Category: Sports

Section Champs: PM defeats Hempfield for Title

By Connor Hughes and Jordan Rineer –

Down 2-0, Penn Manor rallied back with three straight games to beat rival Hempfield.

The victory secured the Section One title for the Comets (11-0 Section One, 13-0 overall), their first since since 2005, breaking Hempfield’s five-year section title streak.

But, being down 2-0 can really weigh on a team mentally.

Hitter Dayonte Dixon recovers a block against Hempfield in Tuesday's rivalry match in Landisville. Photo credit Lancasteronline.com.

“I was actually being really negative. I didn’t foresee us winning at all,” said outside hitter Joey Jackson, who finished with 12 kills.

The Comets just lost two straight sets, and their confidence and performance was lacking going into the 3rd game.  But, coach Chris Telesco had a few words with his team, to make sure they were still motivated.

“I told (the players), ‘this isn’t all you have,’ ” said Telesco, talking about his comments after the second game. “I told them I believed they could do it, so let’s do it. I told them not to focus on game four because there was no game four if we didn’t do our job in game three.”

Despite the pep talk, some players were still skeptical.

“If you would of told me that we were going to win (the match) after the 2nd game, I wouldn’t of believed you,” said Jackson.

The Comets were down, but not out.  They got a huge moral and adrenaline boost from the traveling Penn Manor fans.

“Fans really kept us in it,” added Jackson. “We really fed off their energy. The crowd was great. you never see that from a volleyball game.  At the away match there was twice as many supporters than our last home match (against Hempfield).”

“We can’t say enough about our crowd. We made Hempfield our home court,”
added Telesco. “Our fans came to life in game three and propelled us the rest of the way. It was a volleyball community victory, and that makes it that much more exciting.”

Energy and adrenaline can only get a team so far, and the Comets knew they had to step up their game.

The Comets were propelled by a few stellar performances.  One of the most important, but maybe not the most glamorous outputs was from libero Mark Dano.

Dano did the dirty work, and finished the match with a game-high 31 digs.

“Dano was great.  We knew what he could do but no one else realized his capabilities,” said Jackson.

The postseason is looking positive for the Comets, who start with a Monday league game at home versus the fourth seed in Section ll.

“This year we are on our way to (making districts and states). We made our road through Leagues slightly smoother. And if we can secure the top position in Leagues, we help ourselves in Districts. We need a good position going into Districts since our district is by far the toughest in the state,” said Telesco about his team’s upcoming postseason.

The Comets had a miraculous comeback win, and the players were ecstatic.  But, they all had similar feelings about the game, and junior Devon Reis summed it up perfectly:

“I don’t know how we did it, but we did it.”

Hot Rematch at Hempfield Tuesday

By Brady Charles  –

It’s crunch time.

The rivalry game is back.

The Penn Manor boys volleyball team is on pace for a record setting season. The Comets (12-0) and currently first place in Section One, and atop the district rankings. Comets are headed for battle against Hempfield in tonight’s section one contest.

The battle begins Tuesday at 7 p.m at Hempfield when the first serve is tossed and the intensity begins.

It’s simple.

If the Comets win, they clinch the section title for the first time since 2005, if they lose it’s a tie for the section title, which will result in rematch to determine the champion.

Dylan Weber hits it through Hempfield block for one of his 16 kills in the April 12th match. Photo by Lancaster Online

The Comets beat Hempfield April 12 in a five-game nail biter. It was the first victory for the Comets over the Black Knights since the 2005 season. The Comets were led by their senior leaders in the win, DaYonte Dixon had 17 kills with Dylan Weber following closely behind with 16 kills.

“I have been playing varsity since my freshman year, and we’ve always been either second or third, I’m really tired of it. This is the year we can change things,” said senior Dylan Weber.

April 12 wasn’t the only meeting with the Black Knights this year. The Comets squared off against the Black Knights in a weekend tournament this past weekend.

The Black Knights beat the Comets in a one game match 25-15. The Comets were playing with one arm, without their star junior libero Mark Dano. Although these tournament matches do not count against a team’s official record.

