Donegal’s baseball team has won Section 3 of the Lancaster-Lebanon League the last two seasons.
Andrew Fabian, a senior, has contributed to both past successes and his team’s goal is to repeat the Section 3 title and play deep into states.
Donegal’s coach, Adam Frey, fields a team with five or six returning starters, including Andrew, a two-year starter at second base.
Lucas Vilk says: “The commander and leader of a baseball team starts with the catcher.” For Solanco, Lucas, a senior, is the man. He leads the team as catcher and bats in the three or four spot in the lineup. Last year he had a .333 batting average with 20 RBIs, 11 doubles and one home run.
Lucas forecasts this year’s team as developing maturity and improving baseball skills. Solanco returns 7 of 9 starters from a season ago and includes four quality starting pitchers — Luke Herr, Derek Phipps, Jason Powl and Chase Sensenig. Sensenig is also a quality leadoff hitter.
“Get the job done!” Joshua Reyes tells his baseball teammates on the diamond at McCaskey. Josh thinks this McCaskey team is on the verge of legitimately competing for a top spot in Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 1.
Josh says his coach, Gilbert Vega, stresses fundamentals in practice developing a team that is “sure to compete,” especially if they play together and play smart.
Primarily, Josh plays third base, however he can play catcher and pitcher when called upon.
Kyler Buckwalter knows success. He just finished his senior season as a member of Lancaster Mennonite’s Lancaster-Lebanon League championship basketball team. He hopes to carry that success to the baseball diamond.
This spring Mennonite will field a small squad with just six seniors. Kyle sees two freshmen who could compete immediately.
Kyle, as the catcher on the team, thinks Mennonite has the best pitching staff in years with ace Jack Snader backed up by Ian Yen and freshman Asher KenKelen.
Key Section 4 opponents on LM’s schedule are Pequea Valley and Annville.
Peyton Gilbert says his life goal is to “pitch in the MLB!” Yes, that is … in Major League Baseball!
Accomplishing Peyton’s goal may be a short time in the future, however right now he says his teammate at Columbia, Cameron McClair, and he are the hardest throwing pair of pitchers in Section 4, if not the entire L-L League.
Peyton’s fastball was clocked at 91 mph last year and he has worked on his strength over the winter to increase his pitch speed to the mid 90s.
Zach Zuber, occasionally called “ZZ Top” or “Snooze”, will be a four-year starting pitcher for Lancaster Catholic. When not pitching, Zach plays centerfield, shortstop and second base. He plans to be the ace of the pitching staff and lead LCHS in excelling this year.
Catholic traditionally has good baseball, however this year the team plans to bounce back from a 9-10 record and compete to win Section 4 of the Lancaster-Lebanon League.
In his senior year, Ethan Transue competes as a three-year starter at shortstop. His Penn Manor team returns two starters from a year ago, and Ethan sees the younger players contributing by stepping up and getting the Comets off to a good start.
According to Ethan, Penn Manor’s off-season workouts are a key to this season -- practicing three days a week in the gym, including batting versus pitching machines that served up fastballs and curves.
Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 1, 2 and 3 baseball coaches have selected the following all-stars for the 2025 season. (Pictured are Hempfield pitcher/ outfielder Johnathan O'Maille and Donegal catcher Chase Cornelius.)
First Team
Cam Simes, P, junior, Ephrata, 8-0, 82 K's, 49.2 IP, 1.27 ERA
Ty Custer, C, senior, Ephrata, .321, .531 OBP, 13 RBI, 12 SB
Ethan Hunt, INF, senior, Ephrata, .295, .580 OBP. 15 RBI, 33 SB
Lancaster-Lebanon League baseball and softball teams participated in a media day as practices get underway.
Hempfield’s baseball team is looking to defend its first state championship after defeating LaSalle last spring. Austin Hinkle takes over as coach for the Black Knights. Hinkle played in the Tampa Bay Rays organization and was an all-state player at Hempfield. The Black Knights return key starters in Brody Gebhard, Brayden Hostetter and Josh Toole. Hinkle says "We have a good foundation and hope that having that experience will pay dividends."
Lancaster-Lebanon League's Section 2 and 3 baseball coaches have named all-stars for the 2024 season. (Pictured are Donegal pitchers Brock Hammaker, Landon Sexton and Ryan Shepard.)
First Team
Sawyer Martin, Sr., OF, Warwick
Brayden Hostetter, Jr., OF, Hempfield
Charlie Sheerer, Sr., OF, Hempfield
Drew Benchich, Sr., INF/P, Hempfield
Brody Gebhard, Jr., P, Hempfield
Logan Dougherty, Soph., INF, Hempfield
Josh Toole, Jr., C, Hempfield
Logan Harelson, Sr., P, Hempfield