Jefferson Forest’s Trevor Johnston (5-2) picked up the win for the Cavaliers by holding Amherst to just an earned run over six innings in Jefferson Forest’s 9-1 victory over the Lancers on Wednesday in the Seminole District tournament semifinals at Heritage.

Few teams have challenged E.C. Glass in boys tennis this season, but Monday’s 5-0 sweep of Fauquier County in the Northwest Region tournament should serve as a good tune-up for next Tuesday’s Group AAA state quarterfinal match.

They’re not there yet, but E.C. Glass’ boys and girls lacrosse teams are on the brink of something big.

Spring high school sports hit full speed with postseason play today when Dogwood, Seminole and Western Valley District tournaments start in baseball, softball and boys and girls soccer.

E.C. Glass’ boys and girls teams overcame sizeable deficits to GW-Danville and Franklin County, respectively, to capture their ninth consecutive Western Valley District championships, Friday night at E.C. Glass’ Vince Bradford Track.

DANVILLE — Lynchburg College took a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the eighth inning against the NCAA Division III South Region top-seed Salisbury (41-3), but the Gulls erupted for five runs in the inning to snatch a 5-3 victory from Hornets (32-12) and stay alive in the double-elimination baseball tournament at Dan Daniels Park.

FOREST — Senior catcher Josh Huffman had his doubts at the start of the season regarding Jefferson Forest’s fledgling pitching staff.

Except for the meet-ending 1,600-meter relay, which Heritage’s boys ran away with, tight finishes characterized Wednesday’s second and final day of the Seminole District track and field championships at Brookville.

It took Liberty Christian Academy until the bottom of the fifth inning in Tuesday’s Virginia Independent School Division III first round state playoff game against St. Catherine’s to come up with a clutch hit, but when Bulldogs finally got that clutch hit LCA went on to pummel the Saints 7-3.

Jefferson Forest boys and girls tennis teams have found that their best competition often comes in practice, especially for their top two seeds.

NARUNA — Whenever William Campbell’s Amber Marstin and Altavista’s Brooke Short pitch against one another on the softball field, the two juniors are bound to get into an intense duel.

A minute into sudden-death overtime, in the championship game of the Virginia Independent Conference boys lacrosse tournament, Covenant’s Alex Keuhler was trapped in the crease, sacked like a quarterback in the pocket by two or three Virginia Episcopal School defenders.

t was a rocky first inning in the Blue Ridge Conference softball tournament championship game for Liberty Christian Academy against eight-time defending champ Holy Cross, but the Bulldogs rebounded behind the brilliant effort of freshman starting pitcher Killian Harrison to claim the Blue Ridge title with a 6-2 victory.

Kent Brizendine was robbed.

On the day after netting the 100th goal of her varsity career, with her third hat trick of the season Wednesday night at Rustburg, Brookville senior Nichole Smith signed a partial scholarship to continue her soccer career at Winthrop University, a Division I program.

GRETNA — Throughout Katina Brooks’ four seasons as coach of Gretna’s softball team, the Hawks have had excellent pitching and solid defense, but not enough run production to keep them competitive in the Dogwood District.

There is no official Lynchburg-area boys soccer championship, but Wednesday night’s game between area high school powers Jefferson Forest and E.C. Glass sure felt like one.

Virginia Episcopal School’s boys lacrosse team won its school record 15th consecutive game, eclipsing last season’s mark by one, with Tuesday 18-2 home triumph over Miller School in the Virginia Independent Conference tournament semifinals.

Senior forward Jeanine Johnston returned from a pulled quadriceps muscle injury that sidelined her for the past two games and assaulted Jefferson Forest’s depleted defense from the start of Monday night’s non-district match at E.C. Glass.

BEDFORD — Dealing with on- and off-the-field distractions is a part of life for any softball player, particularly seniors in the midst of their final spring season.

Jeff Capps, in his 10th season as Liberty Christian Academy’s head wrestling coach, led the Bulldogs to their best Virginia Independent Schools state tournament finish in 25 years this winter.

In wrestling, it helps to have a teammate of comparable size and skill, and compatible personality, as a sparring partner — someone who can sharpen skills, fine-tune techniques and keep your head on straight.

It did not take long for Lance Carter to have a big impact on Amherst’s track program after leaving Appomattox. In just his second year with the Lancers, he took the girls track team from a seventh-place finish at the 2007 Seminole District indoor track meet to a fourth-place finish in the Group AA state meet. That is why Carter was selected as The News & Advance’s all-area girls indoor track coach of the year.

At some point, you have to wonder if Heritage’s Laura Rapp ever stops running. The senior is a standout on the Pioneers’ cross country team, the indoor track team, the outdoor track team and the girls soccer team.

One hundred and ten percent.That’s what Brookville senior Ethan Nixon tried to bring to the table every time he competed for the defending Group AA indoor track and field state champion Bees.

A former All-American decathlete at Liberty University, Brookville’s Ramsey Moore is a master at multi-tasking.

It was a bittersweet season for Brookville girls basketball coach Warner Dyke.

Joyous Tharrington established herself as Brookville’s all-time leading scorer (1,350 points) and rebounder (811) this season — statistics that gave her the slightest edge in selecting her over teammate and best friend Brittany Campbell as The News & Advance All-Area girls basketball player of the year.

LOVINGSTON — It wasn’t the 12 losses in 2006-07 that irked Nelson County boys basketball coach Brandon Garrett. It was the nature of the losses.

LOVINGSTON — Thomas Brown’s rapport with Nelson County teammates T.J. and Trever Martin was built long ago, when the three would visit their grandmother.