3/10/22
 
MYRTLE BEACH, SC – The Lackawanna College Baseball team upped its win streak to six straight, with a pair of one-run victories on Thursday morning in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, at the Cal Ripken Experience Baseball Complex.  
 
The Falcons took the first game against the Danville Area CC Jaguars, 5-4, in a tight match-up where both teams traded runs back and forth through the middle innings. The Falcons followed that up with a nail-biter, winning over the Henry Ford College Hawks, 7-6, in extra innings. Lackawanna College improved its overall record to 6-4, and completed an undefeated stay in Myrtle Beach at the Ripken Experience.
 
Game One Recap: Lackawanna College 5 – 4 Danville Area CC Jaguars
Lackawanna College, despite only scoring runs in two innings, did just enough on offense to come away with a 5-4 win over Danville Area. Derrick Newman came on in relief for the win, his first of the year, and Mason Drummond pitched two innings of scoreless action to shore up the save for the good guys.
 
The Falcons (5-4) were led by Quinn Hanafin, who went 2-for-2 with a walk, a run scored and an RBI. His RBI came at a crucial moment in the fifth inning, giving the Falcons a 5-3 lead, and just enough cushion to come away with the win. Cody Fleischer was 1-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs, while Daniel Keenan was 1-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. The Falcons had just eight hits, but managed to put pressure on when they needed to. Jason Carpenter got the start and went 2.2 innings with four strikeouts before coming off to make way for Newman, who went 1.1 and gave up just one hit and one run. Drummond pitched two innings for the save, giving up just one hit and walking one batter, without allowing any runs.
 
There were a few base runners between both teams through the first two innings, but there wasn't much action until the top of the third, with Lackawanna at the bat. Eric Ludwick got a leadoff single to put a runner on, and advanced to second on a sacrifice by Julian Thompson. After a Daniel Helfgott single, runners were on the corners with one out. Fleischer came up and grounded into a fielder's choice, bringing Ludwick home and giving the Falcons a 1-0 lead. With two outs, Keenan came up and hit a two-out double to bring Fleischer in to score, and doubling the Falcons' lead. Quinn Hanafin kept the inning alive with a single, putting runners on the corners with two outs. A wild pitch from the Jaguars brought Keenan in, staking Lackawanna to a 3-0 lead.
 
Danville Area (3-5) answered back in the bottom frame of the third. A leadoff walk and a single put two on with nobody out. Jason Carpenter, who to that moment had been pretty effective, got a fly out for the first out of the inning, but gave up an RBI single to the next batter, making it 3-1. Carpenter got another out with a pop up on the infield, but the Jaguars got another run across with an RBI single, cutting the Falcon lead to 3-2. Carpenter would give way to Newman, who came out and got the final out to end the threat.
 
Danville would strike again in the bottom of the fourth, when a leadoff double led to back-to-back ground outs, which advanced the runner around the bases to score, making it 3-3 after four innings.
 
The tie would be short-lived, as the Falcons hopped right back in front in the top of the fifth. Julian Thompson led the inning off with a single, advanced to second, and then third, putting a runner at third with just one out. Fleischer obliged, ripping a double to bring Thompson home and help the Falcons reclaim the lead. It looked like the Jags would limit the damage to just one after getting a strikeout, but Hanafin came up and hit his own two-out, RBI double, bringing Fleischer across and giving the Falcons a 5-3 lead.   
 
Kyle Scott came out for some work in the bottom of the fifth, but the Jaguars put some pressure on immediately with a leadoff walk. The runner advanced on a ground out, and a single put runners on the corners with just one away. Another ground out, this time to Scott, brought one run in, making it 5-4, Falcons. Scott worked out of his jam on the next batter with a swinging strikeout.  
 
The Falcons were stymied in the top of the sixth, and Mason Drummond pitched around a walk and an HBP to deny the Jaguars anything in the bottom frame. Lackawanna went down in order in the top of the seventh, and Danville got a leadoff double to start their half of the inning, but Drummond induced three straight outs, two on fly outs to the outfield, to secure the save and the team victory for the Falcons.
 

Game Two Recap: Lackawanna College 7 – 6 Henry Ford College (8 Innings)



In game two of the Thursday doubleheader, Lackawanna College and Henry Ford College had an instant classic, with both teams trading runs back-and-forth, coming back from deficits, taking leads, and drawing even throughout. It would be the Falcons who found the breakthrough, scratching a run across in the bottom of the eighth inning to pull out a 7-6 win.
 
Lackawanna College (6-4) was led by Quinn Hanafin, who went 2-for-3 with two RBIs on the day, while Cody Fleischer continued his run of form with a 2-for-4 and two runs scored performance for Lackawanna College. Daniel Helfgott was also effective, going 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored. Aiden Starn went five innings, giving up seven hits and three runs, two earned, but it would be Daniel Keenan that eventually picked up the win, going two innings in relief and striking out three batters to pick up the Falcon victory, their sixth straight.
 
