In Lancaster-Lebanon League volleyball action on Thursday, March 31, Penn Manor came to Hempfield for a Section One clash with the Black Knights.

The home team stayed unbeaten (2-0) in league play, winning three tightly contested sets by scores of 25-20, 25-20 and 26-24.

Dante Keener was a force to be reckoned with. The Hempfield senior registered 15 kills, two blocks and two aces. Caden Bonner added 28 assists while Cole Jackson and Mason Orth finished with 14 and 12 digs, respectively.

The Knights played at Conestoga Valley on Tuesday. They remained hot with a 25-14, 25-23, 25-23 defeat of the Buckskins as Keener collected 12 kills and Bonner dished out 26 assists.

GIRLS' LACROSSE

The girls' lacrosse team struck early and struck often with 10 first-half goals in a 17-1 victory over Cedar Crest on Friday, April 1.

Kelsea Dague led the home team with six goals while both Whitney Hershey and Isabelle Masengarb notched hat tricks to go with one assist each.

Also scoring multiple times were Brynne Axe (2g, 1a), and Mia Brennan (2g, 2a) while Hattie Mack dished out two assists. Natalie Bole also netted a goal while Claire Skovera put up an assist.

Ella Ashton handled goalie duties for part of the contest, grabbing two saves. Eryn Murphy had one save.

The Knights improved to 4-0 on the year (2-0 league) with a Monday home game against Warwick.

The Hempfield attackers were virtually impossible to defend once more. The 16-4 victory made it a combined 33-5 over the two-game span as Hempfield improved to 3-0 in L-L League play.

It was a five-goal game for Dague with Hershey having a hand in seven scores (4g, 3a). Masengarb added another hat trick, also dishing out three assists while Makenzie Warfel scored two. Brennan (1g, 2a) and Bole, who scored once, also chipped in.

BASEBALL

On Friday, April 1, the pitching of Hunter Williams and Aiden Rodenberger helped Hempfield top Manheim Township 5-2.

Williams, the winning pitcher, went 6 1/3 innings before giving way to Rodenberger, who closed it out for a save.

The Knights battled back from an early deficit by tying the score on Gavin Constein's sacrifice fly RBI in the second inning. Rodenberger's double and Cameron Berger's RBI hit made it 2-1 in the third inning. A two-run double by Josh Toole and another RBI by Logan Harenlson capped the scoring.

Hempfield plated nine runs in the final two frames of Monday's 15-2 victory at Cedar Crest, giving Harelson plenty of offensive support. The sophomore pitched five innings and got the win. Austin Dunlap finished in relief.

Marcus Rivera had a big day with a pair of RBI doubles in the early going. Chuck Sheerer scored one run and drove in another on a double. Toole also had an RBI single.

TENNIS

Hempfield posted back-to-back victories on Monday and Tuesday, April 4-5, beating Warwick and Elizabethtown.

Monday's 6-1 win over Warwick featured different players in each match as the Hempfield lineup didn't have any singles players also appear in doubles matches.

Eli Worley and Jonah Comeaux were 8-2 winners at number one doubles while Caleb Herr and Jack Mulroney paired for an 8-4 win at number three.

Cooper Lehman took the first singles in straight sets - 6-0, 6-0. Andre Hurst won the third singles by the same scores while Eric Jordan triumphed 6-1, 6-1 at number two. Trent Meyers made it a singles sweep for the Knights, winning 6-2, 6-0.

Tom Gross and Gavin Chamberlain came up short in an 8-4 doubles match.

The Knights improved to 7-0 (2-0 league) with their 4-3 win on Tuesday. Elizabethtown won two of the three doubles matches - both close matches. Hurst and Meyers lost at number one doubles, 8-5. Comeaux and Worley fell 8-6 at third doubles while Lehman and Jordan posted an 8-6 win.

Taking the number one singles (6-3, 6-1) was Hurst while Lehman cruised to a 6-2, 6-0 win at number three singles. Jordan's match, sandwiched in between, started with the Hempfield junior winning 6-1 before yielding 6-3, 10-8 to Steven Dupler.

The Knights won a 5-0 non-league match at home on Wednesday. Meyers and Gross took number one doubles 6-0, 6-3 while Worley and Comeauxx cruised to 6-1, 6-0 wins.

Lehman blanked Adam Good 6-0, 6-0 at first singles. Jordan (6-3, 6-1) and Hurts (6-3, 6-3) also won in singles play.

SOFTBALL

Carley Ernst pitched a complete game five-hitter, striking out 14 to lead the Knights over Wilson on Saturday, April 2. Hempfield triumphed by a 4-1 score.

Ernst was one of the offensive leaders in the Knights' next game - a 10-0 defeat of Cedar Crest on Monday, April 4. Ernst and sophomores Avery Landis and Sydney Weaver led the Knights along with senior Elizabeth Williams, who went 2-for-4 with a double and three RBI's.

Meanwhile, senior pitcher Courtney Guthrie not only went the distance, striking out five Falcons in the three-hitter, she also stroked a double at the plate.

Weaver and Landis both slugged homers. Weaver's was a solo shot to go along with another RBI on a sacrifice fly. Landis went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and two scored.

Ernst went 2-for-3 with two runs scored. She also swiped two bags.

The Knights' win streak ended on a 4-3 non-league loss to Exeter Township on Tuesday. Despite her 14 strikeouts, Ernst was the losing pitcher as the Eagles plated two runs in their final at-bat at Hempfield.

BOYS' LACROSSE

The scoring came at an astounding pace in the Knights' victories as Hempfield downed Archbishop Wood by a 21-0 score on Saturday, April 2, and topped Warwick 23-3 on the road on Monday, April 4.

Max Grube tallied 18 points in the two matches, scoring six times and assisting on five goals at Warwick and notching four goals and three assists on Saturday.

In Saturday's game, A.J. McAlpine matched Grube's production while Toby Marco claimed a hat trick. Ryan Heuston (2g, 1a), Jason Hilton (2g) and Zack Antesberger (1g, 3a) had multiple points as did Drew Bennett and Cole Gibbons with one goal and one assist each. Talin Baer, Logan Klinger and Phillip Klauser each netted one goal.

Matt Wiest had four saves in the shutout while sophomore Sean Tollet grabbed three.

Wiest also had four saves in the Warwick game. Marco was the Knights' second-leading scorer (4g, 2a) in this match with Heuston scoring four to go with one assist. Julian Morales had a hat trick while Hilton (1g, 2a) contributed along with Krauser and Antesberger (1 goal each). Gibbons and Evan Bush each added an assist.