“It’s not just beating Hempfield, it’s more about winning the section,” said Dylan Weber.

Many of the Comets have been anticipating the “real game” for weeks now and the anticipation is growing for them.

“I’ll never sleep tonight,” said senior setter Cheyenne Weber via Twitter Monday night.

The restlessness will end tonight.

Live Blog of the Barnstormers Tonight

By Sam Valentin-

I am at Clipper Magazine Stadium waiting for the start of the finale against the Somerset Patriots at 7pm. Already the fans are starting to trickle in, the smell of hotdogs, and cotton candy fill the air, while the green grass glimmers in the afternoon sunlight. Its a great night for baseball folks. And I will bring it to you live tonight from the press box.

The Barnstormers lost in shocking fashion last night to the Pat’s in the middle game of the three game series which concludes tonight. The Patriots scored seven… yes seven runs with their final four outs to stun the Stormer’s by a score of 7-6. Although Durbin pitched a no- no through six and two thirds innings.

Lineups-

Somerset

2B Freddie Bynum

LF Deangelo Mack

1B Freddy Sandoval

DH Jesse hoorelbeke

RF Aaron Mathews

3B Jeff Nettles

C Yusuf Carter

CF Johnny Drenned

SS Rex Rundgren

RHP Justin Cassel (0-1)

Barnstormers

CF Adam Godwin

LF Blake Gailen

1B Tommy Everidge

3B Terry Tiffee

RF Ryan Harvey

2B Brad Boyer

DH Fehlandt Lentini

SS Jaime Pedroza

C Emerson Frostad

LHP Rich Rundles (0-0)

7 pm- National Anthem and Stormers take field

Now play ball

Freddie Bynum up. He grounds out to short.

Now Deangelo Mack. He lines out to short.

Two down with Sandoval at the dish. And again the shortstop makes the put out.

Now the Stormers are up in the bottom of the first

Godwin flys out to center and Gailen grounds out. and now slugger Tommy Everidge struts to the plate to take his cuts with two down. He stays cold by grounding out to short

Three up three down for both teams

And now Hoorelbeke up. This guy can hit. He he showed it two nights ago.Well he grounds out to Tiffee. Mathews strikes out. Rundles first of the night. Two down. Nettles ends the inning with a ground out back to Rundles.

Now up Tiffee for the Stormers. He strikes out. Cassel’s first k of the night. And now up harvey. Harvey gets called out looking. Back to back strikeouts for Cassel. Boyer steps in. He grounds out to first to end the inning.

Carter digs in for the pats in the third. He gets the first hit of the game with a grounder up the middle. Drennen, Mr. frosty for the night steps up. Although Drennen gets rung up for the second k of Rundles night but Carter takes second. Rundren singles to left and Carter scores from second 0ff an error in left. Somerset up one. Now Bynum up again. He strikes out and then Rundles gets a line out to short from Mack.

So bottom of the third and its now 1 to nothing not in the Stormers favor.

Lentini up to lead off. He gets on with a very strong liner. Pedroza steps in. He strikesout giving Cassel his third k of the night. Frostad up with one down Lentinit on first. Frosty (yes I just gave him that nickname) hits into a 4-3 double play to end the inning.

Now the fourth inning and Sandoval is leading off. He flies out to shallow center. Hoorelbeke up who puts a frozen rope to left. one on first and one out for Mathews who puts a double into the gap in right, Both men in scoring position for Nettles who barely gets called out at first. Ends the inning no damage.

Now the home side of the fourth.

Godwin leads off. Godwin grounds to first for out number one. Gailen digs in and grounds out to first. Great defense from the Pats this inning. Everidge ends the inning with a strikeout.

Fifth inning now and score the same with the Pat’s up one.

Carter doubles to start the inning. Next up Drennen or Frosty who drops a sac bunt. Rundgren then hits a sac fly scoring carter to make the score two in the favor of the Pats. Stormers still nothing. The top of the line up with Bynum who gets on after a lengthy at bat with a grounder up the first base side. Mack up with two down and Bynum standing on first. Bynum now on second easily takes the base. Lightening just sighted in background folks could effect the game. Mack ends up striking out.

