L-L League postseason update

LANCASTER – Now that the baseball, softball and volleyball playoffs are in the books, all Lancaster-Lebanon League action this spring is over.

Kaput.

Everything from here on out is under the District 3 or PIAA umbrella.

With a notebook, a couple of pens, my trusty mouse and a stack of brackets (ahhh, brackets) in front of me, I thought I’d take, oh, an hour or so and see which L-L League athletes and teams are still alive, and where they go from here.

Might hit you with a pop quiz later so pay attention.

First, this …

For updated, complete, day-by-day L-L League schedules (including match-ups, venues, start times and even some news and notes) go here.

BOYS’ TENNIS: Starting with tennis, because that’s currently the only spring sport that is right smack dab in the middle of its state playoffs. Everything else is Districts. … The PIAA team tournament is in the books, and to say District 1 dominated the field would be an understatement. In Triple-A, District 1 champ Conestoga defeated District 1 runner-up Unionville 3-0; in Double-A, District 1 champ Holy Ghost Prep topped District 3 champ Wyomissing 3-2. So three of the four semifinalists were from District 1, and both teams champs came from District 1. … Next up, the boys’ singles and doubles tournaments, on tap for this Friday and Saturday at the Hershey Racquet Club. And several L-L League players are in the mix: In Triple-A singles, reigning District 3 champ Jack Barry from Manheim Township will take on District 1 fourth-place finisher Mike Buxbaum from North Penn; District 3 runner-up Wes Fortna from Cedar Crest will meet District 9 champ Palmer Casteel from DuBois; and District 3 third-place finisher and two-time reigning L-L League Triple-A Flight One champ Jody Sambrick from Lampeter-Strasburg will square off against District 1 champ Kevin Wang from Conestoga. Those matches are Friday at high noon. The quarterfinals will also be contested Friday. Semifinals and finals are Saturday. … No L-L League Double-A players qualified for the state singles tournament. … There are four L-L League doubles tandems in the state tournament, which begins Friday at 1:30 p.m. in ChocolateTown, U.S.A. In Triple-A, District 3 runners-up David Musser and Andy Moshos from Manheim Township will take on District 9 champs Mike Blose and Tim Pearce from Punxsutawney, and District 3 third-place finishers Drew and Colin Wolgemuth from Manheim Central will meet District 1 champs Andrew Zhong and Gavin Studner from Conestoga. … In Double-A doubles, L-L League and District 3 champs Patrick Moran and Eric Ebersole from Donegal will take on District 7 third-place finishers Andy Gallatin and Keegan Shudy from Thomas Jefferson, and District 3 third-place finishers Ryan Bair and Ryan Duschl will square off against District 7 champs Will Kleeman and Dan Martchek from Sewickley Academy. The quarterfinals will also be played Friday. Semifinals and finals are Saturday. Tennis anyone? Get to Hershey Racquet Club Friday and Saturday to get your fill.

