In a week that featured three straight games, the Comets topped McCaskey but dropped a pair of heartbreakers against Warwick and Township.

On Monday, the Comets posted their fifth shutout of the season, blanking McCaskey 10-0 with 10 hits in five innings. Bria Booth (2-3, 3RBI) clobbered a 2-run homer in the fifth and Kyleigh Lamborne followed with a solo shot to spark the scoring. Kira Green and Jordan Bailey both went 2-3 with a double.

That winning streak ended with a tough luck 3-2 loss to Warwick on Tuesday. It was their second one-run loss. All six of their losses have been by three runs or less.

"We couldn't get the key hits and had mistakes at inopportune times," said head coach Dave Stokes. "We're still hopeful to get into districts but I think we'll need some help to qualify for the league playoffs."

Lamborn collected a solo homer in the seventh, but it was too little, too late. Booth and Reagan Soboleski both went 2-3. Juleigh Bowmaster gave up seven hits in the loss.

"I think Juleigh is the best pitcher in our section, but we haven't supported her," Stokes said. "She had an 80-pitch effort. Can't ask for more than that."

In Wednesday's high scoring affair against Township, the Comets scored 12 runs but gave up 20 hits and suffered a 13-12 defeat.

"The softball gods are not looking down on us favorably," said Stokes. "Kate Ream hits her first career homer, a two-run shot to put us ahead 12-10 in the bottom of the sixth and they come back with three in the top of the seventh. With the way we were hitting, I thought we were turning the corner."

The Comets dominated Cedar Crest 9-1 with a 14-hit attack on Thursday, April 27.

"We unloaded the bench in the third and fourth innings," said Stokes.

Soboleski and Lamborne led that attack with three hits each while Bailey (3RBI) and Ream each added two hits. Green's third inning double plated two more runs.

Bowmaster recorded nine strikeouts and one walk while scattering eight hits as the Comets picked up their fifth straight win.

GIRLS' LACROSSE

The girls' lacrosse team put up a good fight against a one loss Pioneers' team but fell short 13-10 in a home night game May 2. Joelle Kroesen (46g, 10a) matched Lampeter's leading scorer, Rowan Kimmel (62g, 31a), with five goals but the Pioneers finished with six different scorers and had assists on eight of their goals.

Down just 8-7 at the half, the Comets were outscored 5-3 after the break, suffering just their fourth loss of the season. Erin Shipley (2g), Claire Eckroat (2g), Mia Jones (1g) and Grace Gerner (2a) contributed to the offense.

BASEBALL

In the rubber match against Cedar Crest Thursday, April 27, the Comets gave up six runs in the first inning and failed to get back on track in a 12-6 home loss.

Manor managed nine hits on the day but couldn't string enough together with runners on base.

Spencer Stuart (2-4) was the only Comet to finish with two hits. Isaac Braegelmann pushed in two runs on a sac fly and a fielder's choice.

In a game the Comets had to have, Manor matched their season-high with 18 runs scored and held McCaskey to three on May 1. "We stand at 10-7 with three games left," said head coach Tom Fish. "Looking at districts, I think we need to win at least one more to get in."

Danny Santana got the win on the hill and cracked a two-run homer in the third inning, pushing the lead to 7-1. An eight run sixth broke the game open.

"Danny's caught fire with the bat and on this day gave us a quality start before Chirs Hubbs and Ben Hermanson helped close it out," said Fish.

Braegelmann, Peter Skiadas, Grant Fry, Ben Hermanson and Cole Miller all had RBI hits for the Comets.

After suffering two losses to Township, the Comets earned a much-needed 4-2 win on Wednesday. Tied at 2-2 after six complete innings, a Billy Riggs double scored Skiadas who opened with a walk. Then, with two outs, Bryce Avery was intentionally walked, loading the bags, and Fry took four straight balls to push in an insurance run.

BOYS' LACROSSE

The annual "Backyard Bash," or "Whitey" game, played in remembrance of Lampeter's Ryan "Whitey" Weitzel who died in 2008, went to the Pioneers in a tightly contested 12-10 final Tuesday at L-S.

A 2-0 lead by L-S in the first quarter proved to be the difference as both teams settled for a 10-10 tie in a back-and-forth final three quarters.

"I thought we settled in after that first quarter," said head coach Connor Rowe. "LS is an experienced, senior-led team and our underclassmen did not step down. We just played toe-to-toe with two of the top teams in District 3. These are losses we will build off and learn from."

Eli Warfel scored all three of his goals in the fourth quarter. Benedict Flinchbaugh and Grant Bradburn each scored twice and dished one assist while Adam Hollinger (1g, 1a), Aidan Gerlach (1g) and Peyton Englert (1g, 1a) also contributed.

"And Nick Hollinger was just incredible in goal, making highlight save after highlight save," praised Rowe. "He's an extraordinary player and an outstanding teammate that makes everyone around him a better person.

"We're playing our best lacrosse right now," he added. "We had one of the toughest schedules in all of District 3 and it has helped prepare us for playoffs when wins matter most. I love this team and can't wait to get back to practice."

VOLLEYBALL

The volleyball team went 1-1 over the last week, dropping a tough one, 3-2 to Cedar Crest on the 27th before rebounding with a second 3-0 win over Township May 2. They sit 7-8 overall and are 13th in the AAA power rankings. The top 14 advance.

The hosting Comets topped the Streaks 25-18, 25-23, and 25-22 behind Harry Whited's 10 kills. Wyatt Rohrer distributed 26 assists to lead the offense with Noah Reen serving up two aces. Roman Keefer's three blocks and Elijah Julian's 14 digs sparked the defense.

In their marathon match against Cedar Crest that went back-and-forth, the Falcons won 25-23, 18-25, 25-20, 23-25, 15-13. Rohrer (34 assists), Luke Thomas (4 blocks), Andre Weaver (5 aces) and Whited (13 digs) filled the stat sheets.

TRACK

The track teams took the measure of a strong Cedar Crest squad on Monday, May 1 and suffered a pair of losses. The boys fell short 91-59 while the girls lost 111-39.

The Comets swept the javelin with Josh Joyle (146-9), Connor Dumas and Jon Osman, who also clocked season bests in the 100 (2nd) and 200 (3rd) meter runs.

Sebastian Weaver won the pole vault with a league qualifying height of 11-6 and Wyatt Kauffman (133-9) and Jael Cruz went 1-2 in the discus.

Other winners included Trevor Schneider in the high jump (6-2), Jason Andro in the long jump (20-4.75) and Kaleb Kabakjian who secured Manor's only wins on the track with a 4:43.4 in the mile and a 2:01.7 in the 800. Drew Lebo chipped in with seconds in the high and 300 hurdles and a third in the pole vault.

For the girls, Brianna Lee clocked a 12.6 PR to win the 100 and teamed with Kayla Phillips, Kate Harnish and Ava Washington for a win in the 4x100 relay. She was also second in the high jump while Harnish went on to win the long (16-5) and was third in the pole vault.

Annie Bibus chipped in with seconds in the mile and 3200.

TENNIS

The Comets competed in the L-L League individual tennis tournament but struggled to advance. Grant Rost earned an 8-5 Flight 3 first round win over CV's Fabian Heine but lost 8-0 to third seed Andrew Hurst of Hempfield. In Flight 4, Aidan Karlow defeated 7th seed Isaac Musser (Ephrata) 8-3 but then lost 8-0 to second seed Luke Main in the second round.

In Flight 2 doubles, Will Steltz and Rost upset seventh seed Friesen and Newman (LM) and then battled Cedar Crest's Glover and Sheffield, the eventual champs, but fell short 8-4.