With the stormers down two Tiffe flies out to right. Harvey grounds out and Boyer strikes out to end that frame.

Now the sixth and Sandoval strikes out. And Hoorelbeke gets another base hit with a liner to left. Mathews up next at the plate with Hoorelbeke on first. And Mathews looks out but called safe at first. Rundles is at 83 pitches after he strikes out Nettles.

Lentini leading it off. He gets on by way of an error by the shortstop. This brings up Pedroza who takes a long at bat and ends up with a stirke out which turns into a double play when Lentini is thrown out trying to steal second. Frostad comes up and grounds out to first.

Ching Lung Lo now pitching for Lancaster. Leading off for the Pat’s is Carter who flies out to shallow left. Next up Drennen who also flies out to left. Rundgren grounds out to end this side of the seventh inning to led us to our stretch.

After the stretch the top of the line up leads it off for the Stormer’s. Godwin gets on with a liner to center. This brings up Gailen who moves Godwin to scoring position with a ground out to first. Everidge back up to the plate and he is hitless on the night. He does move Godwin to third and this brings up Tiffee in a much needed RBI situation. And Tiffee comes up short when he smacks the ball to the left fielder.

Now the eighth inning. And fan favorite, Ross Peebles brought in for the stormers. Somerset’s top of the line up leads it off. So Bynum steps in and flies out to left for the first out and Mack walks which brings up Sandoval who gets rung up by Peebles. This leads to a pitching change by Hobson who goes with Pollok who gets Hoorelbeke to fly out to shallow right.

Now the pitcher for Somerset is Anthony Claggett who faces first Harvey who gets rung up. This brings up Boyer who goes deep to right center to finally put a tally on for Lancaster but they are still down one. Lentini up now who beats out a grounder to bring up Pedroza with one out and man on first. Pitching now is David Quinowski. Pedroza is seeing a plethora of pitches before he finally gets called out on strikes when it looked like a walk. Frostad to bat. Lentini finally steals second he has been tip toeing around all night. Frostad takes a stroll to first and the Pat’s bring in another pitcher in Josh Rupe. He gets a chopper down to load the bases for Gailen who has an opportunity here to tie or even take the lead for the Stormers. They have not led all game. And runners advance on a passed ball. Games tied at two with two outs in the bottom of the eighth. And the eighth finaally comes to end with Gailen popping up to short.

Mathews to lead off the ninth for Somerset. He is struck out. This brings up Nettles who flies out to center. There could be extra baseball here tonight. Carter strikes out and this could lead to a walk off for the Stormers. Lets hope so.

Leading off slumping, slugger Tommy Everidge who can not buy a hit right now. He grounds out to short for out number one. Tiffee up with the chance to be the hero. And no he grounds out. Here comes Harvey with the last out in regulation in the midst. Will he be the hero? The devils just took the lead by the way. Well he was no hero but stayed alive and fought for a blooper to center to get on to bring up the man who already homered once tonight, Boyer. Can he do it again? No he can not.

Extra baseball on the way.

Another call to the bullpen for Lancaster. They call upon Mike Johnston to face Drennen. And he knew what was coming and he crushed it to center his first hit of the night and he has two RBI’s on the night as well. The lead is now one by Somerset in the top of the tenth. Will he be the hero? Rundgren flies out to center for the first out and Bynum grounds out. And Mack grounds out to bring up the Barnstormers who really need to find there bats here.

Lentini will lead off the bottom of the 10th. He grounds out to short. One done for Pedroza at the dish now. He cracks one done the first base side that is gobbled up. Frostad with two outs needs to do something here. Down t there last out and Frostad get a single throw a hole between first and second. Brings up Godwin who puts away a fielders choice and somerset wins and takes the series.

The Stormers did eventually lose the series against the Patriots but it was a tough series. In game one the Stormers won easily with a score of seven to two. The game was never really in question. And then in game two even with Lancatser’s pitcher, J.D Durbin pitching almost seven innings of no hit baseball they allowed Somerset to score seven runs in their final four outs. And last night in the finale the Stormers never really got it going losing to the Pat’s in ten innings. Drennen, who also hit the game winning homerun two night ago delivered again when he  smacked a lead off homer in the tenth to secure the game and series for the Somerset Patriots.