BASEBALL: The L-L League playoffs, after a couple of rain-outs and previously undefeated Lampeter-Strasburg going down in the semifinals, are over, and Section 1 champ Cedar Crest emerged victorious. The Falcons kinda picked up where they left off last postseason, when they won the District 3 Quad-A crown with a win over South Western. Cedar Crest bested Warwick 6-2 in an all-Section 1 showdown league finale on Saturday. More about that game from Lebanon Daily News right here (great headline, guys). … Which brings us to the those very District 3 playoffs, which get started in earnest (dare I say, weather permitting) this week. … In the Quad-A bracket, Cedar Crest (20-3) is the No. 2 seed (behind Governor Mifflin), and the Falcons take on No. 15 Wilson on Monday at 4 p.m. at Wenger Field in Fredericksburg, so it’s basically a home game for the Falcons. … Wilson beat South Western 9-2 in a play-in game for the right to face Cedar Crest and bopper outfielder Derek Fisher, who has 11 bombs this season. According to a published report, he’s nursing a bad hammy and isn’t 100 percent. … Warwick (17-7), the L-L League runner-up, is the No. 11 seed and gets No. 6 Cumberland Valley (13-6) on Monday at Creekview at 6:30 p.m. … Hempfield (13-5) is the No. 9 seed, and the Black Knights will face No. 8 Lower Dauphin (16-4) on Monday at Wenger Field after the Crest-Wilson tilt. … Manheim Township (13-6), which didn’t make the L-L League playoffs, is the 10-seed, and the Blue Streaks get No. 7 Dallastown (14-3) on Monday at Red Lion at 6:30 p.m. … Elizabethtown (14-6) is the No. 12 seed, and the Bears face No. 5 New Oxford (15-3) on Monday at Red Lion at 4 p.m. … And Ephrata (13-8) is the No. 13 seed. The Mountaineers beat L-L League foe Penn Manor in a play-in game to get in the main bracket; Ephrata gets No. 4 Chambersburg (15-4) on Monday at 6:30 p.m. at Northern York (home of the Polar Bears, my all-time, No. 1 favorite District 3 nickname). … Cocalico was also in a Quad-A play-in game; the Eagles, seeded 19th, fell 8-4 in a play-in game to No. 14 Spring Grove, which gets No. 3 Red Land in Round 1. … In Triple-A, Lampeter-Strasburg is the No. 1 seed with its shiny 20-1 overall record. The Pioneers went 19-0 in the regular season – the first time in program history the baseball team went undefeated in the regular season. L-S bowed out to Cedar Crest in the league semis, and the Pioneers kick-off Districts against No. 17 Shippensburg (11-8) on Monday at 4 p.m. at Ephrata’s War Memorial Field. Shipp (I go with double p’s, not one), the 17th seed, defeated Donegal 5-3 in a play-in game. … Just one other L-L League team in Triple-A (which sounds kind of odd, doesn’t it?): Garden Spot (14-6) is the No. 8 seed and gets No. 9 Palmyra (13-7) on Monday at 4 p.m. at George Field in Reading. So … if Garden Spot and L-S both win, they’d meet in an all-L-L League quarterfinal on Thursday. … Manheim Central was seeded 19th in Triple-A but lost to No. 14 Greencastle-Antrim 10-4 in a play-in game. … A pair of L-L League clubs in the Double-A bracket: No. 8 Lancaster Mennonite (10-8) squares off against No. 9 Boiling Springs (10-10) on Monday at 4 p.m. at Dover. Winner there gets 1-seed Delone Catholic in the quarterfinals on Thursday. Tough finish for Lancaster Mennonite, which lost to Lancaster Catholic in the regular-season finale, forcing a 1-game playoff against Pequea Valley for the Section 4 title. The Blazers dropped that game, too. They’re probably itching to get back on the diamond soon. … No. 5 Pequea Valley (12-7) faces No. 4 Oley Valley (14-4) in the quarterfinals on Thursday. Site and time TBA for that game. … Lebanon Catholic (6-13) is the lone L-L League entrant in the Single-A bracket. The 7th-seeded Beavers get No. 10 Reading Central Catholic (4-10) in a first-round game on Monday at 4 p.m. at Muhlenberg. Winner gets No. 2 Newport (12-5). … Top seed in Single-A is unbeaten Lancaster Country Christian (14-0). … The District 3 baseball playoffs continue May 26, May 31 and June 2. … Full Quad-A bracket here … Full Triple-A bracket here … Full Double-A bracket here … Full Single-A bracket here. … Reigning District 3 champs: Cedar Crest in Quad-A; Conrad Weiser in Triple-A; Bermudian Springs in Double-A; Berks Christian in Single-A.

