Category: Sports

There’s something going on in baseball right now that is only known by true baseball fans, more specifically Major League Baseball fans.  Are YOU one? If so, don’t bother to read on.

On the other hand, if your mind is going blank right now, you may want to seek out the answer to your questions by reading this article.

Here’s the question:  What is the “hot stove?”

Here’s a hint:  It involves big names like Matt Holliday, Roy Halladay, Chone Figgins, etc.

Without that hint, some students took a guess at what it was.

“Something you shouldn’t touch” – Jenna Waite.

“Home base” – Vanessa Nogueras.

“Where you go when you’re mad” – Laquan Morton.

“Batter’s box” – Lauren Kirby.

Even the wiser, more experienced adults of Penn Manor couldn’t quite get their finger on what the hot stove is.

“A type of pitch” – Frank Dell’ Estate – that was his first guess but later found out from an unknown source what it really is.

“I got nothing” – Sean McKnight (who you would call a baseball fan).

“(When they) pig out at House of Pizza.” – Jeff Roth – the Athletic Director, out of all people, didn’t know.

“Kind of pitch (a fastball)” – Michelle Wagner including some help from her five year-old child, Austin Smith. (I let her have a lifeline… but unfortunately it did her no good).

“A pitcher that can really smoke a fastball right past you” – Joe Herman.

You need another hint don’t you? Here you go:  During this time last year, one team spent more than $400 million to secure three players’ contracts.

Hopefully you’re getting a little warmer – no pun intended.

Certainly a couple of the principals will know what this “hot stove” is.

“(When they) heat up the baseballs” – Phil Gale.

“I’ve never heard of it. Third, first basemen?” – Doug Eby.

Before the answer is revealed, there will be only one more hint – a big one too.

Here it is:  It is after the season ends until around March or so.

Have you guessed it yet? If not, then keep reading on to find out what it is after these guesses from some of Penn Manor’s finest.

“They hit the ball and then they run” – Faheem Gilani. Yes, that was really one of the smartest kids in the school.

“The catcher behind home plate” – Andrew Torres.

“When the pitcher hits the batter” – Sam Zegley.

“Three home runs” – Matt Fritz.

“Home run” – Ellen Blazer and Natalie Dell’ Estate.

“Home plate in an interesting situation in the ninth inning” – Cody Welch.

“When players are released at the end of the season” – Landon Alecxih.

Wait, read that last quote again. That was actually really close if not right on it. He said it was a wild guess but it was a pretty good one.

The hot stove refers to the off-season where a “league” of players sign with teams, and where other teams try and play battle-of-the-salary for big name players. But why call it the “hot stove?”

The term “hot stove” originally comes from the idea where baseball fans (waiting for the next season to start) huddling near a stove trying to keep warm while discussing what their teams’ moves are going to be.

Only Penn Manor’s own baseball star, Matt Scheuing, had the correct answer, although he couldn’t believe he was alone on this one.

Good job if you guessed correctly and feel free to go MLB.com for news and updates about this year’s hot stove.

By Alex Geli

Penn Manor’s bowling team has shown extraordinary success over the past couple of seasons.  The team secured numerous titles in the past couple of years, dating back to 2005.

Last year the bowling team showed an extraordinary 12 wins, only losing to Columbia and Elizabethtown High School and tying with York tech.  Penn Manor will have four returning varsity players from last year’s season: Andrew Pete, Bryan Snyder, Eric Ederati, and Brendon Yarnell.  They only lost one senior from last year, Greg Lehr.

The bowling team’s success is a product of hard work, lots of practice and bowling on tougher lane conditions.

Being section one champs in 2004-2005, 2006-2007 and 2008-2009 and then winning leagues in 2005-2006 and 07-08, the team shows that they have a lot of growing talent in a seemingly unexpected place.

However the season will not be without challenges.

“Spare shooting kills us every year in districts,” said Chris Vital.  Vital will be coaching varsity, Dave Ederati will be coaching JV, and Neil Vital will be helping out both of the teams.

Chris Vital has very high expectations for this year’s team because of the successful previous seasons and victories the bowling team has brought Penn Manor.  Although they have had tremendous success, Penn Manor is still looking to improve.

By: Tyler Beckley

It was to be a perfect year, with a perfect record, and a sweep of the whole state in sight until that perfect dream came to an end in overtime.