Now the Barnstormer’s will prepare to battle the new team in the Atlantic League, the Sugar Land Skeeters. They have a three game weekend series with them. And then they have a mini series at home against Camden starting on Mondya before heading to Camden for two nights when next weekend they will end up back here in Lancaster against Southern Maryland.

Stormer’s start it up at home

By Sam Valentin- 

This time the Barnstormer’s did not have to wait until the ninth inning to produce runs.

Lancaster came out swinging last night in their home opener scoring four runs in the first inning. While in their previous two wins against the Blue Crabs they had to rally in the final frame.

John Halama picked up his first win in the home opener for the Barnstormers Tuesday night. Photo by Gabbi Bauman.

In front of a sellout crowd of 7,088, the stormers started off a very strong offensive night. In the first inning, Somerset pitcher, Doug Arguello had a tough outing not even retiring a batter before his night was ended. The Stormers bats came alive early to get four runs to make the score four to one.

They never looked back.

“I like when we can get off early like that,” ‘Stormers skipper Butch Hobson said.

Although Stormer’s starter, John Halama did give up an early run in the first, he only gave up another run. Only one was earned. Halama (1-1) earned the win for the Barnstormers, allowing six hits and two runs (one earned) in a six-inning quality start. The bullpen combination of Beau Vaughan and Ching-Lung Lo pitched a no-no for the rest of the outing.

“The big thing is getting stretched out,” said Halama, who threw 84 pitches. “Hopefully, next outing I can get close to that 100-pitch count.”

The Barnstormers scored their final three runs in the fourth inning off of Somerset’s, Mike Solbach. Kody Kirkland blasted a solo shot to lead off the fourth. It was his second of the season. Adam Goodwin scored off a passed third strike to Terry Tiffee. Jesus Merchan who went two for five on the night doubled down the third base line to end the offensive storm.

The Pat’s scored another in the sixth off of a laser double by slugger Jesse Hoorelbeke. This ended the scoring for the night.

Lancaster will send J.D. Durbin (0-0) to the hill on Wednesday evening against right-hander Mike McDonald (0-0) for game two of the three game series with the Patriot’s. The game is scheduled to start at 7:00 p.m.

In note: Leasean McCoy threw out the ceremonial first pitch to start off anpother baseball season in Lancaster. He was there promoting his foundation, the Lesean McCoy Foundation. His appearance was to raise money and awareness for ALS. McCoy’s grandmother recently succumbed to ALS and the LeSean McCoy Foundation is set up to help battle the disease. He will also be having a football camp at Penn Manor this summer through his foundation.

The Barnstormer’s recently signed outfielder, Brandon Haverman who has spent some time in the Mariner’s system after graduating from Purdue.

Also last years Freedom division MVP, Tommy Everidge recorded his first hit last night in the win.

Steelers and Eagles Both Score Big In Draft

By Ian Noll-

With the 2012 NFL draft closing this past weekend, the Philadelphia Eagles finally have buffed up a defense that couldn’t hold a fourth quarter lead last year, even if Ryan Leaf was the opponent’s quarterback.

For the Steelers, they added depth to a line that had Ben Roethlisberger spending more time pulling dirt from his helmet then he did running an offense.

“It’s one of those things in the past where if they can’t keep Ben (Roethlisberger) upright, then they won’t be able to win the game,” said science teacher Matt Fox, an avid Steelers fan

But fortunately, both teams showed up big and selected players that were needed, not wanted.

The Pittsburgh Steelers finished with nine draft picks, drafting four offensive lineman total, with three in the first four rounds who, according to ESPN’s Jamison Hensley, could start for a very long time. This year’s draft more than likely solved the Steelers’ woes at offensive line, which let up 42 sacks total in 2011.

DeCastro will add depth to a hurting offensive line. Photo from Triblive.com

Adding to an already potent offense, the Steelers picked up Florida running back Chris Rainey, Colorado wide receiver Tony Clemons and tight end David Paulson from Oregon. Rainey’s addition to the running back core can achieve his potential to be deadly with his speed and agility. He is also a threat on special teams which makes him even more valuable.

