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.
In Section 2of the Lancaster-Lebanon League, Lampeter-Strasburg and Conestoga Valley have had strong teams recently, however this season Lucas sees Solanco battling them for the top spot.
For Lukas, “hard work” is the norm for him in baseball and in life. He excels in the classroom as noted by his high GPA rank in Solanco’s senior class. In school his favorite subjects are math and computer science. And he contributes to his community by coaching youth baseball in Quarryville.
Next fall he will study Cyber Security at Frederick Community College in Frederick, Maryland. He also plans to compete on their baseball team, the reigning Junior College National Champions.