Winning all season, ranked number one in the country, and their star player appearing on the cover of a national sports magazine (Rise) wasn’t enough for the comets to pull out a victory Saturday afternoon Nov. 14th, 3 p.m. at Exeter Twp. High School.

The Comets entered the game Saturday with their mind set on one thing and that was winning, which is what they have been doing all year.

The Penn Manor Girls Field Hockey team lost during a 1-0 overtime game to Lower Dauphin Saturday in the State Quarterfinal round.

Emma Dahmus scored the game winning goal for Lower Dauphin

The reigning State Champions ended the season with Section, League and District III Championship Trophies.

Congratulations to Coach Soto and the Girls on an exciting season.

By: Damien Oswald

You think of a legend as someone famous or even a prodigy, but what you may not know is there is a hidden legend in our school.

Kyle Troup is a national-caliber ice hockey player but is not well known because the ice hockey team here at Penn Manor is, well pretty much under the radar to most people except the vivacious players and fans of the sport.

Although in high demand by many Travel teams, Troup will soon decide if playing travel hockey is worth giving up his senior year.

Troup started playing for Penn Manor varsity in ninth grade, although he was capable of playing in eighth grade, he was not allowed because he was too young.

“Skill wise I was able to but I could not play because of my age,” said Troup.

Troup started playing ice hockey at age 7 on the Lancaster Firebirds, a travel team, where he said that it was easy skating in the start.

His mother started him on his hockey dream when he watched her play in an adult league, while his father, Rob, was all about him playing hockey because he saw the real potential in him.

Troup showed his potential when he made the Central Penn Panthers, a midget AAA 16U team. He originally played Bantam A at the Firebirds, but this jump in levels in hockey is unheard of.

“Playing at this new level was scary at first because it was a whole new bunch of kids with legit dangles (crazy puck maneuvers). I wasn’t in a bender (someone who can barely skate) league anymore,” said Troup, referring to his initial experiences in a higher level hockey.

When he got up to playing with Central Penn, his coach didn’t allow him to play for Penn Manor because he didn’t want him getting hurt, Troup recalled.

He played for Central Penn as a sophomore and junior, but when he moved in his senior year to a new team, the Junior Flyers, he came back to his home ice.

Troup is known as a good and physical player. He plays rough.

He made his Penn Manor debut on Friday November 6 where he saw the penalty box more then he saw the ice.

“I felt like the refs tried to handle me through penalties,” Troup said referring to the game on November 6. He received five penalties, three of which, he thought were unnecessary.

But Troup shrugs off those kind of experiences for the love of the game.

“I’m really excited; I really want more people to come out to games to see what high school hockey’s all about.”

After many years of continuous travel hockey, Kyle Troup suited up for the last time when he decided to be a senior and “have a life.”

He choose to do this one day out of the blue while he was getting ready for practice.

Troup got all his equipment on except for his worn out skates and decided he was done with his life being all hockey, all the time. He just got up and left that day without letting his coach or fellow teammates know.

One of the major reasons that swayed his decision, along with wanting a life, was that most of the kids on his team that were worse than him, yet were moving up to junior A hockey teams.

By: Alex Geiger

Comets will face South Western Mustangs who are 10 and 1 overall and have beaten 4 out of 5 of the play-off teams this season.

In the first round of district playoffs the Comets went up against Chambersburg High School and won the game 35 to 14.

The game will be played this Friday,  November 20,  at South Western, near Hanover.

” We’re going to concentrate on what we do best,”  said coach Todd Mealy, who thinks the coaches will be the key to victory in Friday night’s game.

South Western will not be a team the Comets will roll over.

” They have a very good offense, averaging 34 points a game,” Mealy explained.

It should be a physical game, also with a mixture of running and passing plays from both teams, Mealy said.

The Comets can add another historical moment to their recent list of accomplishments with a win this Friday sending them to the 3rd round of playoffs for the first time in Comet history.

By: Damien Oswald and Cassandra Graeff

“Oh man!”

That’s the Penn Manor Field Hockey team’s very own motto.

But the phrase was probably more useful to Hempfield fans when their team got beat by the Comets for the District III championship at Milton Hershey’s school field.

The score was tied 1-1 with just over four minutes left in the game when senior, Jill Witmer, was awarded a penalty shot.