Expect a revived and explosive offensive package from the Steelers this year.

“By getting some of their lineman they are building for their future, they have a pretty young line versus what they used to have, which was very injury prone,” Fox said.

As far as defense goes, Pittsburgh drafted two defensive players, Sean Spence, a linebacker hailing from Miami and Terrence Fredrick, a cornerback from Texas A&M.

“I think they get beat too many times over, which turns them into a prevent D,” Fox said. “I think they will be able to put together some type of secondary that will be able to pass protect more then they did the previous year.”

Both players will assume backup positions behind current starters, which with the mentoring of current players could help this defense return to the days of the “Steel Curtain.”

The Eagles came out of this draft with their heads held high, bringing in what some call the best draft class under current coach Andy Reid.

Philly drafted four defensive players, something that needed to happen after last seasons troubles.

Added to the defensive line is tackle Fletcher Cox, from Mississippi State, and end Vinny Curry from Marshall.

Cox was a potential top-6 pick in the draft but had dropped to the Eagles at the 12 spot. Expect to hear a lot about him during the up and coming season.

Fletcher Cox looks to make a big splash in Philly. Photo by Blackenterprise.com

As far as the linebacker core and secondary goes, the Eagles drafted Mychal Kendricks, an inside linebacker from California, and Brandon Boykin, cornerback from Georgia.

Boykin will help fill a gap in the secondary after the Birds sent Asante Samuel down to the Falcons in Atlanta.

“I think they are still a little weak at the linebacker position but they will be able to fight through and win a super bowl,” junior Matt Hatch said.

Flip to the offensive side, the Eagles added five players across the already explosive run and gun style offense.

Nick Foles, from Arizona, will be fighting for a backup spot behind Michael Vick once camp starts. Foles was considered a risky pick by many, but with guidance from Vick could fulfill his potential.

For position players, they added to an already solid wide receiver core with the addition of Marvin McNutt of Iowa. Then at running back they added Kansas State’s Bryce Brown who ran a 4.3 40 at the combine.

Dennis Kelly (Purdue) and Brandon Washington (Miami) will be joining the offensive line this season too.

All in all, both teams came out strong from the draft, earning high B’s and A’s from experts rating their draft performances. Both teams will square off October 7 at Heinz Field.

Tune in and see who really is the best football team in Pennsylvania.

 

Girls Soccer Aiming to Clinch Playoff Spot

By Daulton Parmer –

Comet Field was the site of a girls soccer showdown this week.

A win would move the Comets to leagues for the Penn Manor Girl’s Soccer team. The top two teams move onto league playoffs.

The third place Comets, with a season record of  10-4-1, took on the Cedar Crest Falcons standing in second place at 9-7-0.

Unfortunately, the Comets couldn’t pull through.

The game had perfect weather and the players were really confident going into the game.

“I feel really good about our defense right now,” said senior captain Sara Bennis, “We’ve been practicing really well and hopefully our play will rub off from our last game against Manheim Township.”

Bennis led the defense in a crucial win against Manheim Township previously in the season, giving up zero goals and just a few looks at the net.

Defense wasn’t the problem for Penn Manor this time, they allowed the same type of results as the game against Township, zero goals, in 100 minutes.

But offense really hasn’t been the strong part for the Comets this year.

For multiple games this season, the girls just couldn’t find the back of the net.

Logan Kramer(17) and Erin Patterson(2) fight with Cedar Crest player for ball photo credit by Lebanon Daily News

“Without dominating junior Lindsay Hutchinson, the Comets need more people to step up offensively,” said Assistant Coach Sara Scheid.

“We just weren’t clicking, everything was forced and we just couldn’t get lucky,” said senior and captain Logan Kramer.

Unlucky wasn’t just the name for the offense, freshman Goalie Abby Schlegelmilch injured her leg coming down from a save. Which kept her from finishing the game. Another freshman, Carolyn Weber, came in goal for the second half of overtime.

The game ended 0-0.

Doesn’t end the chance at leagues.

