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

Photo by Preston Whitcraft
Manheim Central's Abigail Hahn (right) keeps an eye on L-S base runner Kara Barton as she fields her position at third base last Friday night.

With one out in the top of the sixth and the bases loaded against Lampeter-Strasburg last Friday night, Manheim Central coach Steve Ginder gave some thought to pinch-hitting for first-year player Brittany Griffith.

The Lady Barons’ skipper never did, and that turned out to be a good thing.

On an 0-2 pitch from L-S hurler Julie Dostal, Griffith smashed a two-run single up the middle which erased a 2-1 deficit and gave the Central girls a one-run lead.

The game was eventually halted in the top of the seventh due to lightning, and when play never resumed, the Lady Barons put a Section Three-clinching 3-2 win in the books at Willow Street’s Garrett Park. That win, coupled with their 4-1 victory over Garden Spot on Monday, completed a perfect league season for the Central girls (16-0 L-L, 17-3 overall), two games in front of second-place Donegal.

For Manheim Central, it gave them back-to-back Section championships and three in the last four years.

Warwick’s fate for the Lancaster-Lebanon League playoffs will be decided today (Thursday).

Currently, the Lady Warriors just two points behind Elizabethtown for the second and final L-L berth in Section Two. But if Warwick (8-5-1, 25 points) defeats Ephrata (3-11) and the Bears (9-5-0 L-L, 27 points) lose to Section champion Conestoga Valley (14-0 L-L), then the Warwick girls will leapfrog Elizabethtown to get into the L-L League dance.

"Hopefully, that gets us through," Warwick coach Mike Logan said.

On Tuesday night in Lititz, the Warwick girls took care of their business by defeating Lampeter-Strasburg (5-9-0 L-L) on a goal in the 74th minute by Hannah Bomberger, assisted by Brittany Hasson, leading them to a 1-0 win in Lititz.

Despite outshooting the Pioneers 8-3 and holding a 6-0 advantage in corner kicks, the Lady Warriors (8-8-1 overall) weren’t in top form in the opening half, as they went into the break knotted in a scoreless tie.

"The first half was very rough," Logan said. "We were playing erratic, we were playing longer than we should have and lacking possession. Then after a good talking at halftime about adjustments, they played very well in the second half."

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

Photo courtesy of Dickinson College
In her first time racing the 10,000-meter run, 2005 Warwick grad Darcy McDonald crossed the finish line in 34:29 to capture top honors at the Penn Relays last Thursday in a race combining Olympic Development and college women runners.

Darcy McDonald isn’t exactly someone you would call a night owl.

By 10:15 p.m., she is usually falling asleep.

Last Thursday night was a different story.

As most people were settling in for the late-night news, the 2005 Warwick High School grad was stepping to the starting line at historic Franklin Field for the 10,000-meter run at the Penn Relays.

"I had coffee with my dinner and I was good to go," McDonald quipped.

Twenty-five laps later, McDonald had her arms raised in victory with her time of 34:29.45 in a race combining Olympic Development and college women runners.

"It’s definitely the biggest race I’ve ever won," she said.

Lititz Record file photo
Warwick sophomore Tony Deimler defeated McCaskey's Dalton Lynch to place seventh in the L-L League's Flight One Triple-A singles tournament.

Manheim Central’s Colin Wolgemuth and Warwick’s Tony Deimler took sixth and seventh, respectively, in Flight One Triple-A singles on Monday to lead local tennis teams at the Lancaster-Lebanon League Tournament.

Both players lost in the quarter-finals, but rebounded in the playbacks to earn top-eight finishes.

Following a first-round three-set win over Cocalico’s Drew Weinhold (6-2, 5-7, 6-3), 6th-seeded Wolgemuth fell to Cedar Crest’s 3rd-seeded Weston Fortna (6-0, 6-1), the eventual silver-medalist. The Central sophomore got past Deimler in his next match, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, in his next match, but then lost to Hempfield’s Derek Hagino (6-3, 6-4) in the fifth-place match.

Deimler, the 7th seed, survived a second-set tiebreaker to knock off Cedar Crest’s Ryan Zinn, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) in his opener, but then came up on the short end of a 6-4, 7-5 score vs. 2nd-seeded Andrew Clark, of Hempfield.

After losing to Wolgemuth, the Warwick sophomore finished up by outlasting McCaskey’s Dalton Lynch 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 in the seventh-place match.

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

Lititz Record file photo
Senior Megan Eyer, shown here laying down a bunt, had a key base hit in Warwick's five-run rally in the top of the seventh inning against Cedar Crest on Monday.

Discouragement turned to relief for the Warwick girls softball team on Monday.

After being shut down for six innings by Cedar Crest pitcher Kayla Seyfert, the Lady Warriors found some life in their final at-bats.

With RBI base hits by Victoria Byler, Cassidy Godber and Alex Condie, Warwick erased a 4-0 deficit and defeated Cedar Crest 5-4 in Cornwall, bringing them within one win of their eighth straight Section One crown.

Their 11-2 L-L record (12-4 overall) is three games better than second-place Hempfield (8-5 L-L) with just three games left in the regular season.