“I was about to cry,” Witmer said, “Usually Nancy (Stehman) takes them.  She’s our best stroker.”

Yet, Coach Matt Soto made the decision to send Witmer to make the shot.

Let’s just say that call paid off.  Witmer scored and Penn Manor Comets claimed their first District Championship crown since Soto became coach five years ago.

Hempfield was the first to score in the game, minutes before halftime. The Comets, not used to being behind in the points, decided to change their strategy.

“We needed to shape up and play our normal game,” said junior midfield, Renee Suter, noting it was about to be a passing game.

The Comets are known for their stamina and desire to win.  The team was named number one in the country by an internet sports rating association this year.

“We have a great coach,” said player, Kelly Harsh.

Soto returned the compliment, saying the team is not unique except that “they work so darn hard and know what it takes to be great.

“It’s all about them,” he said.

Tuesday, the girls entered the first round of PIAA State Playoffs, hoping to duplicate their state championship of last year.

You can bet they will be continuing all their traditions, working hard, playing their trademark song for the trip, Trace Adkin’s “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk,” and winning.

“Oh, man!”

(Note: The Comets passed their first hurdle in states by defeating Radnor by a score of 3-0 and will play Lower Dauphin on Saturday in the second round of the PIAA State Tournament)

By Tyler Barnett

The Comets won by a whisper Friday night but the fans were not sure they would.

They wondered as the Comets fell behind, should we leave? No, just one more play.

The Penn Manor fans were doing a lot of this in the blistering cold during Friday night’s eventual victory against Cedar Crest to win the game 36-35.

The Cedar Crest Falcons started the game out tough and continued throughout the game as the Comets kept taking steps backwards with key injuries. 

Starting quarterback, P.J. Rehm was put on the sidelines after getting a helmet-to-helmet hit and head coach, Todd Mealy, didn’t want to risk his player for the playoffs.

Freshmen, Adam Sahd came into the game with lots of pressure to collect the win and gain

home field advantage for their first district playoff game. He entered the game with the score 21-15 in favor of the Falcons.

Sahd is only a freshmen, but looked to be fearless on the field as he scrambled and ran right at Cedar Crest defenders.

At the start of the fourth quarter, the Falcons were up 35-22, and showed no signs of slowing down as their offense looked to be unstoppable.

Penn Manor didn’t give the Falcons the chance to slow down they enforced their own rules.

LeRon Lee rushed for a touchdown to cut Cedar Crest’s lead to only 6 points with the score 35-29.

Making the game close wasn’t the reason the Comets fought so hard in the 4th quarter. They were here to win the game as they did ,thanks to Jarod Shearer’s powerful run, plowing his way through Falcon defenders to tie the game 35-35.

Now it was time for Keith Eshlemen to complete the game and just place the ball through the uprights. Eshlemen has seen pressure all throughout his high school career from basketball, soccer and now football. He always seems to come through in pressure situations.

Eshlemen had a textbook kick to complete the win and bring the Comets to 8-2.

They will now start preparing for the District Three Class AAAA first-round playoff game.

By Connor Rowe

It was one out in the eighth inning. Mariano Rivera made his way to the mound while he and, “Enter Sandman” gave Phillies’ fans that certain feeling that seems that your heart is beating five times faster.

With a four run cushion, Rivera shut down the game, Series, and Phillies’ hopes to win back-to-back World Series’.

The air was electrified in Yankee Stadium as Mark Texiera caught the ball from Robinson Cano with his foot on first base to capture the Yankees their all-of-sports leading 27^th World Championship.

While the city of New York and all of the Yankees’ fans here, there, and everywhere were having the time of their lives celebrating their first World Series in nine years, Phillies’ fans in Philadelphia, and also Penn Manor, were in the totally opposite situation.

“I’m upset,” Taylor Groff, a Phillies’ fan, said, “I was. I’m a Phillies’ fan.”

He also had a word to Yankees’ fans in Penn Manor.

“I think Yankee fans have to go back to New York. This is Pennsylvania,” he said.

Gary Luft, a math teacher who is a Phillies’ fan, had to wear a Yankees’ shirt because of a little bet between fellow teacher, Sean McKnight, a Yankees’ fan

“I’m upholding my obligation,” Luft said about his attire the day after his favorite team lost to the team whose jersey draped his shoulders. He made sure to put a Phillies’ sweatshirt over the Yankees’ jersey. He also said that he doesn’t feel too bad about the outcome of the 2009 World Series because the Phillies won last year.