SOFTBALL: Like baseball, the L-L League softball playoffs took a couple of extra days to complete because of the rain. Once the dust (or in this case, mud) settled, Donegal had the crown compliments of a 2-1 victory over Section 3 rival Manheim Central. It was the Indians’ second league championship in three years and fourth overall. … Twelve L-L League teams advanced to the District 3 playoffs – and four of them play against each other in the first round, so a pair of league teams will be going home after Round 1. … In Quad-A, No. 8 Warwick (16-4) faces Section 1 rival Hempfield (12-5), the No. 9 seed, Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at Millersville University. Cool set-up there behind Pucillo Gym for games. Winner there should/could get 1-seed New Oxford (20-2) in the quarterfinals. … The other all-L-L League match-up is No. 6 Elizabethtown (17-4) against No. 11 Cedar Crest (15-6) on Tuesday at Garrett Field in Willow Street at 4:30 p.m. … Also in Quad-A, No. 4 Solanco (16-3) gets No. 20 Red Land (12-9) on Tuesday at Garrett Field at 6:30 p.m.; Red Land beat No. 13 Spring Grove 7-3 in a play-in game to advance. … Four L-L League teams in the Triple-A bracket, including No. 2 Manheim Central and No. 8 Donegal, and they’re in opposite brackets so a rematch of the league title game could be in the cards if the Barons and Indians keep winning out. Stay tuned. … Manheim Central (18-5) opens with with an L-L League foe: No. 18 Elco (11-9), which topped No. 13 Hershey 2-1 in a play-in game. … Donegal (16-5) faces No. 9 Northern York (13-7) on Tuesday at Millersville at 4:30 p.m. … No. 12 Lampeter-Strasburg (12-7), meanwhile, opens against No. 5 Twin Valley (12-6) on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. at Muhlenberg. … The No. 1 seed in Triple-A is Boiling Springs (18-2) … Double-A has a pair of L-L League Section 4 entrants: Section champ and league semifinalist Columbia (17-3), the No. 2 seed, and No. 3 Annville-Cleona (14-5). The Crimson Tide and the Little Dutchmen received first-round byes and will open Thursday with quarterfinal games. Columbia gets the winner of No. 7 Bermudian Springs (10-9) vs. No. 10 Delone Catholic (7-10) and Annville-Cleona gets No. 6 Littlestown (11-7). Times and venues TBA for those games. Stick and stay. … And in Single-A, there are a grand total of three teams in the bracket: No. 1 seed and defending champ Greenwood, which earned a bye into the championship game. And No. 2 seed Reading Central Catholic, which will play No. 3 seed Lebanon Catholic in a semifinal game Thursday. Winner gets Greenwood. Times and venues for the Single-A games are TBA. … Full Quad-A bracket here … Full Triple-A bracket here … Full Double-A bracket here … Full Single-A bracket in all of its splendor here. … Reigning District 3 champs: Elizabethtown in Quad-A; Daniel Boone in Triple-A (Blazers are up in Quad-A this season); Brandywine Heights in Double-A; Greenwood in Single-A.

LACROSSE: The lacrosse season is absolutely humming right along; we’re down to the district semifinals aleady. And the L-L League is well represented. … There are two league teams in the boys’ semifinals: No. 1 Hempfield (19-1) will take on No. 4 Wyomissing (17-1) on Tuesday at 5 p.m. at Comet Field in Millersville. The other semifinal pits league champ Manheim Township (17-1), the No. 2 seed, against No. 14 Cumberland Valley (14-7) on Tuesday at 7 p.m. also at Comet Field. … Cumberland Valley is the long-shot of the group; the Eagles upset No. 3 Red Lion 9-6 in the first round before edging No. 11 Carlisle – which upset No. 6 Ephrata by a 6-4 score - 5-4 in overtime in the quarterfinals. … Hempfield and Manheim Township have won quite handily: Hempfield beat No. 16 Lancaster Country Day 15-7 and No. 9 Hershey 19-1; MT throttled No. 15 Dallastown 23-7 and routed No. 7 Penn Manor 19-3. … The District 3 boys’ championship game is Thurdsay at 7 p.m. in Hersheypark Stadium. … The complete boys’ bracket is right here. … There are three L-L League girls’ teams in the district semifinals: No. 1 Manheim Township (19-0) is zooming right along, and the league-champ Blue Streaks will play L-L League rival Penn Manor (16-2), the No. 4 seed, Tuesday at Lower Dauphin Middle School at 5 p.m. The nightcap pits No. 7 Cocalico (17-2) against No. 6 Cumberland Valley (17-3). Cocalico upset No. 2 Kennard-Dale 14-13 in the quarterfinals. … MT has barely broken a sweat in its two games, blanking No. 16 Dallastown 16-0 and rolling No. 8 Wilson 25-6. … Penn Manor defeated No. 13 Lower Dauphin 20-8 and held off No. 5 Hershey 11-6. … The District 3 girls’ championship game is Thursday at 5 p.m. in Hersheypark Stadium. … The complete girls’ bracket is right here.

