York-Adams League playoff pictures taking shape as spring seasons wind down

Less than seven weeks after the York-Adams League spring sports season began, several league playoff pictures have already taken shape.

Boys’ lacrosse became the first bracket finalized as the league schedule came to a close this week. Dallastown will be the top seed in the county tournament after going a perfect 13-0 in league action, followed by 12-1 Central York, 11-2 Susquehannock and 10-3 South Western.

The Wildcats put the finishing touches on their outright regular-season title with Thursday’s 20-3 win over York Catholic. They put themselves firmly in control of the chase with a road win over Susquehannock a week prior. Their toughest test, ironically, came all the way back on March 24, when they beat Central York 7-6.

“It’s very satisfying,” Dallastown head coach Scott Toman said after Thursday’s victory. “The results are great, but it’s more about how we brought the kids together and how they’ve just taken coaching all year. … It’s been fun.”

Dallastown and South Western will square off in one of two league semifinals May 17; the Wildcats pummeled the Mustangs 21-7 in their previous meeting April 20. Central York and Susquehannock will meet in the other semifinal, a rematch of a 7-4 Panthers victory on April 25.

The Wildcats are actually done for the regular season, posting an official record of 16-1 that has them second in the District 3 Class 3A power rankings, a spot ahead of Central. They’ll hold a scrimmage against Twin Valley — a 2A team they won’t see in the playoffs — next week to keep the competitive juices flowing as anticipation for the league tournament builds.

“We wanted to do the scrimmage in between because we would have a week and a half before we would actually compete,” Toman said. “That’s really hard, once you finally take the field, to get that energy level and get the focus that you need to compete, especially in a county tournament.”

Weekend scoreboard: Red Lion leapfrogged New Oxford for fifth place in the league standings with a 14-13 road victory Friday. Landon Craley scored four goals, while Jack Gulley and Tyler Drane each had three goals and two assists for the Lions, who trailed 8-5 at the half but rallied late. New Oxford is done for the regular season and is safely in the 2A district tournament, while Red Lion holds the 10th of 12 spots in 3A with one game remaining.

Central York closed its regular season Friday with a 21-1 thumping of York Suburban that wrapped up second place in the standings. Susquehannock picked up a statement non-league victory over Hempfield, 15-6, and jumped to No. 2 in the Class 2A district power rankings. Spring Grove beat Conrad Weiser, 12-5, while West York earned a 6-1 win over Muhlenberg. On Saturday, South Western breezed past Hershey, 19-12, for its sixth straight triumph.

GIRLS’ LACROSSE

Most girls’ league games are in the books, and three teams — York Catholic, South Western and Susquehannock — have secured playoff spots with 10-2 final records. But Red Lion, which reached 9-1 with Friday’s 16-13 triumph over New Oxford, remains alone in first place and will capture the outright title with two more victories. The Lions have makeup games against Kennard-Dale and West York scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, respectively.

For Red Lion to miss the county playoffs, it would need to lose both contests and Kennard-Dale would need to add a win at New Oxford on Thursday. In that scenario, both teams would be 9-3 in league action and the Rams would have the head-to-head tiebreaker. Dallastown fell from the contending pack with Tuesday’s loss at York Catholic.

More Friday scores: York Suburban 15, Chambersburg 11

Saturday scores: Hershey 9, South Western 6

BOYS’ VOLLEYBALL

Another week of league matches remains, but the picture looks more clear after York Suburban’s sweep of Dallastown on Friday night. The Trojans (10-3, 9-2) rose to solo third place with the victory, while the Wildcats (10-4, 8-3) hold the fourth-place tiebreaker over York Catholic after sweeping the Irish on Tuesday.

All eyes will be on Northeastern and Central York this Thursday, when the first-place Bobcats (11-1, 10-0) visit the second-place Panthers (10-1, 9-1) with the regular-season title on the line. The teams met in the finals of the Koller Classic at Central several weeks ago, with Northeastern coming out on top, but a full best-of-five matchup will bring that much more drama.

Dallastown, with losses on its ledger to each of the top three, will need a victory Tuesday at Red Lion (7-4 in the league) to secure its playoff spot. York Catholic’s Y-A finale is Tuesday at Kennard-Dale.

More Friday scores: York Catholic 3, Dayspring Christian 0 … Lower Dauphin 3, Red Lion 0

BASEBALL

Dallastown had already clinched the Division I title before suffering its first league loss Wednesday against Central York, while Susquehannock secured the Division II crown Friday with a 2-1 win over Northeastern that pushed the Warriors three games ahead of New Oxford with one remaining. Delone Catholic leads Hanover by two games with two to play in Division IV. The teams will play this Wednesday, but the Squires can clinch Monday at York Tech.

The remaining drama, then, lies in Division III, where Bermudian Springs leads Kennard-Dale by a half-game entering the final week. The Eagles knocked off the Rams, 2-1, on Wednesday, then survived a 13-inning marathon against Eastern York a day later to reach 10-2 in division and crossover contests. 

After a weekend consisting mainly of non-league contests, local squads will return to action Monday and Wednesday to close the schedule. The one-day York-Adams League tournament is set for Monday, May 15.

