With a second straight shutout last Monday (June 14) in Allentown, the Lady Pioneers punched their ticket to the PIAA Class 5A softball finals for the fourth time in five seasons. L-S blanked the 14-4 Lady Invaders in the semifinals at Patriots Park. The win is Lampeter's 29th of the season, a new school record.

"I was a bit nervous going in," said head coach Gene Charles, "because they beat a good West Chester East squad and Elizabethtown (6-2), but kudos to Elizabethtown head coach Gary Wylde. He gave us a perfect scouting report and that helped. We knew the top five hitters were strong and that the bottom part of the lineup looked to bunt. We also knew their pitcher (Mia Butka) liked to throw the changeup. So, I thought we were prepared for what we knew about them."

And it didn't hurt that L-S jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the very first inning. Chloe Blantz crushed a double to right field, taking third as the ball got away from Emily Stevens.

"But then we struck out twice," noted Charles. "I was hoping we didn't leave Chloe stranded."

Then Keiva Middleton stepped to the plate and calmly cracked a Blantz scoring double. Sydney Weichler entered as a courtesy runner and scored when shortstop Maddie Maloney threw away Emily Platt's grounder.

Not to be outdone, West Scranton, coming in with eight straight wins, looked to return the favor when Butka smacked a one out triple to right field. Middleton worked a strikeout and forced a popup to right to end the threat.

The Pioneers had runners on base in all but the seventh inning. "I really expected us to break the game open. Then we got one more in the sixth and that was big."

L-S had two on and no outs in both the second and third innings and came up empty. Cam Byler opened the fifth with a first pitch base hit. Then, with one out, the Lady Invaders, turned a double play.

One inning later, L-S picked up its last run of the game. Brooke Zuber doubled to left and Ally Raub walk. Both advanced on Julia Girard's sacrifice bunt and Zuber scored on Karissa Hirt's ground ball to second.

West Scranton, making its first trip to states, threatened in the bottom half with two runners on and one out but a sacrifice bunt and a ground out ended the threat.

"Kudos to the bottom half of our lineup," said Charles. "They got the bat on the ball and accounted for four of our seven hits and just one strikeout. No one had more than one hit."

Middleton scattered four hits, struck out six and walked three. "Keiva did what she had to do," said Charles. "She stays on top of things and knuckles down when she has to."

Thursday, June 10 at Avon Grove High School the Pioneers earned a 5-0 shutout over Springfield (Delco), District 1 runner-up, scoring all but one run in the sixth inning. Defensively, Middleton tossed a two hitter, leading L-S to the semifinals for the second straight season.

Offensively, the Pioneers were slow to get going. They finished with just seven hits on the day and five were in that pivotal sixth inning.

Blantz and Daisy Frank got the inning going with back-to-back base hits and Byler loaded the bags with a blooper to short left. Middleton helped her cause, pushing in the second run of the game on a hit by pitch. Emily Platt's base hit plated the second run of the inning before another hit batter (Zuber) forced in another run. Raub's blooper to right made it 5-0. A strikeout and two popups ended the inning.

Springfield looked to counter in the bottom half, opening with a base hit before Byler snagged a line drive and then stepped on first to complete a double play. Middleton forced a groundout to cap the inning and picked up a two out base hit in the seventh but was left stranded.

The Cougars, helped along by uncharacteristic sloppy play by L-S, posed their biggest threat in the second inning. Three errors quickly put Springfield (17-6) runners on second and third with no outs. Platt charged a grounder to third and threw out Jordan Galloway for the first out and Middleton's back-to-back strikeouts left the Pioneers unscathed.

"I rarely take a timeout to go out to the mound," said Charles, "but things were not going well. I said 'this isn't us. Let's put this behind us and play ball because if we don't, there won't be another big game.'"

Julia Gerard's third inning base hit was sandwiched around three strikeouts and Frank's very long fly ball to deep center in the fourth was caught by Ava Craddock on a diving save.

The Pioneers finally broke through in the fifth inning, albeit taking advantage of some free passes. Platt and Zuber worked a pair of walks and moved up on Raub's sacrifice bunt. Gerard's fielder's choice ground out to second plated Platt with the first run of the game.

BASEBALL

Lampeter-Strasburg's baseball team, the Section Two champs who finished the season with a 17-8 overall record, was well represented in the recent all-star balloting. The Pioneers had six first team all-stars and two second teamers.

First Team all-stars included seniors Alex Knapp, Braedon Karpathios, Caleb Guyer and Jack Swarr along with junior Isaiah Parido and sophomore Peyton Harsh.

Knapp played in the outfield and finished with a .358 batting average with 14 RBIs and 12 extra base hits. "Alex committed to George Mason in the Honors Program," noted head coach Jeff Swarr. "He is a member of the National Honor Society. He is a team leader that works to get the best out of himself and those around him."

Karpathios, a first baseman, hit .358 on the year with 17 RBI's and three homers. "Overcoming Tommy John surgery in September 2020 to be able to play in the field during the spring of 2021 is nothing short of amazing," Swarr said. "He is an intense competitor."

Guyer, a pitcher, finished with a 1.30 ERA and 52 strikeouts. "After not having a 2020 season, we were not sure what Caleb would give us on the mound and boy did he contribute," said Swarr. "He finished with a 7-1 record and was just an awesome pitcher. He was in control of himself in every situation and worked hard for every piece of success he earned this year.

"We could also say the same thing of Jack," he continued. "He competes in every pitch and was extremely steady throughout the year. His stats (1.43 ERA) may not be flashy, but he just wins."

Parido, also an outfielder, finished with a .348 average with nine RBIs. "He's a hard-working kid who is just scratching the surface of his skills on the baseball diamond," Swarr stated. "He started the year in the No. 9 hole and just kept working his way up in the lineup."

Harsh, another Pioneer pitcher, recorded one, save and had 21 strikeouts. "He performed well in every situation we put him in, whether he was starting or relieving. He was calm and collected each time he went out there."

Receiving Second Team recognition was senior Jake Long (.321 avg, 16 RBI's) and Gehrig Harsh, a junior pitcher. "Jake committed to attend Washington College and was a mainstay in our lineup until he was injured in the L-L League semifinals and was out the rest of the year," Swarr stated. "He is a great defensive outfielder.

"Gehrig was extremely strong out of the bullpen for us all season," he continued. "He started against some of the toughest opponents in our crossover games with Warwick and Manheim Township.

"The guys all invest a lot of time being the best version of themselves and we are extremely honored to coach them."