After opening the season with a 4-3 thriller over visiting Manheim Township on Tuesday, March 28, the Mules were denied making it 2-0 three days later as the Streaks posted a 6-0 final in Neffsville to even the tally.

Solanco looked to threaten in the second inning with a two out single by Cody Moyer and a double by Owen McElroy, but a strikeout ended the inning.

Township left two on in their half of the inning and two more in the third before finally breaking the game open with a two run fourth. With two outs, the Streaks reached on an error and connected with back-to-back doubles for the lead they never relinquished. They scored two more runs in the fifth and sixth innings as well while Solanco struggled to get going, managing single walks in the fifth and sixth innings before mounting its biggest threat in the seventh.

Sawyer Weyman singled to start the inning and, with one out, Owen McElroy and Vilk worked a pair of walks to load the bags. A strikeout and a popout to right field ended the rally.

Township's Trey Eckman struck out ten and scattered three hits in his first career start.

Kayden Strong started for the Mules and gave up five hits, and four runs (one earned) and struck out three and walked five in 4.2 innings. Weyman gave up two hits and two runs in relief.

The Mules committed three errors while the Streaks were flawless.

Solanco posted a 5-0 bounce back win on Monday, April 3 at Elizabethtown with Brayden Herr firing a no hitter with nine strikeouts.

"We love Brayden's work ethic and trust every time he takes the mound," said Miller. "He's going to give us a shot to win. He was on another level and that really pushed his teammates. We played well all around."

Burger's solo homer in the first inning got the Mules rolling. And in the second, Underwood reached on a bunt error, Dean walked and Herr's single plated Underwood, who stole third on a wild pitch.

"And Owen McElroy helped pad the lead in the sixth with a two-run single," added Miller. "I thought our baserunning and speed was a huge factor, creating pressure on the bases all game long.

"We are looking forward to a few more wins and letting the section know that Solanco is going to be a tough team to beat this season."

Harnish and Herr both collected two hits with McElroy leading with two RBI.

Wednesday's outing against visiting Lampeter-Strasburg resulted in a 10-7 loss despite flawless defense. The Pioneers out hit their hosts 10-5 and, despite three errors, took the lead for good with a four-run third inning. L-S led 5-2 heading into the sixth and both teams scored five runs over the final two innings.

Burger and Harnish (3RBI) accounted for four of Solanco's five hits.

TRACK

The track teams opened Section Two play against one of the toughest teams in the league in Ephrata and were dealt a pair of losses despite some solid performances.

"Ephrata is one of the top teams and their junior high went undefeated last year so we knew it would be a tough meet," said head coach Jen McDowell.

Despite an 88-62 loss for the girls, it was a pretty even battle (32-31) in the field events.

"We got a big contribution from freshman Avery Caldwell who won the javelin," McDowell pointed out.

Martha Weaver won the discus, was second in the shot and backed Caldwell with a third in the javelin.

Also in the field, Olianna Oravitz won both the long and triple jumps and Katie Urbine took the pole vault and was third in the long jump. The two also went 1-2 in the 100 with Emma Housekeeper's third providing a sweep.

Solanco's final win on the track went to Emma Baxter in the mile with Christine Wagner adding thirds in both the mile and 3200, behind Daria Neaves.

"We also had a great race in the 400," noted McDowell, where Sara Bard's 1:03.1 was just behind Ephrata's winning pace of 1:02.

The boys' team suffered a similar fate, bowing out 86-64 but holding their own in the field, 32-31.

Josian Forren won the long and was second in the triple and John Sankus threw a 121-3 PR to win the discus and was third in the shot behind Caldwell while Rusty Armstrong won the pole vault and Tucker Kylar cleared 5-10 to take the high jump.

On the track, Anthony Solis Morales won the mile and was second in the 800 while Issac Esh and Wyatt Tomison went 1-2 in the 3200. Riley Ford added a pair of seconds, placing in the 100 and 200 meter dashes.

"Our distance team stepped up against a very talented team," added McDowell. "Overall, we did very well in several areas against a team that will most likely lead the section."

SOFTBALL

The softball team wrapped up the non-league portion of the season with their fourth straight victory, a 13-0 shutout against visiting Susquehannock on Friday, March 31.

"We got the result we were looking for," said head coach Brett Miller. "It was good for us to continue to be selective offensively and make adjustments throughout the game."

The hosts took charge from the start, batting around plus two in the opening inning while plating seven runs on five hits. Delaney Gote's three run triple was the big blow while Ava Fedoruk's two run double capped the first inning action.

Solanco picked up single runs in the second and third innings before batting around in the fourth and plating four more runs to end the game early.

Fedoruk went 4-4 with two RBI, Holly Grube and Sara Defrancesco finished with three hits and one RBI each while Gote went 2-2 with that triple and four runs batted in.

Anna Sexton struck out eight batters in the complete game shutout.

"It was good for Anna to get some innings and rest a couple of players," Miller said.

Monday, April 3, in a game that featured a combined 15 full counts on batters, and 27 total hits, Solanco opened section play with an 11-5 victory over visiting Elizabethtown.

They led from the start, holding a 5-0 lead after two innings and a 5-3 edge after four, but finally took charge with a five-run fifth.

"That was a good team in a challenging game as batters and pitchers needed to make adjustments," said Miller. "We got some timely key hits when needed. Ava Fedoruk has been consistently striking the ball and is improving defensively."

Those key hits included a RBI single by Grube (3-5, 2 RBI) and a two-run rip by Fedoruk (3 RBI) in the second inning. Fedoruk also collected a two run double in the fifth, along with a sac fly RBI by Sara Defrancesco and a run scoring single by Olivia Musser.

Kira Roark started in the circle and finished with six strikeouts and four walks over 4.1 innings. Sexton covered the final 2.2 innings with two strikeouts and three walks.

"Anna did what you want a senior to do...entered the pitching circle in a tough situation (1 out, bases loaded in the fourth) and got us out of it," said Miller. "She improved as the game moved along and finished strong.

"We need to improve our defensive play and understanding to be competitive within our section," he added.

That defensive play slipped in Wednesday's section clash in Lampeter as Solanco committed five errors, were out hit 12-7 and suffered a 14-4 defeat.

"Solanco loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the first and we got out of it," said Pioneer boss Earl Rutledge. "If they capitalize there, the whole momentum changes."

And change it did. L-S came back to score four in the bottom half and exploded for eight in the second, pushing the lead to 12-2.

Janssen (1RBI) and Grube each had two hits in the loss and Defrancesco crushed a two out, solo homer in the third.