GIRLS’ SOCCER: The District 3 playoffs are well underway, and three L-L League teams are still standing in the semifinal round – two in Double-A and one in Triple-A. … No. 18 seed Manheim Township, which failed to make the L-L League playoffs, is set to take on No. 6 Mechanicsburg (17-4) in a Triple-A semifinal on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. in Hersheypark Stadium. The Blue Streaks (11-5-2) beat No. 15 Daniel Boone 2-1 in a play-in game just to get in the main draw, and then MT KO’d league foes Warwick, the No. 2 seed, 1-0 and archrival Hempfield, the 7-seed and reigning league runner-up, 3-1 to get to the semifinals. … The other Triple-A semifinal is No. 1 seed Cumberland Valley (21-1) against No. 5 Lower Dauphin (17-4) on Tuesday, also in Hersheypark Stadium. … L-L League champ Penn Manor, 18-4-1 overall and the 4-seed, will take on No. 9 Hershey (14-5-1), and Hempfield (14-4-2) will take on No. 3 Dallastown (17-2-1) in consolation-round games on Tuesday. Win and advance. Lose and you’re done. … The Triple-A finale is Friday in Hersheypark Stadium. No start time listed yet. … There could be an all-L-L League final in the Double-A bracket. No. 15 Elco is on an amazing run. The Raiders (15-7) beat No. 18 Greencastle-Antrim 5-0 in a play-in game on May 17, and the very next night, Elco knocked off No. 2 Tulpehocken 1-0. Tulpy came into that game with a tie and zero losses. Then Elco beat No. 7 Wyomissing 2-1 to reach the semifinals, where the Raiders will meet No. 11 Brandywine Heights (14-4-1) on Tuesday at 5 p.m. at Cedar Crest. … The other Double-A semifinal has storylines aplenty. No. 1 Trinity (19-1; lone loss to Cumberland Valley in the Mid-Penn playoffs) will take on No. 4 Donegal (16-3) on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at Hershey High School. Trinity bumped off Donegal in the District 3 Double-A title match last spring. Donegal got the last laugh a couple of weeks later, defeating Trinity 1-0 in the PIAA Double-A state spring championship game on a goal by reigning Section 3 MVP Hannah Weyland. It was the Indians’ second state title in a row. To make it three in a row this spring, Donegal must get out of District 3 first, and then navigate a single-class state bracket. But that’s later. Tuesday, Donegal will knock heads with its district rival for the right to go to Friday’s championship game in Hersheypark Stadium. The semifinal losers will meet in the consolation-round match, also Friday.

BOYS’ VOLLEYBALL: Hempfield, fresh off its fifth L-L League championship in a row and 16th league crown overall, got a bye into Wednesday’s District 3 Triple-A Pool A quarterfinal round, along with Exeter, the top Triple-A seed from Berks. There are three other L-L League teams in the Triple-A draw: Ephrata, the fourth seed from the L-L League, will take on Lower Dauphin, the second seed from the Mid-Penn, in a first-round match Monday at 7:30 p.m. at Milton Hershey. The winner joins Hempfield and Exeter. … The other Pool A first-round match pits YAIAA second-seed Spring Grove against Mid-Penn 3-seed Central Dauphin. … In the bottom half of the Triple-A bracket, YAIAA No. 1 Central York and Mid-Penn No. 1 seed Chambersburg earned the first-round byes. And a pair of L-L League teams could be joining them: L-L League second-seed Penn Manor takes on Berks 3 Wilson at 5:30 p.m. and Warwick, the L-L League third-seed, takes on Berks 2 Governor Mifflin at 7:30 p.m. at Hempfield on Monday. … Triple-A quarterfinals are Wednesday starting at 4:30 p.m. at Central York. The semifinals, finals and consolation matches are Friday starting at 6 p.m. at Dallastown … Meanwhile, in the Double-A bracket, L-L League runner-up Manheim Central earned a bye into Wednesday’s Pool A quarterfinal. The Barons are the only L-L League squad in the upper bracket. In the lower backet, L-L League 2-seed Lancaster Mennonite will take on Berks No. 3 Reading Central Catholic at 7:30 p.m., and L-L League No. 3 Garden Spot will square off against Berks 2 Schuylkill Valley at 5:30 p.m. on Monday at Wilson. Winners there advance to the Pool B quarterfinal bracket, where YAIAA No. 1 Northeastern and Mid-Penn 1 Red Land are ready and waiting. … The Double-A quarterfinals are Wednesday starting at 4:30 p.m. at Wilson and at Dallastown. The semifinals, finals and consolation matches are Friday starting at 6 p.m. at Central York.

TRACK AND FIELD: You can find a list of the L-L League athletes that qualified for the PIAA Meet right here. State finals are Friday and Saturday at Shippensburg University; 9 a.m. both days.

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