By: BRUCE MORGAN Record Express Sports Editor bmorgan.eph@lnpnews.com, Staff Writer

Photo by Dennis Bicksler
Warwick junior Hannah Bomberger cuts through an opening between two Conestoga Valley defenders as teammate Kate Mobley looks on during last Saturday's L-L League championship game.

One more win would have given the Warwick girls the trifecta.

With wins over two Section champions in their first two Lancaster-Lebanon League playoff games, Section Two king Conestoga Valley was the last obstacle standing between Warwick and its second-ever League crown.

Unfortunately for the Section Two runner-up Lady Warriors, it wasn’t meant to be.

The Buckskins scored a pair of second-half goals, including one on a penalty kick by Samara Yurchak with 25:06 remaining, and defeated Warwick 2-0 in the L-L League finals at Manheim Central’s Elden Rettew Field on Saturday.

The loss left them just one win short of duplicating what the Warriors boys’ soccer team achieved in the fall, when they captured the L-L crown.

It marked not only the end of coach Mike Logan’s career, but also of Warwick’s eight seniors who helped the Lady Warriors clinch an L-L playoff berth on the final day of the regular season. With a final overall record of 11-9-1, however, Warwick fell short of the District Three Triple-A playoffs.

By: BRUCE MORGAN Record Express Sports Editor bmorgan.eph@lnpnews.com, Staff Writer

During a timeout late in game four on Monday night, Manheim Central boys volleyball coach Craig Dietrich talked to his players about making a big play to punctuate their victory.

They got it on a convincing block by junior star Josiah Hershberger, sealing a 25-21 win by the Section Two runner-up Barons to pull them even with Manheim Township in games, 2-2, in a Lancaster-Lebanon League quarterfinal playoff match.

"We really wanted to end the game on some type of defensive play or big bang play just to kinda get (Township) thinking and I said, ‘Let’s go out and get them,’ and Josiah got them and I thought that would maybe propel us a little bit in the fifth game," Dietrich said.

The Section One third-place Blue Streaks, though, stymied some of that momentum by taking an early lead in the decisive fifth game. They twice led by as many as three points – the second of those at 12-9 – and Central rallied to tie it 12-all. But Township scored the final three points, and Shawn Hines’ block nailed down a 15-12 Blue Streaks’ decision, clinching their 3-2 victory.

By: BRUCE MORGAN Record Express Sports Editor bmorgan.eph@lnpnews.com, Staff Writer

Take away a 54-second span in the opening quarter and it might have been a different story for the Warwick boys lacrosse team on Tuesday night in a District Three Triple-A first-round playoff game.

But to the credit of top-seeded Hershey, they capitalized on that fast start to force the Warriors to play for the rest of the game.

And even without injured Division-One Loyola College recruit Joe Baker (collarbone), the Trojans (19-1) had enough firepower to knock off Warwick 10-7 on their home turf.

While Hershey advanced to face Manheim Township (a 6-4 winner over Penn Manor) in the District quarterfinals on Thursday, Warwick ended its season with a 10-8 record.

"We played well — we just got into that 3-0 hole in the beginning of the first quarter and we were just fighting and fighting to try to get back into it," Warwick coach Chris Schmehl said. "We just couldn’t get all the way back to even. But I was pleased with the way our guys fought back at the end scoring the last three."

By: BRUCE MORGAN Record Express Sports Editor bmorgan.eph@lnpnews.com, Staff Writer

Photo by Stan Hall
Manheim Central's Brittani Griffith rounds third base as coach Steve Ginder waves her home on a first-inning three-run homer last Saturday in the L-L quarterfinals.

The Manheim Central softball team nearly ended their Lancaster-Lebanon League title drought last year.

On Wednesday (last night), they got another chance.

The Lady Barons advanced to the L-L championship game for the second year in a row by shutting out Annville-Cleona 2-0 in a semi-final game Tuesday night at Garrett Park in Willow Street.

As of deadline, they were slated to take on the winner of the Warwick-Conestoga Valley semi-final game at 7 p.m. on Thursday back at Garrett Park, looking for their first League crown since 1989 and their fourth-ever in program history.

"We talked about that at practice. We kinda told them about what was happening in 1989," joked Manheim Central boss Steve Ginder, whose squad suffered a 2-1 loss to Donegal in last year’s L-L finals. "We told them assistant coach Michele Achey was six years old, coach Balmer bought his jean shorts back then and they were actually in style and I said (assistant) Tim Proffitt had hair at the time … I think (winning the L-L) is important. They can focus on what’s down the road, but certainly we’d like to add that to one of our accomplishments."

By: BRUCE MORGAN Record Express Sports Editor bmorgan.eph@lnpnews.com BRUCE MORGAN Record Express Sports Editor bmorgan.eph@lnpnews.com, Staff Writer

Photo by Denise Mitchell
Manheim Central junior Cole Proffitt releases his gold-medal winning throw of 200 feet, 7 inches in the L-L javelin competition last Friday. His performance also shattered the Barons' school record of 197-8, previously set by Jack Iosue in 2008.

Warwick’s Ben Mueller and Solanco’s John Ausel were both exhausted as they came down the home stretch in the boys 3,200-meter run at the Lancaster-Lebanon League Championships last Friday.

That, Mueller said, was the reason that the two runners made contact.

"I don’t think he was trying to cut me off or anything, nothing like that," the WHS senior said. "We were both just giving it our all."

The officials, though, deemed that Ausel’s illegal contact with Mueller was worthy of disqualification, and although the Solanco runner crossed the finish line first, the gold medal was awarded to Mueller, who completed the race in 9:40.33. All others in the field also moved up one spot.

