The Donegal baseball team advanced to the PIAA Class 5A state quarterfinals by defeating District 11 champion Southern Lehigh in an 11-7 slugfest on Monday, June 6. The game was played at DeSales University.

The victory demonstrated the character of the Donegal squad as it entered the PIAA's representing District Three as the number four seed. The Indians, who improved to 17-8 with Monday's victory, had lost the third-place consolation game in districts back on Thursday, June 2 to Susquehannock on the road. The Warriors (19-5) defeated Donegal 8-1 in that district consolation contest.

Donegal got on the scoreboard early against Southern Lehigh, plating three runs in the top of the first inning. The Indians made it 5-0 before the Spartans responded with two in the home half of the second inning, cutting the deficit to 5-2.

Two more three-run innings gave Donegal an 11-2 lead. The Spartans' five-run rally in the bottom of the seventh inning chased starter Jonathan Holmes. The junior hurler's final pitching line read 6 1/3 innings pitched and only two earned runs allowed on five hits while striking out four and giving up three walks.

What was also impressive about the numbers Holmes put up on the box score was the offensive stats. He went 3-for-4 with a solo home run and a double.

Andrew Small came on to get the final two outs. Offensively, he doubled and drove in a run. He also stole a base as did sophomores Landon Sexton and Brock Hammaker.

Sexton's big contribution on offense was a bases-clearing triple. He finished 2-for-4 with five runs batted in.

The key to the Indians' success this year has been the consistency in the lineup. They have, in every one of their wins, had solid contributions from the top of the batting order to the number nine hole, turning the lineup over and producing more runs.

On Monday, Colin Eckinger's 3-for-4 day with two runs scored sparked the top of the order. Freshman catcher Coy Allman went 1-for-5 with an RBI out of the number nine spot. Hammaker reached on a walk and came around to score as the number eight batter in the lineup - behind Sexton.

In the Susquehannock game, Allman drove in the lone Donegal run, going 2-for-3. Nick Eichelberger, who had doubled, came around to score.