Doesn’t make a change at leagues.

“We have to beat Hempfield Thursday,” said Scheid.

Beating number one Hempfield Thursday on their Senior Night is the first priority. After the win they still would need Cedar Crest to lose against Mccaskey. If they both win, the word going around is a play in game for playoffs.

Last match up against Hempfield finished with a heartbreaking loss in overtime.

Only time will tell the future for the Lady Comets.

 

 

 

The Shoe to Fit the Part

By Richard Schulz –

There may be no more competitive race than the competition between athletic shoe makers to come up with the next best thing that will make teens go wild.

Athletes from all sports have a variety of shoes from which to pick. Kids go into stores thinking that Nike or Adidas may be a good athletic shoe, but they may stumble over the number of choices.

Wall of athletic shoes. Photo credit to www.runblogger.com.

Austin Ulmer, a junior from Penn Manor High School and a high school soccer fan, is a loyal fan of Nike and admits that all his athletic shoes are Nike.

Right now he favors his Nike Shox.

“This shoe is light and flexible,” said Ulmer. “It was a random choice but one I’m glad I made.”

Ulmer is a soccer player and favors Nike for his shoes, and other apparel. “I’m a Nike fan all around,” said Ulmer. All of his cleats are also running shoes which seems to be trending in Penn Manor High School.

Miriam Nelson, nutrition and physical activity researcher at Tufts University in Boston and author of The Social Network Diet, knows her kind of shoe.

“I have tried lots of different shoes,” Nelson said. “I wear Adidas Supernova running shoes.”

Everyone argues over which brand is better than the other. Ranging from Nike to Adidas or even Puma.

“I don’t think any brand is better than any other. It’s finding that right shoe for you,” said Nelson.

On current charts, the top selling shoe is the Nike Air Max Lebron 8 selling for $157 according to counterkicks.com. All other popular shoes range from $100 to $200. The top two brands are Nike and Jordan filling in the top ten spots.

The link, http ://counterkicks.com/2010/12/09/top-100-best-selling-basketball-shoes-nov-2010/  has the chart of the top 100 Best Selling Basketball shoes.

The shoe is meant to fit tightly without pinching the widest part of your foot. People all have different sized feet and can choose among hundreds of thousands of shoes. Track, football, basketball and many other sports have different forms for different reasons.

Basketball fans may wear Adidas and rock adiZero Shadows or adiZero Roses labeled after NBA player Derek Rose. Football players that like Nike may choose to wear Nike Alpha Speed or Nike Zoom Vapor Fly D’s.

Doesn’t matter what sport a person does and what brand they rep., the shoe they wear is the shoe that fits.

 

Penn Manor Girls Soccer Keeps Fighting

By Brady Charles –

Through injuries and a tough road, the Penn Manor girls soccer team just keeps fighting.

With early injuries in the season to their captain and center back Sara Bennis and midfielder Sam Wright, the Comets struggled through many games, but endured all the tough times and got through it.

But wait.

The injury bug struck again. Starting forward and Stony Brook recruit Lindsay Hutchinson suffered a torn acl earlier this month. Another slap to the face to the Comets, coming at the wrong time.

“It was very emotional losing Lindsay to a season-ending injury, we’ve been playing together for as long as I can remember,” said Bennis.

Sara Bennis, star defender for Penn Manor, fights for a 50-50 ball.

With the playoffs right around the corner the Comets were in need of a big win. The Comets got that big win Wednesday night which was also senior night. The Penn Manor girls soccer team faced off against Lancaster Lebanon League rival Manheim Township and pulled out a 1-0 victory to knot up the top of the standings in section one. Penn Manor along with Township and Cedar Crest are now tangled up in second place all with a record of 7-4 in league play.

“It was a huge win, and a big confidence booster, were right back in the swing of things,” said Bennis.

With the tight Section One race, the Comets hope to qualify for league playoffs, with just three games remaining in the season.

This week will decide the fate for the 2012 girls soccer team, facing off against McCaskey, Cedar Crest and Hempfield all within a week.

The motto they’ll be living by, win or go home.