More Friday scores: Kennard-Dale 7, Littlestown 6 … South Western 2, Central Dauphin East 1 … Spring Grove 15, Carlisle 5 … Milton Hershey 5, York Tech 2

Saturday scores: Dover 5, Northern York 3 … Cumberland Valley 6, Central York 2 … Boiling Springs 7, Hanover 4

SOFTBALL

Littlestown is unbeaten in all contests and has already run away with the Division III title, while Northeastern has clinched D-II over Susquehannock and New Oxford. South Western leads Dallastown by a game in D-I, and the Mustangs (16-1, 12-1) can secure the division crown with a win Monday over Spring Grove.

Delone Catholic and Fairfield, meanwhile, are both 9-4 in Division IV contests, although Delone has the upper hand after beating the Green Knights twice already. The Squirettes’ final two games are against fourth-place York Tech and last-place Hanover, while Fairfield will host Biglerville on Monday and York Tech on Wednesday.

The county tournament will begin May 15 and hold its final May 17. A smattering of non-league games fill out the schedule between now and the start of districts.

Friday scores: Dallastown 15, Spring Grove 0 … New Oxford 8, Dover 3 … York Suburban 11, York Catholic 3 … Littlestown 12, Gettysburg 0 … South Western 12, Central Dauphin East 0 … Northeastern 8, Greencastle-Antrim 6 … York Tech 22, Milton Hershey 10 … Bermudian Springs 10, Camp Hill 7

Saturday scores: Chambersburg 5, Central York 0

BOYS’ TENNIS

This sport always moves more quickly than its spring colleagues, and only two teams are still competing as a unit. 

Dallastown is in the District 3 Class 3A semifinals, and the defending district champs will visit Cumberland Valley on Monday. Hanover knocked out Biglerville in the 2A tournament on Thursday — flipping the script from the regular season — to advance to a Monday matchup at Conrad Weiser. The top three teams in each bracket will make states, so both of these squads will have something to play for Wednesday.

Wildcats sophomore Hayden Koons finished second in the 3A district singles tournament Saturday, while Red Lion’s Cooper Wheeler placed third. Biglerville’s Guillaume Schmitz, the York-Adams 2A singles champion, was fourth in his district bracket. All three players advanced to the state tournament but will first turn their attention toward next weekend’s district doubles tournament in Hershey (and, in Koons’ case, the team tournament as well).

TRACK AND FIELD

Eastern York hosted the Battle for Bridge Invitational on Friday, featuring athletes from 10 schools, including six from the York-Adams League. While Donegal had the strongest day all around, the host Golden Knights received victories from Kendall Felix in the girls’ high jump and javelin, as well as Halana Brubaker in the 400m, Kaydence Strange in the 3,200 and Diamond Bailey in the long jump. York Suburban added two wins in girls’ events, with Abigail Butera taking the 1,600 and Pearl Butz winning the pole vault.

Kennard-Dale’s boys took three events — Dylan Cunningham in the 1,600, Dominic Smith in the high jump and Michael Rake in the triple jump — while York Tech’s Richard Rouse claimed the 110 hurdles and Matthew Arnold won the discus. Northeastern sent most of its team to Wrightsville and earned several high finishes, while Susquehannock entered just three athletes in the event.

More from Friday: A handful of locals competed in the Hoka/Bryn Mawr Running Co. Henderson Invitational, which featured teams from all over the state at West Chester Henderson. Dallastown’s Kailey Granger won the girls’ 3.200m, while Michael Scott was second in both the long jump and triple jump. The Wildcats had five runner-up showings in all, including the girls’ 4x800 relay team, Leah Navarro in the girls’ 800 and Jacob Roskovensky in the boys’ 800.

Red Lion’s LaDainian Strausbaugh finished fifth in the boys’ 100m and 200m; David Warde led York High by placing fifth in the boys’ 300 hurdles; and Northeastern’s Nylah Davis placed sixth in the girls’ high jump to highlight the Bobcats’ showing in the event.

South Western’s team made the trip to Altoona for Friday’s Mountain Lion Track & Field Classic. Bernard Bell led the Mustang contingent with wins in the 110 and 300 hurdles as well as the long jump. Jackson Hersh added a victory in the javelin, while the South Western boys took first in the 4x400 relay. The Mustangs also had five second-place showings, including three on the girls’ side, at the 13-team event.

Saturday: Spring Grove’s Laila Campbell competed against a star-studded field at the East Coast International Showcase, placing third in the girls’ 100m with a time of 11.80 seconds. The rest of the Rockets competed at Carlisle’s Stan Morgan Invitational on Saturday, where Ella Bahn won the girls’ 800m, 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles. Teammate Morgan Dayett took the girls’ discus, while New Oxford’s Lillian Crabbs won the girls’ high jump.

Dallastown sent a contingent to Manheim Township for the Blue Streak Relays, with Cameron Stambaugh winning the discus and the boys' distance medley relay team capturing first place at the 13-team event.

The entire York-Adams League will come together for the county championships at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Central York.