No. 1 Lawnton continued its domination in the East Shore Twilight League by running its record to 17-2-2, four games ahead of runnerup Palmyra. In recent games, Lawnton downed Linglestown, 7-1 and 6-5, and Dauphin, 3-0. Leading players for Lawnton are pitchers Jimmy Wix, Billy Felo, Ryan Wamsher and the Schwartz brothers, Rich and Ryan. Their dad, Dick Schwartz manages the club.
No. 2 The recent Region 4 Legion baseball tournament in Hanover wasn't particularly kind to East Shore entries Hershey and Campbelltown, which went two and out. Hershey had to settle for its Dauphin County championship with a 2-1 upset win over No. 1 seed Paxton. Campbelltown was coming off its third Lebanon County League title in four years after three straight wins over Myerstown.
No. 3 During regionals, Hershey dropped its opener to host Hanover, 8-5, followed by a 9-2 loss to McConnellsburg. Campbelltown opened with a 5-4 loss to Spring Grove, before losing to Ephrata, 3-2. Hershey held a 5-4 lead over Hanover in the seventh inning and Campbelltown led Spring Grove, 4-2, in the sixth, but nine-inning games proved too long for the local entries. Ephrata rallied to beat Campbelltown with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.
No. 4 "It was a good experience for us," said Hershey coach Doug Ruhl, whose team was much younger than most legion teams with only one recent grad, Eric Marrero, on his roster. "Hopefully, it was something on which we can build next January when we start back up again in the gym." Among Hershey's returning players is rising seniors Tim Edwards, Kevin Kremer and Jack Gunkel, who stole home to win the championship against Paxton.
No. 5 It's back to the RBI World Series for coach Rob Martin's Harrisburg Senior RBI program after winning its third straight Mid-Atlantic Regional. Deon Stafford (Lower Dauphin) and Ricky Bettinger (CD East) delivered first-inning RBIs as Harrisburg outlasted Prince George's County 3-1 on July 21 in the final. Reliever Anthony Atticks (Susquehanna Twp.) worked out of a jam with back-to-back strikeouts in the seventh, sending Harrisburg to Minnesota Aug. 3-8 for the RBI World Series.
No. 6 Word came in this week from the University of Tennessee that Hershey grad Caroline Brown is all but ready for her senior soccer season with the Lady Vols. The one-time PIAA champ in 2010 underwent double knee surgery in November, but her rehab has gone well, thanks to the under water treadmills installed by her club coach, former Hershey Bear Mike McHugh of Hydroworx.
No. 7 Casey Boyer, Brown's former teammate at Hershey who earned 12 varsity letters at Hershey in soccer, basketball and field hockey, is gearing up for her junior soccer season at Virginia Commonwealth Univeristy. Boyer started her collegiate career at Central Florida, but transferred to VCU to play for former U.S. international Tiffany (Roberts) Sahaydak and her husband Tim. Ironically, the Sahaydaks left VCU this spring to take over the UCF program.
.No. 8 Middletown pitcher Nathan Ocker was selected to participate the Triple Crown Sports North-South All-Star game, scheduled to be played July 29. The game will be nationally televised at 6:30 p.m. from RF&P Park in Glen Allen, Virginia. Ocker highlighted the prep baseball scene this spring when he struck out 24 in a Mid-Penn Keystone game at Palmyra. The game will appear in HD on CBS Sports Network. Ocker finished his sophomore year with a 2.30 ERA in just under 50 innings for the Blue Raiders. He had 77 strikeouts with only 15 walks.
No. 9 The Harrisburg City Islanders hosted the Sports Anchor Elks Soccer Shoot Challenge on Wednesday at City Island, as a prelude to the Elks Shootout, which will be held Aug. 10 at the Skyline Sports Complex. Among those participating in the contest were veteran Channel 21 meteorologist Tom Russell, Luke Johnson of Linglestown and Paulimar Coll of East Hanover.
No. 10 An email came in this week from Linda Jones of Harrisburg, who wrote: "With the unfortunate negativity of CD grad and Penn State (recruit) Zayd Issah, I wanted to present you with an exceptionally positive student, who just happens to be my grandson, Siele T. Johnson. He attended Central Dauphin East High School, graduating this year. He has been accepted at Penn State, Mount Alto College with a 3.8 GPA majoring in physical therapy. I am more than a little proud of him, I am ecstatic over his achievements." Jones pointed out she regretted the circumstances of Issah's recent arrest, but noted that other potential role models reside on the East Shore.