Although most Phillies’ fans would be angered by the fact that some students wear Yankees’ shirts, hats, etc., Luft doesn’t really mind it.

“I think it’s a great conversation piece,” he said. And of course he added a smart comment about the Yankees – maybe to make him feel better about his team losing.

“They can buy their Championship next year,” Luft said.

The math teacher may not mind seeing Yankees’ apparel around the school, but that isn’t the same with another Phils’ fan.

“It feels like you’re at the bottom of the toilet,” Kyle Hallet, a Phillies’ fan said about the Phillies losing and seeing Yankees’ clothes around, “and a Yankee fan is about to flush it.”

Most Phillies fans are bummed about the end of the Phils’ season, but they still have their Championship last year, and they got to the Series this year and gave the New York Yankees a tough opponent.

Phillies fans probably won’t be watching ESPN for a couple weeks while Yankees fans everywhere will be celebrating, capping it off with the parade in New York City on Friday.

By Alex Geli

It felt as though I had stuck my head inside an ice hockey bag for an hour. It stunk worse then my hockey team after we get off the ice and it felt like I was wearing clothes that were way too big for me, shoes that were 100 times my size and a helmet that was like looking through goggles.

This is the job of Comet man, our friendly mascot here at Penn Manor. A job I held for one hour of my weekend.

I am the backup Comet man and luckily, because the regular character couldn’t make it, I got to make my debut in the game against Warwick.

It was my job on October 23 to get the crowd pumped up and to encourage the Comet fans to energize the Comet players with the Stanky Legg and my comic sense of humor.

Many people have a phobia of people in costumes due to the fact that they cannot see who is truly inside. But when the same people know who is inside running the show, they are less intimidated by Comet man’s big eyes and flaming hair.

The phobia of mascots, which has not been named, is one of the top five phobias and is more prominent in older kids. Younger kids feel safe around Comet man, giving him high fives and receiving autographs.

When playing my role as Comet man I walked up to the student section where a bunch of the “Comet boys” called me over. They all said I should go talk to a senior girl, which turned into a wreck as she screamed bloody murder and almost jumped over the fence.

By: Alex Geiger

They used to be lucky to win a few games each season. However, Penn Manor football has changed it’s identity and has set much higher goals-like becoming section champions.

The Comets have posted a record of 7-2 so far this season with a loss to Wilson High School last Friday night to bring down their  seed for District playoffs, but the team isn’t thinking about the after-season just yet, according to head coach, Todd Mealy.

This is Mealy’s third year of coaching and by all accounts, he has made a huge impact on the program and is establishing a definite tradition of winning.

“Coach Mealy has brought energy and enthusiasm along with a sense of pride in our football program,” said Penn Manor athletic director, Jeff Roth.

Last year Mealy led the team to playoffs, but they did not have the results he was looking for. He is hoping this year will be different.

He feels like the team has enough wins to be safe, but are not there yet. The Comets have two losses from the Reading Red Raiders and the Wilson Bulldogs.

“We aren’t there yet and you have to take it one step at a time,” said Mealy on his concerns for the post season.

“Every team is a different kind of team and has different personalities,” he said.  “This (’09) team competes like champions.”

Everyone wants to know who will get the ball in the clutch or who will be the player showing leadership out on the field, but the talent is so broad there isn’t one specific player that  leads the Comets every game.

According to Mealy, there are dozens of leaders on the team. The Comets voted for five senior captains that will help manage the pressure the team will face during the postseason.

The team has been expecting pressure situations all season.

“During practices and off-season workouts, we put ourselves into these circumstances,” Mealy said.

“Pressure is feeling unprepared,” he said.

The players couldn’t possibly put a season like this together without the help of a intelligent coaching staff, Mealy said, giving credit to Scott Lackey, Chris Maiorino, Gordon Eck, Barry Hawkins, Kevin Kirchner, Darryl Daniel, and Bill Beck. Each coach is in charge of a different group of players.

“The coaching staff is a collective identity not just one single coach, the coaching has showed commitment in the off season and passion for the sport,” he insisted.

By: Connor Rowe