Courtney Guthrie struck out three batters and allowed only five base hits in her complete game effort on Thursday, May 26. The Hempfield senior pitched a strong game against familiar foe Penn Manor in the District Three Class 6A quarterfinal-round game. But it was the combination of Penn Manor starter Julie Bowmaster and the dominant relief work of Emily Riggs that spelled the end of the Black Knights' 2022 campaign as the Comets posted a 2-0 victory on their home field.

"Courtney pitched one of the best games she has ever pitched," said Knights coach Chris Landis. "She got them to leave the bases loaded on two or three occasions. Our defense came up big in crucial times - Carley Ernst tracked down some long balls in right field."

The Comets (19-2) had a first-round bye as the second-seeded team in districts. Hempfield (12-9) the number seven seed, had doubled up Dallastown earlier in the week to reach the quarterfinals.

"It was our program's first district playoff win in six years," Landis pointed out.

The Comets had defeated the Black Knights twice in the regular season by scores of 6-1 and 11-1.

"We had our chances but didn't capitalize on them," Landis said of the season-ending loss. "To hold a tough team like that to two runs and being in it to the end was something."

Guthrie is one of the seniors who will be saying goodbye to the Hempfield softball program with a commitment to Randalph-Macon College in Virginia.

The person stepping in as the number one starting pitcher will be Ernst, who will be a junior in 2023.

"She appeared to have good velocity this year and a rising ball, which was hard to hit," said Landis. "We would attack other teams' lineups with what we called our 'two-headed monster' in Courtney and Carley."

They say to build a strong team, you have to be solid up the middle. This year, that proved true for the Knights not only with the pitching of Guthrie and Ernst and their battery mate senior catcher Olivia Cover, the lineup was also solid with senior Liz Williams at shortstop and freshman Kali Peifer stepping in for centerfield.

"Alex Gregory, another freshman, came in and filled in for us," Landis added. "She can cover a lot of ground at second base."

Guthrie, Ernst, and Landis were Section One all-stars with Williams named honorable mention.

Avery Landis, who will be a junior next year, led the team in hitting at .382 plus runs batted in (19) and slugging at .618. She had five doubles.

"We still have a lot of youth that we will see how they're going to contribute next year," Landis said. "The second pitching spot is open for next year."

BOYS' LACROSSE

Max Grube's hat trick helped Hempfield come out on top Tuesday afternoon at Downingtown East in the opening round of the PIAA Class 3A boys' lacrosse playoffs. Grube also assisted on two goals as the Black Knights ousted the Cougars on their home turf.

Zack Antesberger came through with two goals and an assist while Ryan Heuston and Carsten Rankin each netted one goal. A.J. McAlpine got into the scoring as well, recording one assist.

The relentless assault on the Hempfield goal was met with Matt Wiest recording 12 saves for the Black Knights, who improved to 15-6.

GIRLS' LACROSSE

In girls' lacrosse PIAA 6A state playoff action, the Knights came up short at Shady Side Academy on Tuesday, May 31 as the Bulldogs posted an 8-5 victory to end the Knights' 2022 campaign.

Kelsea Dague led the Knights (17-4) with four goals. Whitney Hershey added a goal while Isabelle Masengarb and Brynne Axe each dished out one assist.

Goalie Eryn Murphy finished with seven saves.

BASEBALL

The Hempfield baseball season came to a close on Thursday, May 26 at Governor Mifflin in the quarterfinals of the District Three Class 6A playoffs. The Knights (15-7) gave up three runs in the first inning and despite trimming the deficit to 3-1 in the fourth, never got much closer in the 12-2 loss.

Mifflin collected 13 hits on the night as the top-seeded Mustangs improved to 20-1 and eventually advanced to the championship game.

TRACK & FIELD

Aidan Hodge, who had two top-five finishes in the previous week's District Three 3A championships at Shippensburg University, returned to the site for the PIAA 3A state track & field championships on May 27-28.

Hodge and teammate Ryan Cristie medaled at states with the latter taking seventh in the long jump - a 21-foot, 8.75-inch effort - and Hodge finishing fifth in the 1,600-meter run. He posted a time of 4:13.15. Hodge also finished 20th (9:39.98) in the 3,200-m.