3/21/22
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – After a longer than expected layoff, the Lackawanna College baseball team is back in action on Monday, March 21^st, when they host the ASA College Brooklyn Avengers in a doubleheader. The first pitch of the first game is scheduled for 1:00pm ET at the University of Scranton's Volpe Field, located off Luzerne Street in South Scranton.  
 
Both games will be video livestreamed via the Lackawanna College Athletics YouTube Channel at www.lackawannafalcons.com/YouTube.
 
 
About The Falcons
The Falcons (6-4) have a six-game winning streak, but have not played since a pair of one-run victories over Danville Area CC and Henry Ford CC on Thursday, March 10^th, in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The Falcons used back-to-back RBI doubles in the top of the fifth inning to give themselves just enough cushion for a 5-4 win over the Jaguars of Danville Area CC in their first game, while the Falcons overcame a 6-4 deficit after 5.5 innings, winning it in extras at 7-6 to keep their winning streak alive.  
 
The Falcons are hitting, as a team, .325 so far this season, with a combined .925 OPS. They have 30 extra base hits, including 18 doubles and nine homeruns already this season. They're slugging .515 as a team, and have stolen 16 bases so far this year. The Falcons are averaging just shy of seven runs per contest.
 
On the mound, the Falcons are holding their opponents to a .285 batting average, and have a staff ERA of 6.89 this year. In 64 combined innings, the Falcons have given up 74 hits and 55 runs, 49 earned, while striking out 62 batters and walking 32. The Falcons have picked off three base runners so far this season, and have turned four double plays, while committing 14 errors as a team so far this year.
 
Quinn Hanafin is the team leader in batting average, hitting .480 so far this season in his nine appearances. Hanafin has a 1.180 OPS, and leads the Falcons with 12 hits and five doubles so far this season. His six RBIs place him third on the squad, and he's also second on the team in total bases at 17. His .680 slugging is second on the squad, among players who have played in seven or more games. Hanafin has recorded a hit in all nine of his games so far this season, and went a combined 4-for-5 with two doubles and three RBIs in the two wins against Danville and Henry Ford.  
 
Cody Fleischer is second on the team with a .407 batting average so far this year. Fleischer has a 1.108 OPS, and has eleven hits on the year, second on the squad. Fleischer's seven RBIs have him tied with George Castro for the team-lead, and his 13 runs scored this year lead the Falcons. Fleischer's .515 OBP is tops among players who've played in seven or more games for the Falcons. Fleischer is also second on the team with four steals so far this season. Fleischer was a combined 3-for-8 with four runs scored, a double, and two RBIs in the wins over Danville and Henry Ford in Myrtle Beach.
 
Daniel Helfgott is hitting .310 on the year, and is third on the Falcons with nine hits so far this season. Helfgott has scored seven runs so far this season, good for second on the squad. He was a combined 3-for-8 with a run scored and an RBI in the wins on March 10^th against Danville and Henry Ford.  
 
George Castro is hitting .259 on the year, but has a 1.096 OPS and leads the Falcons in slugging with .741 on the year. Castro is tied for the team lead with Fleischer in RBIs (7), while leading the Falcons in homers (3) and total bases (20) so far this season. Castro also leads the team in strikeouts (11) so far this year. Castro was a combined 2-for-5 with a triple in the wins over Henry Ford and Danville in Myrtle Beach.
 
David Curreri, who has played in five of the Falcons' ten games so far this year, is fourth on the team with eight hits in his 13 at-bats, and has a 1.412 OPS so far this season, while hitting .615 for the year. Curreri has a double and an RBI, and an OBP at .643 so far this year. Curreri was 1-for-3 against Henry Ford, driving in a run in his last appearance.
 
Aiden Starn is the team leader in innings so far this season, with eight innings of work. Starn has given up 14 hits and 12 runs, nine earned, while striking out a pair. He has a 10.13 ERA on the year, and opponents are hitting .350 against him. Starn was the starter in the match-up with Henry Ford, going five innings and giving up seven hits, three runs, two earned, on a walk and a strikeout. He didn't receive a decision in the game.
 
Matthew Stam has pitched six innings in his two appearances so far this year, giving up three hits and two runs, both earned, while striking out five batters. Stam has a 3.00 ERA, and opponents are hitting just .158 against him so far this year. Stam got the win in his last appearance, going four innings in relief against PSU New Kensington, allowing just three hits and striking out five batters.
 
Samuel Daniels has been excellent for the Falcons this year, allowing neither a run nor a hit in 4.2 innings of work, all while striking out a team-high ten batters. He went three innings of relief in his last appearance, striking out eight batters to help the Falcons beat Mid Michigan for their first win of the year.  
 
Kyle Scott, recovering from injury, has pitched in four innings of work so far this season, holding a 2.25 ERA on te year. Scott has struck out seven batters, and only allowed three hits and one run in his limited action. Scott's last appearance was a one inning relief appearance, where he gave up a hit and a run against Danville Area CC.
 
Keon Burkholder, Cameron King, Jason Carpenter, and Marc DeNunzio have all pitched six innings, each, for the Falcons this season. Burkholder and King have ERAs of 4.50, each, while DeNunzio has struck out eight batters so far this season, despite opponents hitting .379 against him so far this year.  
 
