Barons’ baseball struggles vs Township, Elco

BY ERIC PYLES

On the baseball diamond, the Barons slipped a win over Octorara between losses to Manheim Township and ELCO, leaving the Barons 4-4 on the year.

Jarred Murray spearheaded the win over Octorara, striking out 14 over his five and one-third innings. He allowed just two hits and no runs with three walks. Cayde Connelly covered the final five outs with four coming via punchout. Manheim used a tworun double by Nolan Book to take a 2-0 lead in the third while Brady Harbach tacked on an insurance run with a fifth inning single.

The Barons needed four pitchers to get through their April 6th loss to Township with the official loss going on Cael Martin’s record. He covered three innings, issuing five walks with three strikeouts leading to four of the Blue Streaks runs. Cole Lawhorne was up next, racking up four strikeouts and three walks over his three scoreless innings. Trevor Lowe was hit with the remainder of the Township runs, failing to record an out during Township’s five run seventh.

Chase Travitz relieved Lowe and quickly put the fire out but the damage had already been done. Book finished the game hitless but picked up an RBI thanks to a third inning sac fly. Harbaugh, Colin Neiles and Travitz accounted for Manheim’s three hits.

A sluggish start doomed Central in their 4-1 loss to

ELCO on the 12th with all four Raider runs coming in the first three innings. Connelly covered those three innings, taking the loss for surrendering five hits and those four runs. Lawhorne and Martin covered the final four innings, keeping ELCO scoreless while combining for two strikeouts and no walks.

Neiles plated the Baron run with his sac fly in the second, pushing Harbach across who was in scoring position thanks to Murray and his single hit. McGallicher and Ky Watson split the remaining two hits.

TRACK

‘A Tale of Two Cites’ is a famous novel by Charles Dickens, but the Manheim Central track team put their spin on things with a tale of two meets on April 11th. The Lady Barons cruised to a 116-34 win over Cocalico while the boys fell by a 78-72 final.

Maddie Knier led the usual cast of characters for the Lady Barons, taking her spot atop the high (5-2), long (16-7.25) and triple jumps (34-9) as well as the javelin with a toss of 130’. Laci Nelson and Chloe Enck finished the throwing sweep with Nelson taking the shot (36-1.5) and Enck the discus (105-3). Bella Sensenig wrapped up the field wins by topping the pole vault competitors by clearing 10’.

Milan Snell added three solo wins to her 1600m relay anchor leg with Abbie Reed, Sarah Forry and Liz Voegele helping to post a 4:22.3 Snell’s solo wins came in the 100m (12.6), 200m (26.6) and 400m (61.0) giving Central a sweep in the sprints. Reed and Forry added two individual wins to their day with Reed claiming both the 100H (16.3) and the 300H (47.2) while Forry did her work in the 800m (2:42) and 1600m (5:46). Julia Lindberg seized the final solo win, topping the 3200m field with a 12:27. Lindberg and Forry were joined by Emma Herman and Reagan Ibach for a 3200m relay win.

The boys remained winless after their closest setback of the season. Landon McGallicher was the lone Baron to win multiple events, taking the 110H and 300H with times of 14.9 and 41.0, respectively. Cameron Evans and Carter Bruckhart each enjoyed a solo win on top of their 3200m relay victory. Evans claimed the 400m (54.9) while Bruckhart took the 3200m (11:33). Ryan Kenneff and Carson Brooks joined Evans and Bruckhart for that 3200m relay win, posting a 9:10.9. Manheim Central’s final two wins came in the field where Kahlen Watt took the long jump (19-3.5) and Wyatt Kupres the discus (140’).

TENNIS

The tennis team slipped a 3-2 win over Warwick between losses to Central York and McCaskey, leaving the Barons 5-8 heading to the finish line of the 2023 regular season. Ben Ginder posted the lone singles win during the April 10th victory over Warwick with Aaron Cassel and Landen Statts as well as Jon Breinich and Zach Spangler picking up doubles wins.

Manheim dropped the matches to Central York and McCaskey by identical 4-1 finals. The difference came in where the Barons picked up their team point. Against the Panthers on the 6th, it was Rodney Sauder taking his number three singles match but opposite McCaskey on the 11th it was the duo of Cassel and Statts that collected the win.

Volleyball

The Easter holiday and the break that comes with it allowed the boys’ volleyball team to take it easy with only a 3-0 win over Ephrata on the slate. Central had little trouble with the Mountaineers, opening with a 25-12 win before closing the match with back-to-back 25-16 wins.

Dylan Musser led the way with 24 assists, seven digs and two aces. Logan Groff matched those two aces while Landon Mattiace finished with seven kills.

Softball

The Lady Barons’ softball team stepped out of the L-L on April 11th battling South Western in a postponed game from March 27th. The result was a 20-1 loss that lasted five innings. Riley Hostetter opened in the circle for Manheim and took the loss after allowing 12 runs on 11 hits and one walk. Three Lady Baron errors gifted the Lady Mustangs seven unearned runs with six coming while Hostetter was on the mound. Paige Garner finished things up, absorbing the final eight runs and 10 hits. Brianna Mylin picked up the lone RBI while Kayleigh Detz and Garner had one hit each.

The Lady Barons returned to the L-L for their April 12th clash with ELCO where Manheim enjoyed an offensive explosion in the 18-6 win.

Michaela Lauver was the spark, collecting three hits in her six at-bats, two of which were homeruns. She belted a three-run shot in the fourth and added a solo blast in the sixth. Detz had just one hit, but it was a good one in the form of a three-run bomb that came as part of an 11 run seventh inning. Hailey Peterson also finished with three RBI but did so with two singles.

Hostetter got the start but gave way to Garner in the fifth, leaving Garner with the win for her two and twothirds innings.

Central picked up another LL win on the 10th, posting an 83 final over Octorara. Mylin carried the big bat, smacking two doubles and driving in three runs. Detz, Hostetter, Garner and Brynn Lehman all finished with one RBI with Detz, Hostetter and Garner also collecting two hits. Hostetter missed out on a complete game but did get the win for her six innings of work. She allowed all three Lady Brave runs while mixing in four strikeouts. Garner cruised through the final frame on just eight pitches.