SPORTS
6 - ADVERTISER - Lampeter-Strasburg Edition - June 30, 2021
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L-S Comes From Behind to Win Second PIAA Title BY MONA STEINHAUER
The Lady Pioneers earned their 29th straight victory Friday, June 18 with a 10-7 comefrom-behind win over Armstrong at Penn State’s Beard Field; and with it came a second PIAA Class 5A championship. But it wasn’t easy. “There were 23 total hits and 17 runs scored in a championship game,” head coach Gene Charles said. “That tells the story. It was a heck of a game.” The young River Hawks, with just one senior in the starting lineup, and making their debut Lampeter-Strasburg girls’ softball team defeated Armstrong 10-7 on Friday, June 18 to claim their performance in the finals, were not intimidated by the mighty second PIAA 5A championship at Penn State’s Beard Field in State College. Pioneers (30-1). They pushed across four runs in the second inning on one error, one walk and a pair of hits. The Pioneers have not had to come from behind often. The battled back against Elizabethtown in the first meeting, were down two to Hempfield going into the seventh inning and were down 5-3 against Penn Manor before Chloe Blantz crushed a grand slam. “It was stressful,” said senior shortstop Blantz of falling behind early. “But we knew we could score too. And Keiva (Middleton) is amazing. I knew she’d keep us in the game.” “We had to work at coming back and remain positive and keep each other pumped up,” added Daisy Frank, a senior second baseman. Blantz and Frank,
photo by Mona Steinhauer
In Friday’s Class 5A Championship final, Lampeter’s Chloe Blantz is late with the tag against Armstrong’s Emma Paul.
hits, L-S got production up and down the lineup. “Our motto this year was ‘It Takes a team,’” said assistant coach Lisa Boone. “And today that was clearly evident as every single player contributed. We don’t have just one all-star, we have a true team. And I don’t think anyone really expected us to get this far,” she continued. “We lost a lot of key players and then didn’t get to play last year. We just went about business as usual.” And that started with overcoming that four-run deficit. In the bottom of the second, L-S took advantage of a pair of errors, putting Zuber and Raub on first and second. Freshman Julia Gerard moved them up on a groundout and Blantz crushed a two-run double to the center field fence. “At one point, I wasn’t sure we’d stop them,” said Charles. “But then Chloe gets the hit that cuts their lead in half.” One inning later, Keiva Middleton, who finished with eight photo by Mona Steinhauer strikeouts, two walks and scatThe Pioneers wait for Keiva Middleton to cross the plate to celebrate her third inning home run tered 10 hits, helped her cause against Armstrong on Friday, June 18. at the plate, sending a solo shot over the left field fence. Senior third baseman Emily Platt and Zuber then reached with back-to-back base hits. Engle Printing & Publishing Co., Inc. Engle Printing & Publishing Co., Inc.’s 14th Platt scored on Raub’s single Annual Golf Outing was held on June 11. 14th Annual up the middle and Gerard’s sac We would like to extend our thanks to all the fly put L-S in front 5-4. generous sponsors and golfers who helped That lead, however, was raise more than $20,000. This brings us to short-lived as the hard-hitting presented ed by more than $196,000 raised over the years. River Hawks answered with a View pictures of the event at single, a stolen base, a sac-fly epcgolfouting.com. photo by Mona Steinhauer RBI, and a home run to go back Cam Byler takes the putout throw at first base in the PIAA Cham- in front, 6-5, setting the stage community in ending and preventing homelessness. For more information visit goodsamservices.org. for Lampeter’s clutch five-run pionship win over Aramstrong on Friday, June 18. fifth. Armstrong (18-6) got one Thank you back in the sixth and Middlesponsors! Charles Family Farm ton yielded a lead-off walk in the seventh before working an infield pop to Byler, striking out the nine hitter, and ending USDA ted with a fly-ball out to Zuber in Douple Agency, Inc. | Wharton Hill Advisors | Highmark | Giant | Transfers of Learning | aideM Media Solutions Inspec Gordon Recycling Services | Lancaster Nissan | Broderick’s Landscape Contracting LLC | Trout CPA | M&T Bank left field. Aged, Black Angus, Healthy, ! " # $ % “Kevia is unflappable,” said Heck Construction Company, Inc. | Phoenix Packaging | MPS Printing Supplies No Antibiotics or Growth Hormones Charles. “She wasn’t getting the Esbenshade Mills | AccuBond | B.R. Kreider | Penn Waste | Clair Dale Treese, DDS corners all game, but she settled lancasterfreezerbeef.com in over the last three innings and Engle Printing & Publishing Co. Inc. publisher of the Merchandiser, Pennysaver, Advertiser, Community Courier, townlively.com, got the job done.” along with senior first baseman Cam Byler started as freshmen when the Pioneers won their first state title in 2018 by beating West Allegheny. L-S fell to Yough in 2016 and to Penn-Trafford in 2019. And speaking of seniors, it was Sydney Weichler, batting in the nine hole, that delivered a clutch two-run double in the fifth inning to put L-S in front for good. “That was the big hit of the game,” said Charles. “It was the turning point. It was a spark, and it gave us the lead for good.” Weichler sent Brooke Zuber (single) and Ally Raub (double) home, giving L-S a 7-6 lead. Frank followed with a two-out RBI single up the middle and Byler added the crushing blow, a two-run homer, giving the home team its biggest lead of the day, 10-6. In a game that featured 13
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