3/31/22
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – The Falcons will look to get their Region XIX play underway on Thursday, March 31^st, when they travel to Branchburg, NJ to take on the Raritan Valley CC Lions for doubleheader action. The first game is set for a 1:00pm ET start, with the second to follow at 3:30pm ET.    
 
About The Falcons
The Falcons (8-6) had their eight-game winning streak snapped at the hands of Monroe College last week, when the Mustangs came to Scranton and picked up a pair of wins. The first game went to extra innings, with both teams trading runs back-and-forth, until, finally, Monroe put Lackawanna away with a pair of runs in the 8^th inning to win it, 11-9. The second game also saw Monroe score eleven runs, but the Falcons were never really in it, falling behind 10-0 within the first three innings, as the Monroe cruised to an 11-3 victory. You can read the recap HERE.
 
Lackawanna is hitting, as a team, .334 so far this season, with a combined .945 OPS. They have 44 extra base hits, including 27 doubles and eleven homeruns already this season. They're slugging .524 as a team, and have stolen 26 bases so far this year. The Falcons are averaging just under seven runs per contest.
 
On the mound, the Falcons are holding their opponents to a .294 batting average, and have a staff ERA of 7.02 this year. In 91 combined innings, the Falcons have given up 109 hits and 83 runs, 71 earned, while striking out 92 batters and walking 53. The Falcons have picked off four base runners so far this season, and have turned six double plays, while committing 20 errors as a team so far this year.
 
Quinn Hanafin is the team leader in batting average, hitting .545 so far this season in his 12 appearances. Hanafin has a 1.337 OPS, and leads the Falcons with 18 hits and seven doubles so far this season. He's second on the team with 12 RBIs, and is third on the team in total bases at 25. His .758 slugging is tops on the squad, among players who have played in eight or more games. Hanafin has five multi-hit games so far this year, and had recorded a hit in eleven straight games, before going 0-for-1 in his last appearance against Monroe. Hanafin was a combined 3-for-4 with a run, a double, and two RBIs against Monroe College last Tuesday.   
 
Cody Fleischer is second on the team with a .450 batting average so far this year. Fleischer has a 1.217 OPS, and has 18 hits on the year, tied with Hanafin for the team lead. Fleischer's nine RBIs are third on the team, and his 19 runs scored this year leads the Falcons. Fleischer's .542 OBP is second among players who've played in eight or more games for the Falcons. Fleischer leads the team with eight walks this year, and is second on the team with four steals so far this season. Fleischer was a combined 4-for-6 with three runs scored, a triple, and two RBIs against Monroe last Tuesday. He has six multi-hit games so far this season.
 
Leadoff hitter Daniel Helfgott is hitting .368 on the year, and is third on the Falcons with 14 hits so far this season. Helfgott has scored eleven runs so far this season, good for second on the squad, and has an OBP of .429 so far this year. Helfgott went 2-for-5 in with a double, a run scored, and an RBI in the first game against Monroe last Tuesday.   
 
George Castro is hitting .316 on the year, has a 1.132 OPS, and is slugging at at .737 on the year. Castro leads the Falcons in RBIs (13), homers (4), and total bases (28) this season. Castro was 2-for-6 in two games against Monroe, with a homer and three RBIs in the second game, all courtesy of a three-run homerun to left field.
 
Aiden Starn leads the team in innings pitched at eleven so far this year. Starn is 0-1 in three starts, giving up 19 hits and 15 runs, 12 earned, while striking out five batters. He has a 9.82 ERA on the year, and opponents are hitting .365 against him. Starn was the starter against Monroe for the first game last Tuesday, going three innings while giving up five hits and three runs and striking out three batters. Starn didn't get a decision in that game.
 
Jason Carpenter has pitched 10.1 innings so far this season. Carpenter has given up 13 hits and ten runs, seven earned, while striking out eight batters on the year, and has an ERA hovering just over six. He's 0-1 in his three appearances. Carp went 4.1 innings against ASA Brooklyn last Monday, striking out a pair and giving up three runs.  
 
Kyle Scott has pitched eight innings so far this year, holding a 2.25 ERA and a 1-0 record. Scott has struck out 14 batters, a team high, and has allowed seven hits and two runs in his action. Scott's last appearance was the start, and win, over ASA in game two last Monday. Scott went four innings, giving up four hits and a run while striking out a season-high seven batters.
 
Matthew Stam has pitched eight innings in his three appearances so far this year, giving up five hits and three runs, all earned, while striking out six batters. Stam has a 3.38 ERA, and opponents are hitting just .200 against him so far this year. Stam got a win earlier this year, going four innings in relief against PSU New Kensington, allowing just three hits and striking out five batters. He pitched two innings of relief against Monroe in his last game, giving up two hits and a run.
 
