BY JEFF FALK

ELIZABETHTOWN – The Annville-Cleona softball team experienced many positives this season. But by their high standards, not enought for the Little Dutchmen to consider it a success.

On Thursday evening at Elizabethtown Community Park, Annvile -Cleona’s season reached an empty climax with a 15-5 loss to Susquenita, in the quarterfinl round of the District Three Class AA playoffs. A two-run triple by Susquenita’s Cassy Auxt with one out in the bottom of the sixth inning ended the contest via the mercy rule.

The aggressive Hawks applied pressure to the Annville-Cleona defense and Little Dutchmen pitcher Chrisi Lerchen incessantly all night, and the A-C contingent never did figure it out.

The Little Dutchmen’s third straight postseason loss ended their year at 12-9. Annville-Cleona finished second in Section Four of the Lancaster-Lebanon League and qualified for both the league and District tournaments.

Third-seeded Susquenita improved to 18-3 overall.

“It was a success in that way, but not the way it ended,” said Annville-Cleona head coach Dave Bentz. “It’s a successful season. They’re great kids. I get on them, but I get results.

“We needed a rah-rah person, and no, we never had a leader,” Bentz continued. “No one showed up. I think it’s very important, but they (his players) might not see it that way. You need that kid to pick everyone up when they’re down.”

The highlight of the evening for the Little Dutchmen came in the top of the first inning, before Susquenita got a chance to bat.

Annville-Cleona junior catcher Haley Hirn slammed a two-run homer to left field that scored C. Lerchen, who had walked, to give her side a 2-0 edge. It would prove to be the Little Dutchmen’s only lead of the contest.

“We battled at the bat,” said Bentz. “Chrisi battled on the mound. But we can’t give up runs. We’re not a comeback team.

“I didn’t see their pitcher (Rachel Sterner) being anything dominant, and we did get some hitting,” Bentz continued. “We have to take advantage of situations. They (the Hawks) were a better seed and nobody expected us to do anything.”

Susquenita’s response to A-C’s first-inng was three runs in the bottom of the frame. The first three Hawk hitters against C.Lerchen reached base and all three scored.

A big part of the rally was an amazing five stolen bases by Susquenita.

Then in the bottom of the second, the Hawks registered two more runs to up their advantage to 5-2. The Little Dutchmen were guilty of three errors in the second.

“We didn’t make the plays,” said Bentz. “They (the Hawks) were always moving. They were going to keep running until we threw somebody out.

“It’s always tough to lose seniors,” Bentz continued. “But we have some good young kids coming up. We’ll probably feel sorry for ourselves today, but tomorrow we’ll be OK. We have a great nucleus coming back and we have a quality JV team.”

Susquenita’s lead ballooned to 9-3 before the Little Dutchmen got a little something going in the top of the fifth. Emma Lerchen walked and Crystal Miller singled, ahead of Hannah Fischer’s RBI-double and Veronica Wampler’s run-scoring grounder.

But the Hawks removed any sort of suspense in their next at-bat, scoring three runs – on Amber Turpin’s two-run triple and Cora Ziegler’s RBI-double – to expand their lead to 12-5.

“I’m disappointed we finished the season this way,” said Bentz. “I’m very disappointed with the effort. You’ve got to come to play. It was the third season for us.

“I tried to pump the girls up as much as I could,” Bentz added. “Maybe it comes down to us (the coaches). Maybe we didn’t have them (the players) prepared as well as we should have. We got the fate we deserved. It looked like we were in a fog.”

Thanks to a double play, C. Lerchen faced the minimum number of Susquenita hitters in the third inning. But in every other Susquenita at-bat, the Hawks sent at least six batters to the plate.

C. Lerchen surrendered 15 hits, walked two and struck out one.

“They have a nice team,” said Bentz of the Hawks. “But we didn’t have to look up to them. We just had a bad game.

“I base the season on districts,” continued Bentz. “People think I don’t care about the league playoffs. But I hate to lose. The worst thing we can do is get demoralized. I play for districts, but I want to win every game.”

In addition to Hirn’s two-run dinger in the first, Annville-Cleona also got two hits and an RBI from C. Lerchen and two hits from Fischer. The Little Dutchmen totaled six hits.

