By:

TODD RUTH Review Sports Editor truth.eph@lnpnews.com

, Staff Writer

Ephrataâ??s Kelly Liebl (left) hugs teammate Jordan Crills after she closed out the win in the 4 X 400 relay to clinch the teamâ??s first-ever L-L title. (Photo by Preston Whitcraft)

By the time Jordan Crills took a successful hand-off from Ephrata teammate Emily Voigt for the last leg of the girls 4 X 400 relay Saturday at Hempfield, she certainly was well aware of the stakes.

"We all knew," she would say later.

What she and her teammates were privy to was the fact that if Crills was able to maintain the 30-yards-or-so lead her three partners had given her, not only would they win Ephrata’s sixth gold medal of the L-L League Meet, but more importantly, the Lady Mounts would clinch their first L-L team championship in school history.

It was all on the shoulders of Crills, who came out for track for the first time in this her senior season, and she delivered like a seasoned veteran.

Crills maintained the lead and broke the tape first in a time of 4:01.71, well ahead of second place Hempfield, which finished in 4:06.71.

By:

TODD RUTH Review Sports Editor truth.eph@lnpnews.com

, Staff Writer

Ephrata goalie Justin Mease makes a key save. (Photo by Preston Whitcraft)

A year ago, Ephrata ended Carlisle’s dreams of a District Three title when the Mounts defeated the Thundering Herd, 8-5, in the championship game at Hersheypark Stadium.

Tuesday night, in the first round of Districts at Carlisle, the second-seeded Thundering Herd returned the favor with a 14-4 victory over the Mounts.

Leading 7-4 at the half, Carlisle outscored Ephrata 7-0 in the second half to pull away and advance. Carlisle will move on to face Penn Manor in the quarterfinals which are set for Thursday at Lower Dauphin, beginning at 5 p.m.

As for the Mounts, who came a long way this season after returning just a few key players from its L-L and District Three championship team from a year ago, they close out the season at 12-8.

"As a whole I’m pretty proud of the guys," Ephrata Coach Kevin Pletz said of the season just completed. "For being an unseasoned team with not much varsity experience, they definitely stepped up and above their potential from what was projected and had some really good wins throughout the season. I’m trying to take the positives out of it. We are only losing a handful of seniors so it’s going to be another good team next year."

By:

TODD RUTH Review Sports Editor truth.eph@lnpnews.com

, Staff Writer

While Ephrata was enjoying perhaps one of its greatest day on the track Saturday, the Cocalico girls also were reaching new heights at the L-L League Meet held at Hempfield.

Behind the strength of senior Ashley Strenko, who won three individual medals, and freshman thrower Emily Stauffer, who claimed the team’s lone gold, Cocalico (38 points) quietly captured fourth overall in the team standings behind Ephrata (89), Hempfield (85) and Garden Spot (61.33).

"This is the highest finish a girls team from Cocalico has ever had during my years as a coach," Cocalico Coach Ron Derr said. "I was very proud of the way our kids competed and we were thrilled to be mentioned following the names of Ephrata, Hempfield, and Garden Spot. I have been stressing to the girls all year what a good team that we have, and how competitive our section is, and they were very excited to hear how that was demonstrated when it was announced that we finished fourth. We had several setbacks and disappointments to deal with during the competition but the girls kept digging in and striving to perform well and picking each other up."

By:

TODD RUTH Review Sports Editor truth.eph@lnpnews.com

, Staff Writer

Ephrata could actually see the light at the end of the tunnel Monday vs. Manheim Central in the first round of the Lancaster-Lebanon League Baseball Playoffs at Manheim Township.

Behind pitcher Brandon Miller, who breezed through five innings, scattering just three hits during that span, the Mounts led 2-0 with just six outs to go.

Unfortunately for Ephrata, a Mountaineer miscue opened the door for a Manheim rally in the sixth, and it was all the Barons would need to get things going.

And by the time those six outs were finally recorded by Ephrata, the Mounts were staring at a stunning 7-2 setback that knocked them out of the tournament in the first round for the second-straight year.

The Barons, meanwhile, advanced to Tuesday’s semifinal round to face Lancaster Catholic, which defeated Warwick by an identical 7-2 verdict Monday. The finals are slated for Thursday night at Clipper Magazine Stadium, beginning at 7 p.m.

"We are always disappointed when we don’t get it done in the post-season," Ephrata Coach Adrian Shelley said. "But we lost to a good team. (Manheim Central) deserved it tonight. They earned it."

Ephrata senior tennis player Gabo Murcia, who received an at-large bid to Districts following a sixth-place showing at the L-L League Tournament last week, suffered a first-round loss Saturday at the Hershey Racquet Club.

Murcia was eliminated from the tournament after dropping a 6-1, 6-1 decision to Cedar Crest’s Colin Muraika.

Muraika went on to lose a second round match to Nolan Perugini of Exeter Twp. by a score of 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Monday afternoon in the District Three AAA final, Hempfield’s Derek Hagino defeated Conestoga Valley’s Darren Mast 6-3, 6-4 to capture the gold. It was a rematch of the L-L League final, won by Hagino, 7-5, 6-0.