 

U.S. Soccer Team is Red White and Very Blue

By Ryan Flexman –

Once again the USA national soccer team has failed to reach the Olympics. For the second time in the last three Olympics the United States will not be represented in the soccer competition.

The under-23 U.S. soccer team was in Group A for the Olympic qualifying, with Canada, El Salvador, and Cuba. The team could not clinch a spot, finishing third out of four in the group, one goal behind second place and the 2012 Olympics.

“This is probably the worst feeling I have ever felt in my life so far as a pro athlete,” said Freddy Adu, team captain for the U.S. national team who notched two assists in their El Salvador showdown.

USA soccer player drops to the ground after their Olympic dreams are crushed. Photo credit ABC News.

After a depressing 2-0 loss against Canada, El Salvador was their last hope. A goal from Terrence Boyd in the first 61 seconds gave the U.S. confidence that they could leave with an easy victory.

But El Salvador wasn’t giving up without a fight.

Not long after Boyd’s goal, the underdog El Salvador put two quick goals on the board to make it 2 to 1 before half.

After the two goals were scored by El Salvador, goalkeeper Bill Hamid was replaced by Sean Johnson who played the remainder of the game.

The U.S. came back with two goals within three minutes of each other to regain the lead, a second from Boyd and one from Joe Corona. All they had to do was keep it that way to advance to the next stage.

But they didn’t.

With less than four minutes left, El Salvador’s Jaime Alas blasted a 25 yard shot off of the goalkeepers hands and in the net, ruining hopes for the U.S.

Several American players dropped to the ground in devastation and disbelief.

Goalkeeper Sean Johnson, who did not start the game and let the equalizer in the net, refused to speak with reporters after their devastating tie.

“It truly is amazing how much more undeveloped the U.S. Men’s Soccer is compared to other countries around the world,” said Penn Manor junior Bobby Goss.

USA superstars Landon Donavon and Clint Dempsey were not playing in any of their Olympic qualifying games, which is a popular excuse for fans around the country for the team’s disappointing defeat.

View the highlights of the U.S. vs. El Salvador soccer match at:  http://www.ussoccer.com/media-library/Videos/U23-MNT/2012/03/120327-U23-MNT-vs-SLV-Highlights.aspx

 

Comet throws a no-no

By Sam Valentin-

Darren Weidman “had his groove” on Wednesday when the Buckskins visited Millersville.

It was the bottom of the fifth. Conestoga Valley is down big with two outs. The batter hits a fly ball.It is going towards the gap.

A scared Weidman thinks to himself “you got to be kidding me.”

Darren Weidman threw a no hitter on against Conestoga Valley. Photo by Sam Valentin

But outfielder Tim Harris got to it.Weidman survived the stressful moment.

Little did Weidman know that this was actually the last batter he would face on the day.  He surrendered zero hits in six innings of  “easy” work against Conestoga Valley.

“It (the no- hitter) was easy. They were not very good hitters. Their three and four hitters were good but the rest of the team was not up to the varsity level,” said Junior pitcher and shortstop, Darren Weidman.

He first noticed the rare coincidence in the third inning and just tried to pitch.

“After third inning I thought wow they do not have any hits. I tried to it off my mind while throwing,” said Weidman.”When I got out there I was in the zone and was not paying attention to anything but pitching.”

Well Weidman did wind up going one for three at the plate and helped himself out by bringing in two  runs. Penn Manor won the game easily, having to bring in the mercy rule. The Comets won ten to nothing in six innings.

This was not Penn Manor’s first no hitter but it was Weidman’s first.

“Maybe next year. I do not know if I could do it again this year,” Weidman stated.

According to Penn Mnaor’s Athletic Director, Jeff Roth there are only a handful of no hitters thrown in the league a season and that it was an outstanding performance by the Comet’s hurler.

After wednesday the baseball team upped there record to 5-6 and Darren is now 2-2 on the year. After starting off the year slow with some close games the Comets seemed to regroup and now find themselves in the midst of a three game winning streak.

“We are playing our best baseball right now,” said Roth.

They will put their win streak on the line today at Cocalico. They have eight more games left to try to make a push for the league playoffs.