Pequea Valley softball coach Doug High is one of the believers in the potential and promise of the 2021 team.

"They are as good as I've ever had," he commented. "They are starting to see how good they can be."

Part of what has the players, fans and anyone following this team take notice is the fact that the Braves have earned a spot in the PIAA Class-AAA playoffs.

The Braves were able to reach this stage of the post-season by beating seventh-seeded Kutztown in Tuesday's District Three Class 3A semifinal game at Pequea Valley. Olivia Ammon tossed a shutout as she struck out 11 batters and walked only one.

"We played sound softball, good defense and scored a couple of runs," High remarked. "Kutztown is a good program. I know they are a well-coached and successful program.

"They knocked off the number two seed to get here," High added, referring to Kutztown's 6-3 defeat of Littlestown on May 27.

The Braves scored both of their runs in the bottom of the sixth. Senior Abby Tobelmann reached on a bunt single. One out later and with Tobelmann on second with a stolen base, Haily Yothers doubled to break the scoreless deadlock. Ammon then helped herself with another RBI double.

The game was actually switched to 1:30 in the afternoon on June 1 to allow for Pequea Valley's graduation ceremonies - yes, including the senior pitcher.

The victory came five days following the Braves' opening-round 10-1 victory over Annville-Cleona at Kinzers.

The Dutchmen, who entered the district playoffs as the sixth seed, gave up a pair of runs in the first inning and seven runs in the third. The outcome was reminiscent of an April 7 regular season game at Pequea where the Braves scored three in the first, two more in the third and plated seven runs in the fourth inning of a 12-1 victory. The Braves had also blanked the Dutchmen 4-0 on May 10.

Asked if it gave the team a sense of comfort to draw a familiar foe in the Braves' first district playoff game, High replied, "Others might have said that it's difficult to beat the same team three times in the same season.

"I was comfortable because of the two games we had played them," High added. "We proved we could score off all of their pitchers."

The Braves took advantage of their chances early on in this playoff game.

"We had two walks that ended up coming around to score," High explained. "We scored two runs without a hit."

Stolen bases, including a steal of home, a wild pitch, and an errant throw from the catcher back to the pitcher helped plate Pequea's pair of runs.

On the day Tobelmann had two runs batted in as did Emily Ammon. Olivia Ammon had a two-out single with runners on second and third, driving in two more runs. The Braves scored 10 runs on 10 hits.

It was another stellar performance for Olivia Ammon, who struck out 11 and walked only three.

TENNIS

On a Friday morning match at the Hershey Racquet Club, Pequea Valley's Brady Burns came up short against Nicholas Scheller, the District Seven Champ out of North Catholic. In the opening round of the PIAA Class 2A state playoffs, Scheller won 6-0, 6-1.

Scheller did go on to reach the Saturday afternoon championship match at Hershey. He was turned away by another Lancaster-Lebanon League star - Nile Abadir of Lancaster Country Day. The L-L League singles champ bounced back from a 7-6 (2) loss to beat Scheller 6-2, 6-4 for the state gold.