3/18/22
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – The Lackawanna College Softball team, after a week off, is back to work on Friday, March 18^th, when the Falcons travel to Bel Air, Maryland to take on the Harford CC Fighting Owls in doubleheader action.
 
The first game is scheduled for 4:00pm ET, and the second game will follow soon after at 6:00pm ET. There is no video livestream available, but you can follow along with Harford CC's LiveStats link HERE.
 
About the Falcons
Lackawanna College (6-5) hasn't been in action since last Friday, when they dropped a game against the Henry Ford College Hawks, 5-4, in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The Falcons rallied from down 3-0 and 4-2 to tie things up at 4-all, thanks to a Meghan Fritz successful steal of home, but the Hawks won in the bottom of the seventh when they drew a bases-loaded walk to bring the winning run home. The Falcons had just five hits, but were led by Catarena Sommers, who was 1-for-2 with two RBIs, coming on a homerun, and a walk. Madison McVicar was 1-for-2 with a run scored and a pair of walks. MacKayla Quick was tagged with the loss after going 6.1 innings, giving up ten hits and five runs, four earned. The only two walks she gave up all game happened in the bottom of the seventh inning.
 
Through the first eleven games, the Falcons are hitting .281 as a team, and have a combined .785 OPS. Lackawanna College has 23 total extra base hits already this year, 15 of which have been doubles. The Falcons have also outscored their opponents 60-to-50, and have 48 RBIs so far this year. The Falcons have drawn 40 walks, and have stolen 17 total bases so far this season.
 
In the circle, the Falcons have a team ERA of 3.07. Through 75.1 innings, Lackawanna has given up 96 hits and 50 runs, 33 earned, and have struck out 37 batters. Opponents are hitting .295 against the Falcons this year. Lackawanna has turned seven double plays defensively, but the Falcons have committed 27 errors in their eleven games.
 
Skylynn Gilligan leads the Falcons with a .375 batting average this year. Gilligan is second on the team with 12 hits, and has a .412 OBP, good for third on the Falcons. After going 1-for-12 in her first four games, Gilligan has recorded a hit in her last seven appearances, including three multi-hit games. Gilligan was 3-for-3 against Rochester CTC in the first game of a doubleheader last week, and also had a 2-for-3 showing in the win over Henry Ford last Thursday, hitting a double and driving in a run.
 
Emma McNally is second on the squad with a .371 batting average, and has a team-high OPS of 1.153 so far this season. McNally leads the Falcons in hits (13), doubles (5), extra base hits (8), RBIs (13), total bases (25), and slugging (.714). She's second on the team in OBP (.439) and is third on the team in stolen bases at three on the year. McNally's best game came in an 11-6 win over Rochester CTC, where she went 3-for-4 with six RBIs, a double, a triple, and a pair of runs scored. She was held without a hit in three at-bats against Henry Ford in her last game.
 
Madison McVicar is third on the team with a .344 batting average this year. McVicar leads the Falcons with a .488 OBP, and is second on the squad with a .957 OPS. She's third on the team with eleven hits so far this year, and leads the Falcons in walks with nine already on the year. Madison was 2-for-2 with two runs scored in a 10-3 win over Rochester CTC, and was 1-for-2 in the 5-4 loss to Henry Ford.
 
MacKayla Quick is fourth on the team with a .304 batting average so far this year. She has seven hits in 23 attempts so far this season. Quick has a pair of doubles and a pair of RBIs on the year. Quick went 1-for-3 with a double and a run scored against Henry Ford in her last game. Her best performance was a 2-for-3 showing against Henry Ford in a 5-1 loss the day before.
 
Meghan Fritz has a .303 batting average this year, and has collected ten hits on the year, tied with Catarena Sommers for fourth on the squad. Fritz has scored nine runs this season, tied with Madison McVicar for the team lead, and is also tied for the team lead in stolen bases with Kira Ryan, taking five bags so far this year. Fritz has four multi-hit games this year, and had a 2-for-4 performance in a 10-3 win over Rochester, smacking a double to drive in an RBI, and scoring a pair of runs. She was 0-for-4 in the last game against Henry Ford, but scored a run thanks to a stolen base, and got an RBI thanks to a fielder's choice.
 