By: BRUCE MORGAN Record Express Sports Editor bmorgan.eph@lnpnews.com, Staff Writer

Half of the bracket for the L-L League’s softball final has been finalized.

Manheim Central took care of that by defeating Annville-Cleona 2-0 in a semi-final playoff game on Tuesday evening.

In the nightcap at Willow Street’s Garrett Park, Section One champ Warwick was hoping to punch its ticket to face the Lady Barons for all the L-L marbles. But their semi-final tilt against Section Two champ Conestoga Valley was suspended in the bottom of the second inning with the score tied 0-0 due to inclement weather.

As of deadline, the game was slated to be resumed on Wednesday (last night) starting at 6 p.m. The finals have now been pushed to Thursday at 7 p.m. back at Garrett Park.

Starting pitchers Tessa Eckman of Warwick and Courtney Allen of CV had each allowed just one base hit in the scoreless tie.

Eckman was also sharp last Saturday while helping the Lady Warriors (16-4) prevail over defending L-L champion Donegal in a 7-0 whitewashing in the League playoff quarter-finals at Garrett Park.

By: BRUCE MORGAN Record Express Sports Editor bmorgan.eph@lnpnews.com, Staff Writer

Photo by Stan Hall
Warwick forward Hannah Bomberger (28) collides with Cocalico keeper Kristen Boyer during a first-half scoring opportunity on Monday as teammate Brittany Hasson (11) trails on the play.

Brittany Hasson didn’t get credit for it, but the Warwick senior was certain that her shot off the inside of the post in the first half found its way over the goal line.

"It was actually in, and I was mad, so I wanted to get another one," Hasson said.

With the Lady Warriors still locked in a scoreless tie with Cocalico in the second half of an L-L League playoff quarterfinal game, Hasson did indeed bury one that counted. Senior Tori Kramer also added a second-half tally and the Section Two runner-up Lady Warriors knocked off Section Three champ Cocalico 2-0 at Comet Field in Millersville.

"We asked them (at halftime) to make two adjustments," Warwick coach Mike Logan said. "We asked them to hold the midfield a little bit better and they did a really good job of that. And we said, ‘You’re really creating in the final third, but we haven’t taken an outside shot,’ and both goals were scored on outside shots. Two major adjustments turned the game around in the second half."

By: BRUCE MORGAN Record Express Sports Editor bmorgan.eph@lnpnews.com, Staff Writer

Photo by Cathy Chapis
Warwick third baseman Karlie Watson (left) high fives shortstop Madi Derr (right) following a nice defensive play in the Lady Warriors' 4-3 extra inning win over Hempfield on Monday night.

Karlie Watson wasn’t going to swing unless she saw a perfect pitch.

So when a first-pitch fastball from Hempfield’s Rachel Herman came right down the middle of the plate in the bottom of the 10th inning on Monday night, the Warwick junior couldn’t resist.

She was rewarded with her third hit of the night, a sharp single to left field which drove in Cassidy Godber with the game-winning run, lifting the Lady Warriors to a thrilling 4-3 win over Section One rival Hempfield in Lititz. The victory improved Warwick to a perfect 8-0 on their home field this season.

"It was a perfect spot," Watson said of the pitch location. "The first time (facing Herman), I didn’t do good, so I just waited for her and just drove it."

Manheim Central dealt Garden Spot a blow on Monday in the Spartans’ hopes for the second and final L-L League playoff berth in Section Three.

The Barons also might have kept their hopes alive in their hopes for a District Three Triple-A playoff berth after ending the regular season with a 10-10 overall record (8-8 L-L). The top 20 teams advance, and in the latest power rankings, Central was 27th.

The Spartans (10-6 L-L) entered play on Monday tied with Northern Lebanon for second place, but Andrew Bucher went 2-for-4 and Ben Bomberger added a double and two RBI’s, as the Barons snapped a four-game skid.

GS took a 2-0 first inning lead on John Armbrust’s two-run double, but that’s all they mustered off of Barons’ pitcher Caleb Walton, who allowed just five hits while striking out five and walking three.

The Barons, meanwhile, got one back in the top of the second off of Spartans’ pitcher Armbrust and then took the lead for good with a three-run rally in the fourth inning.

Last Friday, Manheim Central found itself in a 6-0 hole through two and a half innings and never recovered, dropping a 7-4 loss to Lampeter-Strasburg in a Section Three battle in Manheim.

By: BRUCE MORGAN Record Express Sports Editor bmorgan.eph@lnpnews.com, Staff Writer

Photo by Cathy Chapis
Warwick senior attacker J.A. Howland looks to create a scoring opportunity in the Warriors' win over Lancaster Catholic/ Lancaster Country Day last week.

Even with three straight wins in league play to finish the season, capped by its 7-0 shutout of Lancaster Catholic/Lancaster Country Day on Senior Night last Wednesday, May 2, the Warwick boys lacrosse team fell just one game short of clinching a berth in the L-L League playoffs.

But it did help propel them to a spot in the District Three Triple-A Tournament, which gets underway next Tuesday, May 15.

Only the top 16 teams advance, and through Sunday, the Warriors (8-4 L-L, 10-7 overall) were 16th in the latest District power rankings. As of deadline, Warwick’s opponent was still to be determined, but the Warriors will be hoping to build on the momentum they gained by winning three of its final four overall games.

"We have a young offense with only two seniors that saw significant time," Warwick coach Chris Schmehl remarked, "so we’ve kinda been working through some things. The underclassmen have been stepping up a little bit at the end of the year and we’ve been getting a good contribution from a lot of different guys."