By:

TODD RUTH Review Sports Editor truth.eph@lnpnews.com

, Staff Writer

What started as a simple gesture of kindness among friends turned into a sea of lime green Saturday, April 27 at the annual Cocalico Community 5K Run/Walk.

When former Cocalico star athlete Rich Fisher, a husband and father, was diagnosed with a form of lymphoma back in mid-November, members of his wife’s Book Club, a group of about 10 to 15 women from the Denver and Ephrata area, decided to step in and do what they could to help.

At first, each month that they met, they delivered a basket to Fisher’s wife Kristi that was filled with items such as snacks, hats, blankets and DVDs, etc., as well as cards with words of encouragement.

"We just came up with little stuff for them, just to kind of give them a lift," said Book Club member Brooke McCracken.

Then Suzanne Engle, wife of Lyndon Engle, who overseas the annual 5K, came up with an idea.

By:

TODD RUTH Review Sports Editor truth.eph@lnpnews.com

, Staff Writer

Kyle Phillips (left) and the rest of the defending L-L champion Ephrata boys lacrosse team will battle regular-season champion Manheim Township in Wednesdayâ??s semifinals. (Photo by Stan Hall)

Just 13 days ago, Ephrata suffered its worst loss of the season at the hands of Manheim Township, who pummeled the Mounts on their home turf by a score of 18-5.

Wednesday night at Hempfield (7:30 p.m.), the two teams meet again, this time with an L-L Finals berth on the line. In the first game, host Hempfield (13-5) will square off against Penn Manor (14-4) at 5:30 p.m.

Wednesday’s winners will meet either Friday or Saturday at Warwick in the L-L Finals. If Hempfield defeats Penn Manor, it will be Friday at 5 p.m., and if Penn Manor prevails, then the finals will move to Saturday at 10 a.m.

The biggest question for defending champion Ephrata (12-6), which knocked off the Blue Streaks, 8-5 in last year’s title game, is what did the Mounts learn last time that they can take into Wednesday’s L-L semifinal game and make for a better showing?

By:

TODD RUTH Review Sports Editor truth.eph@lnpnews.com

, Staff Writer

The Ephrata girls completed what they set out to do from the start of the season last Wednesday in the regular-season meet finale at Lebanon.

Ephrata came into the meet assured of at least a tie for the Section Two title, and could win it outright with a victory over the Cedars.

Mission accomplished.

Led by Crystal Hartman, who was a triple winner on the day, the Lady Mounts took 16 of the 18 events contested to secure an easy 116-34 victory and their second-straight Section Two championship.

"It felt pretty good to finally put that last meet behind us and clinch the championship," Ephrata Coach John Keller said. "It’s an amazing feeling, something I guess a few years ago I probably thought would never happen. To see athletes and coaches alike work so hard through the winter and into the spring, winning the title in back-to-back years…I just feel blessed and so happy for all those who have contributed to turn all this into reality."

By:

TODD RUTH Review Sports Editor truth.eph@lnpnews.com

, Staff Writer

Nate Cummings (left) of Ephrata crosses the plate as Conestoga Valley catcher Aaron Blain awaits the throw during Mondayâ??s 14-2 Mountaineer victory. (Photo by Stan Hall)

Ephrata Baseball Coach Adrian Shelley was looking forward to a day off Tuesday. Come to think of it, his players probably were too.

After all, the Mounts were locked in a 20 game grind that spanned a month and a half and culminated Monday night with a convincing 14-2 section clinching victory over Conestoga Valley at War Memorial Field.

Ephrata, which came into the day with a one-game lead over hard-charging Solanco, avoided a possible one-game Tuesday playoff with the Mules by putting together one of its best performances of the season against the Buckskins.

On the mound, Seth Griffith captured his fifth victory of the season, limiting CV to just two hits with six Ks and 0 walks over four innings before handing it over to the bullpen.

Offensively, Ephrata pounded out 10 hits and scored multiple runs in every frame en route to the five-inning victory.

By:

TODD RUTH Review Sports Editor truth.eph@lnpnews.com

, Staff Writer

Track and field’s second season is upon us, begin this Friday and Saturday with the always entertaining L-L League Meet held at Hempfield High School.

Action begins with Session One Friday at 4 p.m. with several sprint trials and a few field events on tap as well as the finals for the 3200. The meet then continues Saturday morning at 10 a.m. and will run straight through until the final scheduled event which is the boys 4 X 400 relay finals at 2:30 p.m.

The post-season, according to Cocalico Coach Ron Derr, is a time for the cream to rise to the top. Expect nothing less this year, starting this weekend.

"The post season is such a great time of year to really see the kids push past the performances they have already achieved and fight to keep their season going one more week," Derr said Tuesday. "Our league, the Lancaster-Lebanon League, is a league of very high quality and many of the kids competing this weekend should have opportunities to compete the next several weekends (at Districts and States). In addition to striving for those really special performances I always hope that the kids learn to enjoy the moment and the special opportunity to compete. Most teams are really stripped down at this point, so it is the very best of the very best in our league competing against each other."