"Winning today was huge," Warwick coach Don Miller said, "because if we had lost, we would’ve had three losses and then it puts more pressure on us the rest of the way. But we’re at a point now where if we win one more game, we clinch it."

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

Photo by Preston Whitcraft
Manheim Central second baseman Erika Campbell (center) takes a strike from Rachel Clippinger as she covers the first base bag on a bunt play by Donegal's Hayley Bollinger on Monday night.

With Erika Campbell making better contact at the plate lately, the Manheim Central senior was moved into the fifth spot Monday night in the Lady Barons’ lineup.

And she didn’t disappoint.

Campbell’s RBI triple in the bottom of the second inning got her team on the scoreboard and the Section Three-leading Manheim Central girls went on to defeat second-place Donegal 5-3 in a key showdown under the lights in Manheim.

The victory improved MC’s unbeaten league record to 12-0 (13-3 overall), putting them one and a half games in front of the Indians with four games left in the regular season.

"(I feel) a whole lot better (Tuesday) morning than yesterday," Central coach Steve Ginder said. "We still have some tough games to go. L-S will give us a battle, Norlebco usually does, so we’ll see what happens."

The Warwick girls track and field team overcame the elements.

And they overcame a couple of earlier close calls.

On Monday, the Lady Warriors earned their first win of the season, using a dominant advantage in the field events to defeat McCaskey 91-55 in a Section One meet in Lititz.

"Despite the not so spring-like weather, the girls finally pulled out a win," Warwick coach Katie Vann said. "They have come so close on a couple of meets and everything finally clicked today. It was a great all-around effort by the girls team."

The Warwick boys team also had a number of great efforts, but came up a little short against the Tornado, losing 97-54.

"The boys had a tougher time, but we still had some great performances," Vann said. "Ben Mueller, Colin Garner, AJ Sanderson, Keondre Martzall, Landon Hess, Mike Urban and Chris Sandkuhler were our first-place earners … McCaskey had strong sprinters and hurdlers which created tough competition."

Senior Bailey Groves and junior Hannah Grove proved tough to beat in the field events for the Warwick girls. Groves was a triple individual winner in the shot put (35-11 3/4), discus (95-1) and javelin (83-10), while Grove took the long jump (14-4 1/2) and triple jump (31-9) and added a silver in the high jump (4-8), as Warwick held a 50-9 edge in the field.

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

Amy Sensenich
and Reid Martin

Give Warwick right fielder Cassidy Godber and catcher Jenny George credit for doing all they could.

Conestoga Valley’s Kelly Martin just improvised and got rewarded for it.

When teammate Nicole Allen flew out to Godber in right in a scoreless tie in the bottom of the seventh, Martin tug up from third, and although the throw beat her, she was able to jump over George’s glove and touch the plate.

It turned out to be the deciding run in a 1-0 win by the Lady Bucks, as they sent Warwick to its first league loss of the season in a Section One-Two crossover in Witmer on Tuesday.

"I think (Jenny) was expecting a slide and (Martin) jumped and got over her glove and landed on the plate and that was the game," Warwick coach Don Miller said. "It was a shame because it was a great play by Cass and Jenny did a nice job getting the ball."

While Warwick fell to 9-1 in Section One (10-3 overall),

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

Magisterial district judge candidate Ed Tobin speaks to a crowd of supporters during his March 29 campaign kick-off.

The Manheim Central boys tennis team knew that it was losing two quality players from last year in Drew Wolgemuth and Jerred Hall.

They also knew that they had returning players who were ready to step up.

And they didn’t disappoint.

While losing just four courts in nine league matches this spring, the Barons stampeded their way to their second straight Section Two championship, capping things off with a 7-0 whitewashing of Pequea Valley last Thursday in Manheim.

The win improved their final Section record to 9-0 (14-0 overall).

"Anytime you can go back-to-back winning the Section is awesome," Ryan Jeckel said. "That gives you the chance to get to post-season play, so it’s always good."

The Barons’ post-season began on Monday, when they hosted Section One runner-up Cedar Crest in the L-L League Team Tournament semi-finals. Unfortunately for MC, they came up a little short in that match, dropping a 4-1 decision to the Falcons.

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

Lititz Record file photo
Dale Stoltzfus had a thumbs up coaching career with the Warwick boys soccer team, leading the team to the 2005 PIAA State Triple-A championship and 176 wins in 13 years at the helm.

In 36 combined seasons coaching boys and girls soccer, Dale Stoltzfus has proven himself to be a winner.

His 477 wins and .660 winning percentage in 723 total games, along with State championships with the Warwick boys and Lancaster Mennonite girls, are proof of that.

Under his watch just at Warwick, the Warriors captured the 2005 PIAA State Triple-A championship, one District crown, one Lancaster-Lebanon League championship and two Section One titles.

One of the things that Warwick Athletic Director John Kosydar always appreciated about Stoltzfus was his focus on winning with integrity.

"(Dale) wanted the kids to have success, but he wanted them to have success in the right way," Kosydar said. "We were pretty respected in the League for the way we played."