When a high school sports team has a slow start to their season, things can go one of two ways. Teams can shake off that slow start, right the ship and finish strong or succumb to the pressure, sputtering through the remaining games until the season is over.

The Elizabethtown boy's lacrosse team is hoping for the former after losses to Garden Spot and Lancaster Country Day kept the Bears winless on the season. Against Spot on March 29th, E-town was unable to keep pace with the Spartans, falling by a 12-6 final. Elijah Poulos (4g) and Carson NyeSmith (2g) accounted for the offense while Josiah Erb finished with nine saves.

A few days later Elizabethtown was able to find their offense but only after falling behind 10-1 over the first half of the LCD game. The Bears enjoyed an 8-4 second half edge but that was not enough to overcome their first half deficit, leading to a 14-9 final. Erb finished with another nine saves while Poulos (3g-1a) and NyeSmith (2g) once again paced the attack. Bryce Kauffman, Holden Haver, Dylan Ginder and Cayden Enck cleaned up the scoring with one goal each.

BASEBALL

The sports world is littered with various pitfalls that can trip you up at any moment. The baseball team, with back-to-back losses to Lower Dauphin and Solanco coming after a scorching 3-0 start, can attest.

Lower Dauphin handed the Bears their first defeat on March 31st, using an eight-run fifth inning to outlast E-town 10-8. Elizabethtown scored all eight runs over a three inning stretch, buoyed by Luis Perez and Elijah Macfarlane and their combined four RBI. Kaden Kimble absorbed the loss, striking out five while pitching into the fifth before giving way to Pike Burkett. Evan Hassinger took over for Burkett with the pair covering the final two and two-third innings.

E-town followed with a 5-0 loss to Solanco on April 3rd with Golden Mule hurler Brayden Herr holding the Bears hitless over seven innings. Burkett was the starter this time around, taking the loss after pitching into the sixth inning. Hassinger closed things out for the second straight game with the pair combining for six strikeouts and seven walks.

Elizabethtown returned to their winning ways on the 5th, rolling Lebanon 11-0 in five innings. Kaden Kimble enjoyed the run support, allowing just one hit on his way to the win. The junior also collected one hit and one RBI at the plate. Kimble's support came mostly from the bat of Isiah Shayter who had two hits and four RBI. Josh Rudy added two hits with his two RBI slotting in between Shayter and Kimble.

VOLLEYBALL

The Bear volleyball team pulled their overall record even at 3-3 with wins over Lancaster Mennonite and Ephrata following a loss to Manheim Central. E-town was able to get by the Blazers, 3-1, having to battle for each of their victories. The Bears opened with a 25-23 win only to have Lancaster Mennonite answer with a 27-25 game two win. The hard work was far from over but wins of 25-22 and 25-18 sealed the match. Seth Rajnic collected nine kills, seven blocks and two aces with Josh McCoy adding 10 kills and five digs. Eli Miller topped the team with 24 assists.

Elizabethtown needed the full five games to get by Ephrata on April 4th, using wins of 26-18, 25-16 and 15-6 to counter the Mountaineers' wins of 25-22 and 25-20. McCoy (15 kills) and Miller (29 assists) led the way with Prabin Bhattarai adding eight digs. Rajnic (four aces) and Cooper Torborg (four blocks) also made their way to the stat sheet.

SOFTBALL

Back and forth is one way to describe the softball team's opening stretch. The Lady Bears sit 2-3 after topping Lower Dauphin but falling to Solanco.

E-town was able to snap a two-game slide with their 9-8 win over Lower Dauphin on March 31st. Elizabethtown took an early 2-1 lead against LD but needed a seven-run sixth inning to outlast the Lady Falcons. Breonna Edgell picked up the win with one strikeout and two walks. Keira Davis fronted the offense, driving in three runs on three hits. Carli Zerphey and Kaelin Griffin added two RBI apiece.

The Lady Bears returned to the L-L on April 3rd, falling to Solanco by an 11-5 final. Edgell covered all seven innings to take the loss, despite nine strikeouts. Chloe Wilkinson enjoyed a three RBI day with Sophia Finch pushing a run across as well.

GIRLS' LACROSSE

Unbeaten no more. With a 12-7 less to Lower Dauphin on March 31st the Lady Bear lacrosse team suffered their first loss of 2023. Dani Bruno netted four scores, but it was not enough. Piper Patrick, Callie Love-Morris, and Joy NgaFua added one goal each. Sydney Pope finished with six saves.

Elizabethtown wrapped that loss with a win over Garden Spot a few days prior and a win over Lancaster County Day a few days later. The Lady Bears topped the Lady Spartans 10-9 on March 29th, using six Bruno goals and seven Pope saves to leave New Holland with the one goal win. Charley Lengel-Kramer added two scores with Isabelle Bailey and Aiesha Rios scoring once each.

The win over LCD came on April 3rd by a 16-7 final with Pope posting another seven saves game. Bailey, Bruno, and Josie Spayd topped the scoring chart with three goals apiece. Rios and NgaFua added two goals each while Patrick, Alexis Cook and Tori Gonzales each scored once.

TENNIS

Back-to-back wins over Ephrata and Penn Manor, both by 4-3 finals have the Bear tennis team even at 3-3. Elizabethtown topped the Mountaineers on April 3rd using singles wins by Emery Morgan, Ethan Duralja and Bennett Kreider coupled with a doubles win by Morgan and Luke Risser to get the job done.

Against Penn Manor on the 5th, it was doubles play that carried the Bears with only Finn Grinnell picking up a singles victory. Grinnell was part of the doubles parade, teaming with Duralja to take number two doubles. Risser and Morgan along with the duo of Kreider and Levi Sites completed the doubles domination.

TRACK

The track team's trip to Manheim on April 3rd produced mixed results with the boys posting a 94-55 win while the girls fell by a 107-43 final. The boys enjoyed winning all three relays for a quick 15 team points. Bradley Kreider was the lone Bear to pull double duty with wins in the 1600m and 3200m. Jackson Kay and his 800m win along with Juan Lopez and his 400m win gave E-town the mid-distance events as well. The remainder of Elizabethtown's success came in the field where wins by Brendan Rilatt (shot put), Caleb Kreider (long jump), Tavan Schoenberger (triple jump) and Caleb Fuge (pole vault) completed the victory.

On the girls' side Ali Fink accounted for two of the Lady Bears solo wins, taking the 800m and 1600m events. Jordan DiRisio claimed the final solo event on the track with a win in the 3200m while Anna Rank posted the lone field win by taking the pole vault. E-town did nab one of the three relay events with the 4x100 team clocking a 52.8.