You win some, you lose some is a very popular phrase but not one you want to hear if you are part of a sports team. Unfortunately for the boys' volleyball team, it describes their season as the Bears sit at 6-6 overall with the season's finish line in sight.

Elizabethtown's most recent losses were both by 3-0 finals, the first on April 20th when Manheim Central came to town. The Bears were able to hang around in a 25-21 game one loss as well as a 25-22 game three loss, but the Barons cruised to a 25-13 game two win to complete the sweep. Austin Thomas and Josh McCoy both finished with eight kills with McCoy adding three blocks and one ace. Eli Miller added 26 assists and Prabin Bhattarai nine digs.

Up next was a trip to York County which ended in a 3-0 loss to Central York. This time E-town was only able to keep one game close, a 25-23 game two loss. The Panthers claimed games one and three by the same 25-12 final, sealing the loss for Elizabethtown. Miller finished with 15 assists and two aces while Bhattarai added 10 digs. Seth Rajnic collected five kills.

The Bears finally got back to winning on the 25th, topping Lancaster Mennonite 3-1. The two sides opened with a slug fest that went to E-town, 27-25. The Bears used that momentum to collect a 25-20 game two win. The Blazers forced a fourth game, winning game three 25-16 only to see E-town close out the match with a 25-15 final set. Miler tallied 26 assists and McCoy 13 kills while Rajnic had six digs and Cooper Torborg four blocks.

BOYS' LACROSSE

A pair of matching 17-3 losses has the boys' lacrosse team staring at a winless 2023 campaign. The first of those losses was to Garden Spot on the 19th while the second was to Lampeter-Strasburg on the 25th. Dylan Ginder tallied three of the six goals with Carter Ketchum, Ethan Ginder and Carson NyeSmith cleaning up the remaining three. AJ Bush finished with five saves in the Spot loss while Josiah Erb stepped in goal for the Lampeter-Strasburg game and finished with six saves.

BASEBALL

What is the best way to follow a three-game slide?? With a three-game winning streak of course. The baseball team did just that with wins over Ephrata, Penn Manor and Lebanon pushing their overall record to 9-5

The Bears needed a seventh inning rally to slip by Ephrata, 4-3, on the 21st. Braden Cummings and Pike Burkett capped that rally, Cummings with a one run triple and Burkett with the game winning single. Josh Rudy and Noah Locke also enjoyed a RBI in the win. Burkett's game winning hit secured the victory for himself with the junior tossing two scoreless innings in relief of Kayden Kimble. Kimble allowed three runs on four hits to go along with eight strikeouts.

The Bears were back in action one day later, topping Penn Manor by a 9-2 final. Evan Hassinger picked up the complete game victory and helped his own cause with a three-hit, three-RBI day at the plate. Hassinger allowed just two hits and two runs to go with eight strikeouts and four walks. Isaiah Shayter and Rudy added two hits and two RBI while Luis Perez finished with two hits and one RBI.

Elizabethtown hosted Lebanon on the 24th and came away with a 5-2 win. Shayter got the start and the win for six innings of work that included eight strikeouts and three walks but just one Cedar run. Cummings surrendered the other Cedar run during his one inning in relief. A quintet of Bears accounted for the offense with Shayter, Rudy, Kimble, Nathan Yohn and Cade Capello all finishing with one RBI.

SOFTBALL

The Lady Bears softball team missed their chance to overtake Solanco atop the Section Two standings, falling by a 13-5 final on the 19th. Breonna Edgell absorbed the loss with the senior on the hook for all 13 Solanco runs. Chloe Wilkinson and Keira Davis paced the offense with one hit and two RBI apiece. Astyn Calaman added a sac fly in the second to finish the Lady Bear scoring.

Elizabethtown bounced back on the 21st, slipping by Ephrata 2-1. The Bears plated both of their runs in the sixth, one from Calaman's triple and the other from Sophia Finch's single. Edgell allowed a lone second inning run, picking up two strikeouts on her way to the win.

E-town ventured out of Section Two and into Section One for their April 22nd tilt with Penn Manor with the Lady Comets cruising to a 13-2 win. Edgell got the start and took the loss with Cassidy Leitzel taking over in the fourth inning. The pair combined for two strikeouts and four walks. Ava Fair's first inning blast kept E-town knotted with Penn Manor at 1-1 but by the time Finch connected for her solo shot in the fourth, the Lady Bears were trailing 9-2 after Finch touched home.

Elizabethtown used a trip to Lebanon on the 24th to course correct, topping the Lady Cedar 17-1 in five innings. Leitzel earned the win, striking out four and walking three. Fair connected on two more long balls in her four-hit game, totaling four RBI along the way while Calaman matched the four RBI and two home runs in her three-hit game. Kaelin Griffin and Julie Zook added two RBI apiece to round out the leaders at the plate.

GIRLS' LACROSSE

The girl's lacrosse team pushed their season win total to nine with a 24-5 dismantling of Garden Spot on the 19th. Dani Bruno netted eight goals while dishing out four assists. Moira Shott finished with five goals and three assists with Joy NgaFua the final hat trick collector. Aiesha Rios, Josie Spayd and Callie Love-Morris all finished with two goals while Piper Patrick and Charley Lengel-Kramer each scored once. Sydney Pope needed just three saves to secure the win.

E-town hosted Red Land on the 21st and suffered an 18-8 loss. Pope finished with eight saves while Bruno, Patrick and Love-Morris netted two scores each to pace the offense. Shott and Spayd tacked on one goal each.

On the 25th the Bears suffered their second straight loss, this one an 11-7 final to Lampeter-Strasburg. Despite the setback, Bruno, just a sophomore, netted three goals, giving her 100 for her career and leading head coach Cheyenne Benson to say, "Extremely proud of Dani and all of the hard work she's put in to reach this. An awesome milestone to celebrate on top of the success we've seen as a team so far this season!"

Love-Morris, Shott and Spayd dived up the remaining four goals with Love-Morris accounting for two. Pope finished with eight saves.

TRACK

The final dual meet of April was a good one for Elizabethtown with the boys topping Cocalico 87-63 while the Lady Bears rolled to a 93.33-56.67 victory.

The girl's used wins in all three relay races for a quick 15 team points with Genna McDonald (100m, 200m) and Jordan DiRisio (800m, 1600m) adding two wins of their own. Ali Fink closed out the wins on the track by taking the 3200m.

Felicia Morris was the star in the field taking both the long and triple jumps. Anna Rank added a pole vault win while Noreen Lehman (javelin) and Sara Mathias (shot put) picked up the final wins.

Wins were harder to come by for the boys with only Caleb Kreider picking up two for his work in the long and triple jumps. Owen Mowrer (pole vault) and Brendan Rilatt (shot put) picked up the remaining two field wins.

Cocalico controlled the sprints, but Elizabethtown took over starting with Juan Lopez's win in the 400m. Jackson Key added an 800m win, Bradley Kreider was first in the 1600n and Jaycen Conrad captured the 3200m. Add in the Bear's 3200m relay victory and you get a 24-point win.