The aforementioned Sommers is hitting .286 on the year, and is second on the team in slugging (.543), RBIs (9), total bases (19), and extra base hits (5), including two triples on the year. Sommers has ten total hits, and her .893 OPS is good for third on the team. After going 4-for-23 in her first seven games, Sommers has gone 6-for-12 in her last four games, including a 3-for-4 performance in the 10-3 win over Rochester CTC, with a triple and two RBIs. Sommers had a pair of RBIs on a 1-for-2 showing against Henry Ford in her last game.
 
MacKayla Quick has pitched the most on the staff so far this year, going 1-3 in 25.1 innings of work. Quick leads the Falcons with a 1.93 ERA, giving up 27 hits and striking out 17 batters. Teams have scored eleven runs, seven earned, against Quick. She has a pair of seven-inning complete games already this year, including a 3-0 shutout win over Henry Ford College, where she gave up eight hits and struck out three batters to pick up the win against the Hawks.  
 
Meghan Fritz has the most starts on the season, going 2-2 in her four starts for the Falcons. Fritz has pitched 23 innings, giving up 29 hits and 16 runs, eleven earned, while striking out ten batters. Opponents are hitting .293 against Fritz this year. She lost her last start, when she pitched six innings in a 5-1 loss to Henry Ford, giving up five runs, four earned, and ten hits to the Hawks.
 
Tess Ruschman is second on the team with a 2.92 ERA, and a pair of wins so far this year. Ruschman has pitched in 12 innings for the Falcons, giving up 18 hits and six runs, five earned, while striking out three batters so far this year. Ruschman picked up the win in her last start, going five innings and giving up eight hits and three runs in a 10-3 victory over Rochester CTC for the Falcons.   
 
Jeff Pittsman enters his eleventh season at the helm of the Falcons program. After some early growing pains when he took over in 2012, coach Pitt overhauled the Falcons program, turning it into a Region XIX contender year-in, and year-out. The Falcons had four straight seasons of 20+ wins, starting in 2016, and might have had another if not for the pandemic shuttering the 2020 season early. Pittsman is a two-time EPAC Coach of the Year, and has been a fixture in local softball circles for year. An NEPA native and Mid Valley HS graduate, Pittsman began his coaching career in football with the Mid Valley program, and other various schools around the area, before transitioning into coaching softball at the travel-team level. Eventually, his credentials helped him land the job with Lackawanna College, where he took over a team with barely enough players to safely compete, and steadily built the program into a winner.
 
About The Opponents
The Fighting Owls from Harford CC are 4-6 so far this season, and are coming into the contest on a two-game losing streak, after dropping a doubleheader against Anne Arundel on Monday, March 14^th. The Fighting Owls had a combined two runs, seven hits, and four errors in the two games against the Riverhawks. Anne Arundel won the first game 2-0 behind a complete game shutout from pitcher Jaclyn Nevins, who struck out nine batters against Harford. The Fighting Owls wasted a good start from Mackenzie Burton, who went seven innings strong, giving up four hits and two runs, one earned, and striking out a pair of batters. In game number two, the Fighting Owls wasted a 2-0 lead after three innings, allowing the Riverhawks to score six runs in the fourth, sixth, and seventh innings to pull away. Kaitlyn Delaney was 2-for-4 with an RBI, a stolen base, and a run scored for the Owls. Alyssa McLaughlin went seven innings, giving up eleven hits and six runs, three earned, picking up the loss for the Riverhawks.  
 
Harford CC is hitting .262 so far this season, as a team. The Fighting Owls have a combined OPS of .693, and have eleven extra base hits so far this season, including seven doubles. They have 40 RBIs on the year, and have drawn 35 walks on the season, but have struck out a combined 72 times already this year. In the pitching circle, the Owls have a combined team ERA of 9.33. They've struggled to hold their opponents down, who have a combined .366 batting average this year. Teams have scored 82 runs on 94 hits, 56 of those runs earned, and have hit 29 extra base hits, including 21 doubles on the year. Defensively, the Owls have 24 errors on the year.
 
