With losses to Cocalico and Lancaster Catholic, the Pequea Valley baseball team fell to 2-9 on the year.

It is a record, however, that head coach Carl Langley believes is not indicative of his players' overall effort.

"I keep telling them that our record doesn't reflect how well we've played," said Langley. "I think we have had four losses by large margins, but our other losses have been close; we've lost three games in extra innings."

The Braves were on the road, facing Cocalico on Friday, April 22. The Eagles took advantage of some walks in the early innings to build an early lead.

"The first two innings we gave up a lot of walks and Cocalico had a couple of timely hits," Langley noted.

The Eagles were led by Alex Welker, who went 3-for-3 with a triple and a run batted in. Fellow senior Caleb Sturtevant went 2-for-4 with three RBI's while Tyler Angstadt stroked two doubles and drove in four runs.

Having given up 10 runs in the first two innings, the Braves battled back with a four-run fourth inning, ultimately coming up short in a 14-4 defeat.

"After the third inning we scored four runs and they only scored three," Langley pointed out.

"We have on the most part gotten good solid pitching all year," Langley added. "We have only had a couple of games where the floodgates have opened because of walks."

Gavin Eby had an RBI double in Pequea Valley's four-run inning. Nick Ammon singled to drive in a run and came around to score. Myles Furlong (1-for-3) had a run and an RBI. Jaden Estevez and Stephen Smucker drove in the other runs.

In their next game, the Braves lost 10-0 at home to Lancaster Catholic on Monday, April 25.

"They are a good baseball team," Langley acknowledged. "They have a couple of kids who are going to play [NCAA] Division I baseball.

"We're a young team and a smaller school," he added. "If we keep going out there and giving it the best that we can, I'm confident we can win the rest of our games."

SOFTBALL

Coming off contests in which the Braves' softball team had given up 18 runs and 17 runs to Manheim Central and Donegal, respectively, it was a positive change on Friday, April 22 when the Braves faced Cocalico in a Lancaster-Lebanon League home game. The Eagles handed the Braves a tough loss at home as they pulled ahead in the top of the sixth inning en route to a 5-4 win.

"The game where we gave up 17 runs, we also scored 11," head coach Doug High noted, referring to the 17-11 loss to Donegal. "We just didn't get the big hit."

In the Cocalico game, the Braves got a complete game effort from Maddy Hassis, who struck out one and walked two.

"It was her first complete game, which was nice," High said. "We only had one error."

Victoria Smoker went 2-for-4 with a run batted in. She singled to drive in Maddy Clark, who had doubled. Hassis and Sarah Arment each had an RBI as well.

"Emily Ammon had two hits for us," High added.

"We had runners on second and third twice but didn't get the run home," added the coach.

The Braves defeated Lancaster Catholic 11-6 on Monday, April 25, earning their second L-L League win of the year. Emily Ammon slugged a three-run home run and Hailey Yothers drove in four runs on a two-run homer and a two-run single.

"We got a complete game out of Victoria Smoker," High said.

The coach went on to point out how the freshman worked out of a jam early on.

"They sent nine batters to the plate in the first inning," High explained. "They had four hits and two walks; they scored three runs."

Three runs on nine batters obviously meant that Smoker escaped a bases-loaded jam.

"The next inning, we committed two errors, but turned a double play and got a ground out after that," he added. "She retired them in order over the next three innings."

Smoker also helped herself with two runs batted in.

"She swings a nice bat," said High. "She is batting around .550 for us."

The Braves improved to 3-9 on the year with a 16-1 win at home over Lancaster Mennonite on Tuesday, April 26.

Hassis pitched a complete game in the shortened ballgame. It lasted four innings. She allowed only three hits.

The Braves scored 16 runs on eight hits, eight walks and two batters who were hit by a pitch.

"It was 1-1 after two innings," High explained. "In the third inning we sent 19 batters to the plate."

Among the Braves' offensive leaders were Arment, who went 2-for-3 with three runs and one RBI, and Shania Smoker, who went 2-for-3 with two runs.

Ammon (2-for-4) smashed a triple and drove in four runs on the day.

BOYS TENNIS

Pequea wrapped up the regular season with a 6-1 win at Warwick on Friday, April 22, in a non-league boys' tennis match.

In all three doubles pairings and three of the singles matches, the Braves posted a dominant victory as they improved to 12-2 on the year.

Cole Stoltzfus and Samuel Arena teamed for a first doubles victory, 8-1. While Dylan Ratjavon and Jamison Castor posted an 8-3 win at second doubles, Regan Thomas and junior Cole McEvoy won the third doubles by an 8-1 score as well.

All different players posted team points for Pequea. Heading into singles, Wade Stoltzfus won 6-1, 6-0 at number one with Jazae Itegi cruising to 6-2, 6-1 straight sets at number two. Hayden Winey also won in straights, 6-2, 6-2.

Joel Peifer took a 6-4 opening set at number four, but came up short 6-4 and 10-8

Itegi was a 6-1, 6-0 winner at number one in the Braves' previous match - a 7-0 defeat of Garden Spot on April 20. Arena (6-2, 6-0) Castor (6-2 6-2) and Thomas (7-5, 6-0) were straight set winners.

Arena and Cole Stoltzfus at number two doubles and Castor and Thomas at number three doubles all posted 8-0 victories. Winey teamed up with Hinkson for a win at number one doubles 8-1 win.