An error led to the Hawks (5-2) putting a man on with one out, but starter Aiden Starn got out of the inning without damage thanks to a double play ground out. In the bottom frame, a Helfgott single led things off, but he was out at second on a subsequent fielder's choice from Fleischer. A passed ball put Fleischer at second, but a strikeout put two away, and the Hawks on the brink of escaping the first. They wouldn't be able to, thanks to a two-out RBI single from Hanafin, scoring Fleischer and putting the Falcons in front, 1-0.
 
Henry Ford answered in the top of the second, scratching a run across with a sacrifice bunt, after back-to-back errors put runners on the corners with nobody out. The sac bunt ended in a double-play, but the Hawks put two players on with back-to-back singles to keep the inning going. With runners on second and third and two out, Starn got a ground out to third to end the threat and keep the game tied at one.
 
The Hawks got another run in the top of the third to take the lead. A one-out walk put a runner on, a stolen base put them on second, and a swinging strikeout gave the Hawks just enough time to get their runner to third with two outs. An RBI single followed, giving Henry Ford a 2-1 lead. Lackawanna answered in the bottom half of the third, when Fleischer got aboard with a leadoff single. Samuel Daniels crushed a gapper into the outfield, but a good relay from the Hawks picked Fleischer off at home, while Daniels stood at third with a triple. Hanafin grounded out, bringing Daniels home and tying things up at 2-all. The Falcons did manage to put another runner in scoring position on a second triple, this time from George Castro, but Ian Murphy struck out to strand the runner and end the inning.
 
In the top of the fourth, Henry Ford got a runner on with a leadoff single, advanced the runner on a passed ball, and then got them to third on a ground out. The runner came home on a balk, helping the Hawks reclaim the lead at 3-2.
 
Still trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the fifth, Lackawanna College to things back up-and-running on offense. Helfgott and Fleischer led the inning off with a pair of singles to put two aboard with nobody out. Later, with one out and both runners on second and third, a passed ball allowed Helfgott to come home and Fleischer to go to third, tying things up at three. The Falcons weren't done, as Quinn Hanafin popped a double that scored Fleischer, making it 4-3, Lackawanna College.
 
Henry Ford quickly struck back in the top of the sixth. With Daniel Petrouskie on the mound, an HBP and a single put two on with just one out. An RBI single brought one run home to tie things back up, but, after a strikeout, it looked like Petrouskie might dance out of trouble. With runners on second and third and two out, a seemingly killer two-RBI single scored a pair of runs, putting the Hawks up 6-4. Henry Ford had more chances, with runners on the corners and still two outs, but Cody Fleischer threw out a runner to end the inning and the threat.
 
The Falcons manufactured a little more magic in the bottom frame, as Eli Riley hit a one-out single, stole second, and got to third on a passed ball. After a walk put Jacob Simpson aboard, Simpson stole second, making it second and third with one out. David Currieri brought Riley home with an RBI single to make it 6-5, and Helfgott came up and sacrificed himself with a ground out to bring Simpson home, making it 6-all after six innings.
 
After a leadoff walk, the Hawks stole second, and had a runner in scoring position with nobody out in the top of the seventh. Enter Daniel Keenan on the bump for the Falcons. After another steal put the go-ahead run 90 feet from the plate, Keenan got a ground out fielder's choice that ended in a play at the plate, tagging out the lead runner. He then pitched around a single with a pair of fly outs to end the inning. The Falcons had chances in their half, with a pair of runners on with just one out, but one runner got picked off on the base paths, and, eventually, the Falcons hit into a fielder's choice to end the inning and the scoring threat, sending the game into extra innings at 6-6.
 
Keenan fired up a big 1-2-3 inning for the Falcons in the top of the eighth, striking out the side, all swinging, to get the Falcons back at the plate in the bottom frame. A one-out walk from Joseph Wileczek, followed by Helfgott reaching on an error, put two on with just one out. Each runner advanced to second and third on a passed ball, and a Fleischer walk loaded the bases with still just the one out. That was all pinch hitter Matthew Stam needed, as he lofted a ball into right field, just deep enough to score Wileczek from third on the sac fly, giving the Falcons the hard-fought 7-6 victory.
 
That concludes the spring break trip for Lackawanna College, winners of their last six games, including a 6-0 record at the Cal Ripken Experience Baseball Complex in Myrtle Beach. The Falcons' next game was supposed to be a doubleheader at Harford CC on Saturday, March 12^th, but that series has been postponed due to the impending snowy weather forecasted to strike the northeast this weekend. As of right now, the next Falcon baseball games will not be until the upon up Region XIX play against Raritan Valley, with a doubleheader on Saturday, March 19^th, at 12:00pm ET and 3:00pm ET in Branchburg, NJ.