Emily Curry leads the Owls with a .621 batting average on the year. Curry is first on the team in OPS (1.404), hits (18), RBIs (13), total bases (22), slugging (.759), and OBP (.645). Curry is tied for the team-lead in extra base hits (3) and doubles (2), and is second on the squad in runs scored (9). Curry has had five multi-hit games, including three straight three-hit games. She had a four-game stretch where she went 10-for-14 with 8 runs, 11 RBIs, and a pair of doubles. Curry was 1-for-3 in the 6-2 loss to Anne Arundel in her last game.
 
Kaitlyn Delaney is second on the team with a .423 batting average so far this season. Delaney is second on the team with a .484 OBP, and is tied for second with Jess Bouthet at eleven hits so far this year. Delaney is third on the team in OPS (1.022) and slugging (.538). Delaney is also second on the team in stolen bases, with four swipes so far this year. Delaney has four multi-hit games this year, including a 3-for-4 performance in a 10-5 win over Cayuga CC where she had three RBIs and a triple. Delaney was 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored in the last game for Harford.
 
Jess Bouthet is third on the team with a .393 batting average so far this season. Bouthet is second on the team with a 1.059 OPS and a .607 slugging percentage. She's tied with Delaney for second on the team with eleven hits, and is the only Fighting Owl with a homerun so far this season. She also leads the team with six stolen bases so far this season. Her best game came in a 12-0 win over CCBC Catonsville, where she went 2-for-3 with a double, a homerun, a pair of RBIs, and a walk. She was 1-for-4 in her last game against Anne Arundel.
 
Alyssa McLaughlin is the main pitcher for the Fighting Owls. McLaughlin has appeared in seven games, making five starts, and has gone 1-2 on the year. McLaughlin, in 27.1 innings of work, has surrendered 53 hits and 42 runs, 24 earned, while striking out 15 batters. She has a 7.90 ERA and teams are hitting .396 against her this year. Her last game was her seven inning performance against Anne Arundel, where she gave up eleven hits and six runs to the Riverhawks.
 
Mackenzie Burton has appeared in three games, all starts, and is 1-2 with a 6.91 ERA. In 14.1 innings pitched, she has given up 16 hits and 13 runs, eleven earned, while striking out eleven batters. Burton had a strong outing in the first game against Anne Arundel, going seven innings and giving up just four hits and two runs, but the Owls couldn't help her out, offensively.
 
Riley Fisher has also seen time this year, making four appearances, two of them starts. She holds a 2-2 record with a 17.36 ERA. In 9.1 innings of work, Fisher has given up 20 hits and 24 runs, 18 earned, while striking out eleven batters so far this year. Batters are hitting around .400 against Fisher this year. Fisher last appeared on March 4^th in a one inning relief appearance against Cayuga CC, picking up the win as the Owls won in the bottom of the seventh, 9-8. Her last start was against Cayuga in the first game of the doubleheader, where she went seven innings and struck out ten batters, while giving up six hits and five runs, to come away with the win.
 
The head softball coach for Harford Community College is Jack Westermeyer, in his second season in charge. Westermeyer has been involved in softball dating back to 2000, when he started as an umpire with the Maryland Association of Softball Officials, and joined the ranks of NCAA umpires and officials in 2006. He has also spent time in youth softball, coaching at camps for middle school students and leading John Carroll High School from 2012-through-2015.
 
Game Information
The first game of Friday's doubleheader will start at 4:00pm ET. The second game is scheduled for 6:00pm ET.
 
Again, there is no video livestream available, but you can follow along with Harford CC's LiveStats link HERE.
 
The Falcons will stay in Maryland for the weekend for their next series of games, taking on SUNY Corning and Hagerstown CC in Hagerstown, MD for a pair of doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday.