With the likes of upperclassmen Jamison Castor, Dylan Ratjavong and Jazae Itegi along with freshmen like Hayden Winey and Cole Stoltzfus, the Pequea Valley boys' tennis team is off to a great start this spring.

The Braves improved to 4-0 in the Lancaster-Lebanon League with victories over Annville Cleona and Northern Lebanon, followed by a 3-2 defeat of Lampeter-Strasburg, which improved the team's overall mark to 7-0 on the year.

On Friday, April 1, the match at Annville opened with a tough battle featuring the Braves' doubles team of Itegi and Wade Stoltzfus going against Sam Demenic and Alec Verhagen of A-C. In the end, the Braves prevailed 9-7.

Cole Stoltzfus and Samuel Arena pulled off a tight 8-5 win at second doubles followed by an 8-2 win by Joel Peifer and Cole McEvoy.

Wade Stoltzfus was a straight sets winner at number one singles (6-3, 6-1) with Itegi taking the second singles by the same scores. Winey won 7-5, 6-2 at number three singles with Peifer closing out the 7-0 victory with 7-6, 6-2 wins at fourth singles.

The Braves returned to their home courts after the weekend to drop Northern Lebanon 7-0 on Monday, April 4.

Winey and Cole Stoltzfus claimed the first doubles match 8-4. Peifer and Castor blanked their opponents 8-0 while Ratjavong and fellow senior Regan Thomas were dominant in their 8-1 win at number three doubles.

The singles matches all ended in straight set victories with Wade Stoltzfus winning 6-2, 6-0, Castor posting 6-1, 6-2 wins followed by Ratjavong's 6-1, 6-4 triumphs and Thomas wrapping it up 6-3, 6-2.

In the 3-2 non-league win at Lampeter-Strasburg, the two squads split the two doubles matches. Peifer and Cole Stoltzfus edged Jack Harnish and Kyle Pawson 6-4, 7-6. The L-S twosome of Joe Fitzgerald and Chad Royer edged Castor and Ratjavong 7-6, 6-3.

Izegi's 6-2, 6-2 straight sets win at number two singles and Winey's strong effort (7-5, 6-3) at number three singles gave PV the win.

The Braves improved to 8-0 with their 6-1 defeat of Elco on Wednesday, April 6. It all began with a tough battle between the twosome of Wade Stoltzfus and Itegi facing Elco's Jaydon Grumbine and Trevor Spang. The battle ended with an 8-6 PV victory.

Winey and Cole Stoltzfus won 8-3 while Arena and Peifer came up short in an 8-6 third doubles.

Wade Stoltzfus (6-4, 6-2) and Cole Stoltzfus (6-2, 7-6) won the first and fourth singles. Both Itegi and Winey won their singles matches 6-2, 6-2.

BASEBALL

In a pitchers' duel that went into extra innings, the Braves lost 2-1 to the Eastern York Golden Knights on Saturday, April 2, at Kinzers.

Pequea Valley senior Dylan Knott went the distance, allowing two runs on only two base hits while striking out 10 Knights.

"Dylan pitched a great game," head coach Carl Langley remarked. "He only threw 82 pitches in eight innings.

"He was throwing a lot of strikes," continued the coach. "Even when they were putting the bat on the ball, we were playing great defense."

Eastern York pushed across the eventual winning run in the top of the eighth inning. The two sides finished seven innings knotted at 1-1.

The Braves had six hits on the day, including a 2-for-3 day at the plate for Cristian Smucker as well as for fellow junior Ezekiel Hershey

Jayden Stoltzfus (1-for-4) scored the game-tying run for Pequea in the fourth inning. He was driven in by Gavin Eby.

"Our offense is going to have to create runs," Langley added. "We didn't have too many opportunities to do that."

Eastern York freshman Aaron Fox struck out four and pitched a complete game as well. Sophomore Carter Foote-Renwick doubled and drove in the game-winner.

Monday afternoon, April 4, went into the books as another 2-1 final, this one with the Braves winning in walk-off fashion.

They had the game-winning rally with two outs.

"Our first two batters made outs," Langley explained. "Nick Ammon singled up the middle; Peyton Temple singled and Gavin was safe on a fielder's choice.

"Dylan Knott got a walk-off single and the kids stormed the field," Langley continued. "You would have thought we won states."

Pequea Valley improved to 2-3 on the year (1-1 league) with what Langley considered a significant walk-off win over the league rival Dutchmen.

"What a great game that was," he said. "The boys played very focused.

"Annville-Cleona and Lancaster Catholic are going to be our toughest competition this year," continued the coach. "Winning this game was significant especially given that they beat us twice last year."

Eby earned the victory for the Braves, tossing a complete game four-hitter and recording six strikeouts.

"Gavin Eby pitched probably the best game I've seen him throw," said Langley. "We scored early. We had two men on, and Jaden Stoltzfus bunted to move the runners. Nick Ammon singled to drive in one."

Knott not only recorded the game-winning hit, the 6-foot-2 senior first baseman's defense kept the game tied at 1-1, thus enabling his final at-bat heroics.

"In the top of the seventh with one out, their leadoff hitter hit a line drive and Dylan Knott - with full extension - made a play for the highlight reel," Langley remarked.

SOFTBALL

The Pequea Valley softball team faced a pair of tough L-L League opponents in the opening week of the 2022 season. The Braves came up short in a 16-7 loss at home to Lancaster Catholic on Wednesday, March 30.

Madison Clark went 2-for-4 plus a walk and scored two runs. Freshman Victoria Smoker slugged two doubles and drove in two runs while Camryn Bailey stroked a two-run single.

The following Monday, Annville-Cleona's offense exploded with two big innings late in the game, earning the Dutchmen an 18-8 win.

"Our pitching is young with very limited experience, so they're struggling to find consistency," said head coach Doug High.

Smoker had another two-hit game against Annville, going 2-for-3 with one RBI. Chavelle Fisher had two singles and two RBI's plus a walk and a run scored.