MIKE GROSS | Sports WriterDonegal and Ephrata clinched Lancaster-Lebanon League Section baseball titles with wins Wednesday.
In Section Two, Ephrata locked up its second straight championship with an 8-1 defeat of Lebanon at War Memorial Field.
The Mounts got superb pitching from sophomore Camryn Simes, who allowed three hits and no earned runs in a complete game. Chase Prange, Ty Custer and Nathan Savage had two-hit games for the winners. Custer had a triple, two runs scored and two RBI.
The Mounts stole eight bases.
Ephrata (12-1 in the section, 13-4 overall) has won seven of eight. It will try to win a second straight L-L chanpionship when the league playoffs begin next Thursday.
Elsewhere in Section Two, Lampeter-Strasburg closed in on second place and a league playoff berth by winning at third-place Elizabethtown, 11-8.
Devin Aponte did a lot of the heavy lifting for the Pioneers, pitching three innings and going 2-for-3 at the plate with two doubles, and run scored and an RBI. Cooper Hillen had two hits, three RBI and scored twice.
Luis Perez-Alfaro had a big game for E-town, going 3-for-5 with a home run, two runs and four RBI.
In Section Three, Donegal ended the suspense with an 8-5 defeat of Cocalico. The Indians are 11-2, 14-4. Garden Spot and Manheim Central are tied for second at 8-5.
Donegal’s 10-hit offense included multi-hit games by Sawyer Floyd and Brock Hammaker, and a two-run double by Landon Sexton.
Pequea Valley extended the Section Four pennant race with a dramatic 3-2 win at Annville-Cleona.
The Braves scored two in the seventh on a walk, two A-C errors, a stolen base and an RBI single by Elijah Smucker.
It means Pequea (10-3, 13-5) trails section leader Northern Lebanon by two games in the loss column with two games left. The Braves are also two games up on third-place Lancaster Catholic for second in the section and the league playoff berth.
Pequea travels to Northern Lebanon Monday.
In Section One, Manheim Township jarred Penn Manor 11-0 in Millersville, pulling even with the Comets for second place and a league playoff berth. Both teams are 9-4 in section play.
Braden Leed pitched a complete-game two-hitter.
Section One leader Hempfield goes to Township Friday and hosts Penn Manor Monday.
The Black Knights clinched a tie for the section title with a 5-2 defeat of Cedar Crest Wednesday.
Jon O’Maille and Ryan Jackson handled the pitching for Hempfield, which improved to 11-2, 14-4.
