hitters I have had in a long time,” said Miller. “She has played third base and first, but she can catch too.”

Haupt batted .434 in the No. 5 slot, pitched some key games for Solanco and also played first base.

“Marlee pitched some of those games that we really needed to win,” said Miller, “and her batting improved as the season moved along.”

Hitting .450 and playing a variety of positions was Grube. “Holly is versatile,” said Miller. “She played right field, third base and pitched. And she had 27 hits and 29 RBIs as a freshman. She puts the bat on the ball.”

Last, but not least, was Sims who found herself in the shortstop position. “She’s our leadoff hitter and is developing into a fine shortstop,” Miller said. “She hit .414 with nine doubles on the year. And she scored 28 runs which is what leadoff hitters are supposed to do. Emily is very consistent.

“We look forward to next year,” the coach continued. “We have a number of underclassmen coming up that look good and a season of experience under our belts for this year’s squad.”

While varsity sports teams this spring suffered covid and quarantine issues, the JV teams took more of a hit. “Many of our normal opponents were unable to field teams this year so we played some new teams this season,” said JV coach Chad McDowell.

The squad finished with an 8-5 record and split their games against Elizabethtown and LS. “Early on we beat Etown 8-5, but I believe our best game was the last game of the year, a 17-2 win over L-S, who previously beat us 8-4,” said McDowell. “It really showed our improvement as a team.”

Oliva Musser was the team’s top pitcher and finished with a 7-2 record. Morgan Kreider and Becca Harper also saw time in the circle and did well.

Samantha Coble led the team with a .486 batting average, collecting three doubles, four triples and a team-high 20 RBIs as the cleanup hitter.

Josie Janssen finished with a .484 average with 20 runs and 11 stolen bases with Autumn Butler adding a .450 with 8 hits in 14 at bats over the final few games. Haley Dagen also hit over .400 with a .409.

Brooke Jennings led with 12 stolen bases and 23 runs scored. She also drew 20 walks.

“We were hit by injuries throughout the season that limited playing time for at least four of our girls,” noted McDowell. “As a team, we batted .395 with everyone hitting over .300 on the season.”

BASEBALL all-stars

The baseball team finished second in Section Two with a 6-4 record and advanced to the L-L League playoffs where their season ended with a 6-2 loss against Manheim Central.

For their efforts, three players were named as Section Two allstars. Seniors Seth Harnish and Nate Miller were First Team all-stars while Nate Harnish, a sophomore, was a second team selection.

S. Harnish went 4-0 with one save on the mound. He collected 30 strikeouts and finished with an ERA of 3.50. The senior, who also played third base, led the team with 12 scored runs and 12 stolen bases.

“Seth stepped up on the mound,” said head coach Tom Fish. “He was our starting pitcher in the last three wins, leading us to the league playoffs. His best outing was a seven-inning shutout against CV on senior day.”

Miller, a second baseman, batted .294 with 16 RBI’s and three home runs. “Two of those homers were late inning game winners against Elizabethtown and Lebanon,” Fish recalled, “and in the last six days of our season.”

First baseman N. Harnish owned Solanco’s top batting average with a .304. He finished with six doubles and 12 RBIs. “Many of his RBIs were two out hits that really factored in some of our wins,” said Fish. “He was our most consistent hitter this year.”

The JV baseball team finished with a 7-12 record that included seven losses by three runs or less.

“We were young and inexperienced but competitive and able to grind in each contest,” said coach Mike Miller. “The players grew on both sides of the ball and the future of the program looks bright with these future stars coming up.”

Dillion Dean led the JV Mules in almost every offensive category, including average, hits, RBIs and OBP. “The freshman showed great mindset at the plate with clutch hit after clutch hit,” said Miller.

Brayden Herr was Solanco’s standout freshman on the mound, commanding a 3.23 ERA with 21 strikeouts in 26 innings pitches. “His command and ability to step up in big games helped keep us in the game whenever he took the mound,” noted Miller.

photo by Mona Steinhauer

Solanco’s Samantha Coble led the junior varsity softball team with the highest batting average (.486) and the most RBIs (20)

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Solanco’s Katie Urbine, a sixth place PIAA medal winner in the pole vault, is flanked by assistant coach Brooke McCardell Daly and head coach Jen McDowell.

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Solanco’s Jade Eshleman, the team’s only senior, received All-League Section One and Two recognition for the third straight season. She is also a LL League First Team All-Star.