“Even though Susquenita had a nice record, I thought we were definitely in the driver’s seat today,” said Bentz. “Chrisi doesn’t throw hard, but with her change-up I thought we’d be OK. It didn’t work out that way.”

Great pay. Short hours. Unbelievable working conditions.

The Lebanon County chapter of the PIAA Softball Umpires Assocation wants you.

The local organization is seeking a few good men – and women – to become PIAA-certified umpires for the 2014 spring season. Umpiring is an excellent way to earn extra cash while doing something one enjoys and helping pursue extra-curricular activities.

The local chapter is willing to assist prospective umpires with their first-year dues and help them with the required certification examination. For additional information contact Bruce Kilmoyer at 222-2290 or Bob Lejcar at 832-3123.

By any name, the Lebanon County Youth Legion Baseball League is as old as dirt. But the competition within the local circuit is just good clean fun.

The Lebanon County Youth Legion Baseball League, formerly the Lebanon County Junior Legion League, recently christened its 58th season by conducting an opening-day tripleheader at Earl Wenger Memorial Field in Fredericksburg. The festivities, tabbed The Salute to Veterans Tribute, included all six of the league’s entrants, including reigning champion Bethel.

The circuit, which began play in 1949, has run uninterrupted since 1963. It is designed for local boys and girls between the ages of 13 and 16, as of May 1st.

Each of the league members will play one another three times, comprising a 15-game regular-season schedule. At the end of the regular year, the second-place through fifth-place finishing teams will square off in a double-elimination postseason.

The survivor of that double-elimination tournament will square off with the regular-season champion in a best-of-three final series to determine the overall league championship. The champion will represent the Lebanon County Youth Legion Baseball League at the South Scranton eastern regional, while the runner-up will compete at the West Lawn eatern regional.

Winners of the four eastern regionals will advance to the state finals at Homer City.

The president of the Lebanon County Youth Legion Baseball League is long-time local baseball advocate Ed Spittle of Jonestown. Managers for the 2013 season are: Dan Rentschler for Bethel; Del Voight for Fredericksburg; Chuck Fager for Jonestown; George Miller for Myerstown; Roger Hehnley for Newmanstown; and Bob Daley for Palmyra.

The Lebanon County Youth Legion Baseball League is one of three local circuits for Lebanon County baseball-playing youth in their early teens, the others being the Lebanon City-County Teener League and the Lebanon Valley Teener League. But the Youth Legion circuit is the only one which employs wooden bats and doesn’t utilize all-star squads as part of its post-season competition.

What follows is a list of the number of championships won by members of the Lebanon County Youth Legion Baseball League:

1. Jonestown (14)

1. Myerstown (14)

3. Fredericksburg (10)

4. Newmanstown (4)

4. Bethel (4)

4. Conrad Weiser (4)

7. Lebanon (3)

8. Cornwall (2)

9. Schaefferstown (1)

10. Palmyra (0)

10. Annville (0)

10. North Cornwall (0)

10. Pine Grove (0)

10. Richland (0)

10. West Lebanon (0)

10. Womelsdorf (0)

Alex Rich has only been competing in girls’ lacrosse for a few years, and already she’s committing to play the sport on the Divsion One level in college.

Sure, Rich has been blessed with a wealth of God-given talent, but somewhere in there, there’s a lesson to be learned.

Rich, a sophomore midfielder for the Cedar Crest Female Falcons, recently verbally committed to  play Division One lacrosse at Louisville. A bit unusual to commit that early in her scholastic career, Rich will have to wait till February of her senior year to officially commit to the Cardinals, in writing.

Before making her decision, Rich also considered Penn State, Colorado, USC, Rutgers, LaSalle, Stony Brook and Penn. Rich is also a member of the Cedar Crest girls’ basketball team.

“It was a natural fit for me,” Rich told www.phillylacrosse.com. “As soon as I got there, I fell in love with the school and the coaches – I knew that I didn’t want to go anywhere else. I’m very excited to become a Cardinal.”

This spring, Rich helped Cedar Crest to the best girls’ lacrosse season in school history. A flashy midfielder with explosive speed and uncanny field awareness, Rich led the Falcons to an 11-7 overall mark and to their first postseason appearance ever.

