Continuing to show improvement, Donegal baseball tallied their second win on a trip to Annville-Cleona last Wednesday.

The Indians racked up 12 hits in the 8-2 triumph, with Colin Eckinger collecting three of those hits. Multiple hits also came from AJ Small, Micah Brown, and Landen Baughman with two apiece.

Baughman and Eckinger were first to score, giving Donegal the early 2-0 lead in the third, and Baughman's double in the fifth inning kick-started a rally that led to four runs as the Indians started to pull away 6-2.

"We hit and were able to get our run game going," noted head coach Jeff Hartman. "We got a lead and played aggressively."

Nick Eichelberger got the win on the mound, throwing six innings, scattering four hits, one run, and one walk while striking out two.

"We got a great outing from Nick Eichelberger. He worked ahead and was in command the entire game," Hartman praised the junior who threw 15 first pitch strikes.

Caden Evans came in from the bullpen to close and struck out three.

"Caden Evans finished up with another solid performance," added the coach.

Tuesday, the Tribe hosted Manheim Central and got behind 4-2 in the first, leading to a 10-2 Barons victory.

Small was on the mound for Donegal and was saddled with the loss after two innings, allowing four hits, three runs, and striking out two.

Donegal gathered three hits in the evening, supplied by Joel Grillo, Baughman, and Brown.

Grillo's first inning at bat featured an RBI double, scoring Small, and Baughman's heads up base running scored Donegal's other run in the same inning.

SOFTBALL

Pitcher Cara Biesecker picked up three consecutive wins as Donegal improved their overall record to 5-2.

Last Wednesday the club needed just four innings to take down Annville-Cleona, 16-1. Biesecker lasted all four innings, striking out three while allowing just one hit, one run, and zero walks.

Biesecker also played a pivotal role in the offense, collecting a pair of hits along with Bella Mackison, Natalie Colwell, and Emma Garber who each had two. Colwell and Mackison each batted in four in the runaway win.

On April 12th, the Lady Indians overcame a 4-1 deficit to triumph over Manheim Central 8-4.

After watching four Baron runs cross the plate during their first at bat, Donegal retaliated when Mackison crushed a line drive into left for a triple, scoring Biesecker. They still trailed by three until the bottom of the third, when they produced their first of two three-run innings.

In her next at bat, Mackison doubled to score Emma Miller. Madeline Gohn's sacrifice fly scored Aysha Gibbs and Colwell's single pushed Julianne Wheeler across to level the scoreboard at 4-4.

Grace Graham came up big with a single in the fourth which led to her scoring the go-ahead run on a Baron error.

Mackison finished the day with a single, double, and a triple for three hits and three RBIs. Gohn's produced three hits and one RBI, and Miller supplied two hits and an RBI.

Biesecker earned the win, pitching all seven innings allowing four runs, nine hits, and striking out two.

A 9-8 victory over Cocalico on April 9th, featured not one, but two Mackison home runs.

Once again, the Indians came from behind after Cocalico gained a 3-0 advantage in the first.

Mackison's first homer brought in Biesecker to put Donegal on the scoreboard with two runs in the third.

The fourth inning churned Indian momentum with four runs scored to a take the lead 6-4, featuring a triple from Gohn, a double from Biesecker and a single from Mackison.

A three-run homer from Cocalico in the sixth put the Eagles back in the driver's seat temporarily, holding an 8-7 edge, but Mackison's second homer tied it up at eight.

Donegal defense got the job done, keeping the Eagle's scoreless in the seventh with two ground outs and one of Biesecker's eight strikeouts.

Esther Myers set the tone for Donegal's final at bat crushing a triple into center and Miller came through with a walk off single to score Myers for the win.

TRACK

Donegal success was not hard to find in Monday's track meet hosting Lancaster Mennonite on April 12th. The girls picked up a 130-18 win and the boys ran away with a 121-6 victory.

Freshman Nya Bantum was a fresh face to shot put, competing in the event for the first time and snatching a first place with her 28-4 effort. Katherine Rupp also had a great day in the throwing events winning the javelin, and taking second in both the shot put, and discus, while teammate Emily Kreider claimed the discus win.

Jumping victories came from Lillian Stehman in the long, Sarah Hinkel in the triple, and Anna Brubaker in the high. Tabitha Clark vaulted her way to a first place with a 7-6 pole vault.

Hinkle also had success in the hurdle events, winning both the high hurdles and the 300 hurdles, and Brubaker added a pair of sprinting wins to her resume with top times in the 100 and 400.

Continuing the Donegal dominance in the races were wins from Faith Garber in the 200, Clark in the 800, Amanda Fry in the 1600, and Myra Naqvi in the 3200.

For the boys, the throwing events also produced a Donegal highlight, featuring double wins for Zack Nissley in the javelin, and the shot put, and a discus success from Owen Kling.

"Owen Kling and Zack Nissley have been showing excellent leadership in the throws," commended coach Bryce Sadler.

Points poured in from all angles, not the least of which included Jackson Dearborn's sweep of the jumps, winning the long, the triple, and the high jump. Mark Overlander owned the pole vault with a 6-6 victory.

In a Donegal sweep of the sprints, Cristian Almanza won the 100 and 200, Logan Fry took the 400, Hunter Gehman the 800, and Brock Overlander covered the distance events with wins in the 1600 and 3200.

TENNIS

Back-to-back trips to Lebanon early last week yielded encouraging results for the busy Donegal tennis squad, sweeping past ELCO 7-0 on Monday and then Northern Lebanon Tuesday.

Jacob Erb, Evan Stehman, Akilan Murugesan and Luke Yunginger each gained a singles and doubles victory and Landon Keller and Benjamin Hallgren teamed up for the seventh Donegal point against the Raiders on Monday.

"The team has responded well to the long days," noted head coach Trent Hoffmaster. "I am proud of their hard work during the last two weeks."

Stehman and Erb have both maintain undefeated singles records and are now 9-0 turning into the latter half of the season.

Even some of the losses have proved to bolster the Donegal team, when efforts such as Akilan Murugesan's matchup against Freddie Bloom of Lancaster Country Day, resulted in a two-hour showdown on April 8th. Murugesan eventually succumbed 6-4, 7-5 but proved he had what it takes to compete at an extremely high level.

"The effort was outstanding against one of the best players in the league," credited Hoffmaster.