Baron track teams split season finale vs Spot

BY ERIC PYLES

With the calendar officially flipped to May, the track and field teams turn their collective attention to big post season meets. Before Manheim Central can get to those post season adventures, they first had to finish out their regular season which involved hosting Garden Spot on the 8th. The result was a commanding 97.5-48.5 win for the Lady Barons and an 86.5-63.5 loss for the boys.

Maddie Knier took her usual spot at the front of the pack for Central, winning the high jump (5-2), long jump (17-6.25), triple jump (35-7) and javelin (125). Laci Nelson (shot put) and Chloe Enck (discus) picked up the remaining field wins.

Six other Lady Barons claimed individual events on the track with all six taking part in two winning relays.

Abbie Reed (100H) and Liz Voegele (300H) swept the hurdle events with Reagan Ibach (1600m) and Julie Lindberg (3200m) taking the distance events. Milan Snell claimed the 400m and Julia Kahler the 800m to account for the final solo wins.

Central opened the meet with a win in the 3200m thanks to Sarah Forry, Ibach, Kahler and Lindberg and closed out the meet with a win in the 1600m thanks to

Reed, Voegele, Forry and Snell.

On the boy’s side, the Barons claimed seven total events with six coming in individual events. Ryan Kosydar, Carson Brooks, Ryan Kenneff and Cameron Evans accounted for the lone relay win, taking the 3200m win a time of 9:02. Landon McGallicher picked up three event wins, sweeping the hurdles with a 15.3 in the 110H and a 41.0 in the 300H while adding a 23.6 to take the 200m.

Kahlen Watt claimed two of the remaining three wins, posting an 11.4 in the 100m and taking the javelin with a top toss of 158-10. Wyatt Kupres rounded out the first place winners with a 146-1 in the discus.

Volleyball

The boys’ volleyball team continued their march towards a perfect regular season with a 3-0 win over Lebanon on May 9th. Central had little trouble dispatching the Cedars, posting wins of 25-7, 25-13 and 25-8 to send Lebanon home on the wrong end of a sweep. Logan Groff had 12 kills, Dylan Musser 22 assists with Reagan Miler adding three aces and two digs. Landan Mattiace chipped in with one block.

Softball

The Lady Baron softball team capped their furious sprint to end the regular sea- son, winning five of their final six games to finish 13-6. Not only is that good enough for a spot in the L-L playoffs but it also puts the Lady Barons right of the middle of the 16team District 3-5A bracket.

Two of those wins came over ELCO on back-to-back days, giving Central an odd double header victory. Up first was a rain make-up game from April with the Lady Barons needing only four innings to collect a 16-1 win. Riley Hostetter was the star of the show, covering all four innings in the circle to pick up the win while accounting for four RBI, all in the fourth. Hostetter got the 10-run frame going with a three-run blast and capped things off with a fielder’s choice that stretched the lead to 15, kicking in the mercy rule. Brianna Mylin made the most of her one hit, smacking a three-run homer as part of Manheim’s five run first. Kayleigh Detz enjoyed two triples in the game with her fourth inning hit pushing three runs across. Mickey Lauver (two RBI) and Abby Logan (one RBI) finished the offensive explosion for Manheim.

One day later Manheim Central collected another four-inning, mercy rule win over ELCO, this one by a 17-2 final. Hostetter picked up another quick win, allowing three hits and two runs over the four innings while helping her own cause with a fourth inning RBI. Brynn Lehman matched that single RBI, using a third inning triple to get the job done. Detz fronted the offense, driving in four runs on one hit, a second inning double. Mylin added three RBI on two hits while both Lauver and Ava Kenneff finished with two hits and two RBI.

May 8th saw the Lady Barons win their third straight mercy rule game, this one an 11-0 victory over Cocalico. This time Hostetter needed five innings to collect the win, allowing three hits and two walks to go with nine strikeouts. Five different Lady Barons finished with two RBI starting with Lauver, Kenneff and Lehman who all finished with two hits. Detz and Logan rounded out the group but had just one hit apiece. Hostetter finished with two hits but one RBI thanks to a second inning single.

Central needed some late game heroics to collect the 32 win over Conestoga Valley in the May 10th regular season finale. The Lady Buckskins plated two runs in the top of the second and held that 2-0 lead until the bottom of the sixth. That is where Manheim finally strung together enough offense to pull off a comeback. Hailey Peterson started things off with a two-run single while Paige Garner finished things up with a sac fly to plate what proved to be the winning run. Hostetter allowed just two hits with both CV runs coming as unearned on the way to the win.

Baseball

The baseball team also closed out their regular season with a winning streak. Theirs was a two-game variety but the wins over ELCO and Cocalico pushed Central’s record to 14-6 overall and 123 in Section Three, earning the Barons one of the eight LL playoff berths.

The win over ELCO went down on the 5th with Central using a five-run third to blow the game open. Cayde Connelly was the beneficiary of the outburst, covering all seven innings on the way to the win. Jared Murray drove in one run during the third inning rally, adding a two-run single in the sixth to finish with three RBI. Nolan Book also pushed one run across in the third, adding another RBI in the fourth. Chase Travitz finished with one hit but did help with two RBI while Brady Harbach and Colin Neiles each added one RBI.

The Barons needed three pitchers to collect a win on May 8th. The trio of Jared Murry, Cael Martin and Cole Lawhorne teamed up for a two-hit shutout with the trio combining for 12 strikeouts, seven by game winner Murry, and six walks. Book led the way at the plate, using a third inning single to put Central up 2-0. Neiles, Travitz and Ty Clugston all added run producing singles in the fifth inning to finish the scoring.