Rich, who played during the off-season for the Xtreme club team, is a two-time Lancaster-Lebanon League all-star and a member of central Pennsylvania national team.  Academically, Rich is a member of the National Honor Society and the Renaissance Committee, a fundraiser for the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation and inovlved in the Cedar Crest mini-thon, captain in training PSU Thon and student council.

Rich is considering a major in business and sports administration at Louisville.

BY JEFF FALK

ELIZABETHTOWN – In scholastic softball, not unlike modern warfare, programs first dispatch scout teams, before fully committing equipment, manpower and resources. Their assignment is to explore, collect data and report back to headquarters.

Though yesterday’s clandestine mission didn’t look like much from the outside, the Palmyra Cougars laid the groundwork for future postseason invasions.

On Tuesday evening at Elizabethtown Community Park, Palmyra dropped a 7-0 decision to Manheim Central in its first foray into the District Three Class AAA playoffs in a number of years. While the young Cougars’ performance could almost assuredly be linked to a lack of experience, it is almost as certain that they will do better the next time they qualify.

The Palmyra offense was limited to two hits by Manhiem Central starter Sara McGee, and both came in the top of the sixth inning, after the Barons has opened a seven-run lead. After notching a single run in the first and a deuce in the third, the Barons batted around, scored four times in the bottom of the fifth and broke the outcome wide open.

Manheim Central three-hole hitter Aericka High went three-for-three with four RBIs.

With the loss, Palmyra, which went 3-14 in 2012, concluded its spring 11-10 overall. Manheim Central, the fifth seed and defending District Three Class AAA champion, improved to 18-4 on the year.

“Honestly, we wanted to beat last year’s record,” said Palmyra head coach Kathy Wicker. “They (her players) did that right off the bat. The future looks bright. We definitely needed to be here. We’re getting better. It’s all about the progression.

“That’s what we said to the girls,” continued Wicker. “This (districts) is what we’re working for at the start of next year.”

Palmyra wasn’t totally over matched by the Barons. But as the game wore on, more and more it looked that way.

High’s two-out triple in the bottom of the first preceded the wild pitch that got the Barons on the board. In the third, Central’s first two batters against Palmyra sophomore starter Cat Wicker reached, and High brought them both in with a single to left.

“She was throwing hard, and most of the time she was throwing well,” said Wicker of her right-handed daughter. “We knew she (High) was the strong one in their lineup. She’s a very good hitter.

“It’s not the outcome we expected,” added Wicker. “Defensively they (her players) were on, except for a few things. But we were disappointed with the way we swung the bats.”

McGee took a no-hitter into the sixth, before Palmyra’s Hannah Phillippy singled to right with one out, and Kayla Bonawitz singled to third an out later. McGee went the distance for the win, fanned 11 and walked two.

“We were trying to stay off the ball coming up, and we didn’t,” said Wicker of her team’s approach to hitting. “And they didn’t swing at balls that didn’t rise. She (McGee) had a rise and a change-up.

“We prepared them (her players) by talking about it (the playoff atmosphere),” Wicker continued. “We have kids who play travel ball. I didn’t feel like they were nervous. But when they got into that (batter’s) box, they weren’t confident. They didn’t show it.”

A walk and a single ignited Manheim Central’s clinching rally in the fifth. High stroked another two-run single, while another Baron run came around on a Cougar error.

“The team didn’t know anything about them,” said Wicker of the Barons’ pedigree. “I didn’t tell them. I didn’t want that to get into their heads.”

Cat Wicker surrendered nine hits, struck out three and walked three.

“That’s when you’ve got to come down to the level where they’re at,” said Wicker of the difference between her competitive nature and her team’s. “In the big scheme of things, our seniors have come such a long way.

“We’ll be back next year,” added Wicker. “I mean we hope to be here next year.”

BY JEFF FALK

FREDERICKSBURG – Entering the spring, the Annville-Cleona baseball team had no idea where its journey would take it, or where it would end up.

Hypothetically, it could’ve gone much farther than it did. And theoretically, it could’ve ended much earlier than it did.

But realistically, it probably ended exactly where it should have.

On Monday night at Earl Wenger Memorial Field, the Little Dutchmen’s campaign concluded with a 6-3 loss to Tulpehocken, in the opening round of the District Three Class AA tournament. After taking a 2-0 opening-inning lead, Annville-Cleona surrendered six unanswered runs.