Coach Mike McCarry enters his fourth season at the helm for Lackawanna College. McCarry has helped elevate the Falcon program in his short time, guiding Lackawanna to a pair of NJCAA World Series appearances in his first three seasons, one of which was shortened and ultimately cancelled by the COVID-19 pandemic. Before his time at Lackawanna, McCarry was the pitching coach at Stephen F. Austin and LaSalle Universities. As a pitching coach with both schools, he had multiple pitchers sign professional contracts, and, especially in his time at LaSalle, McCarry brought four NJCAA All-Americans to be a part of the Explorer program. Before that, McCarry spent his time in baseball in the Philadelphia Suburbs in Bucks County with Central Bucks West and the Colts Collegiate Summer Team. McCarry is a Keystone College graduate, where he played baseball for Jamie Shevchik and the vaunted Giants program. McCarry is 84-38 in his career at Lackawanna College.   
 
About ASA College Brooklyn
The Avengers come undefeated on the year at 4-0-1, having tied their first game against Suffolk before rattling off four straight, including a doubleheader sweep over Dutchess CC on Friday, March 18^th, in their last games. In a 6-2 win in game one against Dutchess, the Avengers struck early to put three on the board in the first, survived a pair of runs in the bottom frame, then put runs on the board in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings to pull away. In game two, ASA scored eleven runs in the first three innings, and coasted the rest of the way for the victory.  
 
As a team, ASA is hitting .301, and has a .927 OPS, which includes a .465 OBP. They have 14 extra base hits, which includes seven doubles and five triples on the year. They have ten stolen bases on the season, and have struck out 35 times this year, while drawing 44 walks as a team.
 
On the mound, the Avengers have been very good, holding their opponents to a combined .228 batting average, while the staff has an impressive 1.22 ERA in its first five games this year. In 37 combined innings, the Avengers have given up 19 hits and 20 runs, but just five earned, while striking out 54 batters so far this season. They have nine errors and have turned one double play so far this season.
 
Waldelmar Mateo leads ASA with seven total hits so far this year. He's got a .389 batting average, and has a .667 slugging percentage so far this season, with one double, two triples, and a team-high nine RBIs. Mateo has a team-high 12 total bases on the year. Mateo also leads the team with three stolen bases on the season. Mateo went a combined 3-for-6 with five runs scored and four RBIs in the wins over Dutchess last Friday. Mateo had two triples in the 16-6 win.
 
Samuel DeLaRosa is one of two players with a .417 batting average so far this season. DeLaRosa is tied for second on the team with five hits so far this season, and has a 1.063 OPS, which includes a .563 OBP on the year. DeLaRosa has a double and four RBIs on the year.  DeLaRosa played in the second game against Dutchess, going 1-for-2 with a double and a walk.
 
Jose Logo is the other player hitting .417 for the Avengers. Logo has a 1.017 OPS, with a .600 OBP. Logo has drawn five walks, second on the squad, and is second on the team with two stolen bases so far this year. His five hits are also tied for second on the team. Logo was 2-for-3 with three runs scored and a pair of walks against Dutchess in their two games.
 
Miguel Garcia is hitting .286 on the year, and has one of the two homeruns for the Avengers this season. Garcia is second on the squad with five RBIs, and has four hits in five games for ASA. His seven total bases are good for third on the team. Garcia went 2-for-4 with three RBIs and one run scored against Dutchess in two games.
 
Ivan Santos has three hits in three games, and they're all extra base hits. Santos has a double, a triple, and a homerun for the Avengers. He's hitting .429, and is slugging at 1.286. His OPS is 1.886 on the year. Santos has nine total bases so far this year. Santos went 1-for-4 with a homer and an RBI in two games against Dutchess.
 
Johansel Gomez and Angel Luciano have each pitched six innings for the Avengers so far this year for the team lead. Gomez is 1-0 in his two appearances, both starts, and has allowed six hits and six runs, just one earned, while striking out ten batters and walking five. His ERA is 1.50 on the year. Gomez pitched two innings in his last game against Dutchess, but got the win, only giving up one hit and one unearned run, while striking out four. Luciano is 1-0 in one appearance so far this year. He went six innings and gave up four hits and one unearned run while striking out ten in a win over Kingsborough CC.  
 
Luis D Rodriguez has made a pair of appearances for the Avengers, starting a game, but not registering a result. Rodriguez has pitched 4.2 innings, giving up three hits and four runs, two earned. His ERA is 3.86 on the year. He last started a game on March 11^th against Nassau, where he went four innings and gave up three hits and four runs in a game the Avengers would win 15-5. He last appeared in the 16-6 win over Dutchess, going 0.2 innings without giving anything up.
 
The head coach at ASA College Brooklyn is Francisco Perez, who has helped the Avengers to become a Region XV powerhouse, winning, at one point, five consecutive Division I championships and several coach of the year awards. In 2013, his squad won a school-record 35 games. Before ASA, Perez was the head coach at the Globe Institute of Technology, where he helped the Knights to massive turnaround from a 9-21 record to an appearance in the region playoffs in one year. Perez has played professionally, as a middle infielder in the Seattle Mariners and New York Yankees farm systems, and then as an independent league player.       
 
Game Information
Lackawanna College will open their home slate for the 2022 season at 1:00pm ET on Monday, March 21^st. The site for the first home games of the year will be Volpe Field, the newly renovated baseball stadium in the South Scranton Athletic Complex, home of the University of Scranton baseball team. The second game of the doubleheader will follow soon after, with a tentative start time at 4:00pm ET.  
 
There will be a video livestream available for both games via the Lackawanna College Athletics YouTube channel, which you can access at www.lackawannafalcons.com/YouTube.
 
The Falcons will have a quick turnaround, as they host the Monroe College Mustangs on Tuesday, March 22^nd, for a doubleheader at Scranton High School's baseball field. The first game is set for a 3:00pm ET start.