Ultimately, the outcome hinged on two turn of events. The first revolved around the Little Dutchmen’s inability to tack on additional runs during its first-inning rally, while the other resulted from A-C ace Tanner Fitting elevating a fastball to Trojan Derek Kissling in the bottom of the fourth.

The loss finished Annville-Cleona’s season at 12-10. Tulpehocken, which had defeated the Little Dutchmen 10-7 during the regular season, improved to 13-8 overall.

“I’m not ready for this season to be over,” said Annville-Cleona rookie head coach Scott Shyda. “It’s been a great season. I’m so proud of these players. I’m going to miss them. I feel so blessed to have coached them. I can’t speak highly enough of the character of these kids.

“I’m going to focus on all of the positives,” Shyda continued. “I’m not going to let the guys get down. There’s no reason to dwell on anything negative.”

“We should compete in districts,” said Fitting. “It’s a shame, but we really wanted to win this game. It’s just over. Yeah, we made the playoffs, but nothing came of it. We’re done. But I’m not going to say it was a negative season.”

The Little Dutchmen grabbed a two-run lead in the top of the first, on the strength of Braeden Elliott’s lead-off double and Mitch Rodkey’s home run to left-center field.

Thanks to a Daultyn Kline single and a hit-batsman, Annville-Cleona got two more runner on base in the frame. That the Little Dutchmen were unable to get them home would come back to haunt them later.

“Once we got those two runs in the first inning, we didn’t get anything else,” said Shyda. “Give them (the Trojans) credit. He (Tulpy starter Dan Louviaux) turned things around. You get those two other runs and then everything changes. They (the Trojans) did what they needed to do.

“They played well defensively,” added Shyda. “They made some difficult plays. He (Louviaux) mixes his pitches well. But we’ve seen good pitching, and I was confident we could hit. You can’t settle for that two early.”

“I pitched against them earlier,” said Fitting of his first start against Tulpy. “I was at the point where I threw a lot of balls. But I knew I was going to throw better. I was more confident. I knew it was going to be a different game. I knew it was going to be a new me.”

Fitting pitched well early, allowing one hit through his first three innings of work. But the senior southpaw ran into trouble in the fourth.

The first two Trojan hitters that he saw in the inning reached base, and both scored, to tie the game at two. Fitting retired the next two Tulpy batters, before Kissling turned around a fastball and took him over the left-field fence for a 4-2 Trojan lead.

“We have three guys who we would’ve been confident starting,” said Shyda. “But Tanner’s been our leader throughout the season. We wanted our number-one guy in there. Tanner went out there and did his best.

“I thought he did get tired,” Shyda added. “We were talking a couple hitters earlier about taking him out.”

“I don’t feel like I lost it,” said Fitting. “I just gave up a high pitch and he (Kissling) hit it out. And then I put Mitch (reliever Rodkey) in a tough spot. But when they hit that home run, it changed everything.”

The Trojans chased Fitting a frame later. He gave up a one-out walk and a double, before being replaced by Rodkey, who yielded the two-run single to Curtis Hershey that made it 6-2.

“I don’t think things went well,” said Shyda. “I believe we both (sides) played our best games. We felt confident coming in. I’m very disappointed for the kids. It’s just the way the game goes.”

“It sucks it’s over,” said Fitting. “I threw that fastball high, and I talked to him (Kissling) later and he said he wasn’t having a good year. I gave him a high fastball and he took me out.

“I felt good early,” Fitting continued. “I only had one strikeout, but they (the Trojans) were popping the ball up.”

After squandering lead-off singles from Cody Brightbill and Rodkey in the sixth inning, the Little Dutchmen plated their final run of the season in the top of the seventh. With two outs, Elliott brought home Adam Connor, who had tripled.

“We got those two runs early and I was feeling good about our start,” said Shyda. “Tanner pitched real well early. But they (the Trojans) didn’t back down.

“He (Louviaux) wasn’t flustered,” continued Shyda. “He’s a tough pitcher. He didn’t let those two runs get to him. He doesn’t walk a lot of guys, so we wanted to be aggressive with first-pitch fastball.”