Samuel Daniels has been excellent for the Falcons this year, allowing neither a run nor a hit in 6.2 innings of work, all while striking out 13 batters, second-best on the team. He went two innings of relief in his last appearance, striking out three batters to help the Falcons secure the win against ASA College in the first game last Monday.  
 
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 86-40 in his career at Lackawanna College.   
 
About Raritan Valley
Raritan comes into the contest with a 2-9 overall record this season, fresh off a wild 23-13 victory over Monroe College Bronx just this past Wednesday. The Lions rallied for a 7-0 deficit after the top of the first, scoring 16 combined runs in the third, fourth, and fifth innings to blow things open. The Lions hit three doubles and two homeruns, and pounded out 20 hits, while drawing 13 walks. Nick Destefano was 4-for-7 with three RBIs, while WillAngel Rodriguez was 3-for-6 with four runs scored and three RBIs. Richie Sherman was a stellar 4-for-5 with two runs scored and four RBIs, while Chris Miller went 2-for-2 with a walk, two runs scored, and four RBIs on a double and a homerun. Odanni Nicasio got the win, going six innings in relief, giving up a run on six hits and striking out five batters. In their two wins this year, the Lions have scored 20 or more runs, but their opponents have scored ten or more runs in seven of their nine losses this year.
 
The Lions are hitting .289, as a team, so far this season. The team has a collective .854 OPS, and have scored 81 runs on 92 hits so far this season, averaging 7.5 runs per contest. The Lions have 28 extra base hits this year, including 17 doubles and nine homeruns. They've drawn 59 walks, while striking out 74 times, and are 14-for-16 on stolen base attempts so far this season.
 
On the mound, the Lions hold a 10.97 ERA as a team this year. In 73 collective innings, they've given up 139 runs on 98 hits, 89 of those runs earned, while striking out 84 batters and walking 86. The pitching staff has given up 13 homeruns on the year, but is also averaging 10.4 strikeouts per nine innings. The Lions have turned five double plays on the year, and have committed 32 errors on the season.  
 
Nick Destefano leads the Lions with 14 total hits so far this season, and is third on the team with a .378 average, among players who have played at least eight games this year. Destefano leads the Lions in RBIs (10), and is tied for the team-lead in stolen bases on the year, with three. He's got a .439 OBP and is slugging at .405. He's scored six runs on the year, in a two-way tie for sixth on the team. Destefano has recorded a hit in his last six games, and has four multi-hit games on the year. His 4-for-7 performance against Monroe Express was his best game to date.
 
Chris Miller is tied for second on the team with 11 total hits this year, and has a .367 batting average. Miller has two doubles and two homeruns, and is third on the team with seven RBIs so far this year. His OPS sits at 1.077, with a .633 slugging percentage so far this year. Miller is tied for the team lead with eight runs scored so far this season. Miller had three straight games without a hit, before going 3-for-5 with five RBIs and three runs scored in his last two games. He's also managed three of his four extra base hits in his last two games, including double and a homerun against Monroe Bronx.  
 
Tim Wright is tied with Miller for second on the team with 11 total hits this year, and is second on the team among hitters with at least eight games, averaging .407 at the plate this year. Wright has four extra base hits, including two triples, along with five RBIs on the year. Wright has a 1.097 OPS, which includes a .630 slugging percentage, and he's scored five runs in the eight games he's seen action in. Wright has three multi-hit games on the year, but had missed his last three games before his 1-for-2 showing against Monroe Express on Wednesday.
 
Among players with eight games played, Chris Nunez is the team-leader in batting average (.429), OPS (1.310), and OBP (.500), and is tied for the team lead in slugging (.810) and runs scored (8). Nunez has nine total hits in the eight games he's seen action in. He has three multi-hit games this year, including his 2-for-3 performance against Monroe Bronx, where he scored two runs and drew a walk.
 
Jack Anglim leads the Lions with five extra base hits, including his team-high three homeruns. Anglim is tied with Nunez for the team lead in slugging percentage (.810) and is second on the team with eight RBIs on the year. Anglim is second on the team with seven walks drawn so far this season. He had gone hitless in his last two games before going 1-for-2, with three runs scored, three driven in, two walks, and a homerun against Monroe Bronx.
 
Derek Vonhorn has pitched the most for the Lions, going a combined 15 innings in his three appearances, all starts, so far this year. Vonhorn has an 0-2 record, and a 7.20 ERA on the year. He's given up 17 runs, 12 earned, on 13 hits, while striking out a team-high 25 batters. Vonhorn got the loss in his last appearance, a six inning start against Delaware Tech. He struck out nine batters, but gave up six runs on seven hits. Vonhorn saw time at the plate against Monroe Bronx, going 1-for-4 with three runs scored and a pair of walks.
 
WillAngel Rodriguez has appeared in three games, starting two, and is 0-2 with a 6.30 ERA so far this season. In his ten innings pitched, Rodriguez has given up 16 runs, seven earned, on ten hits, while striking out nine batters on the year. Rodriguez lost his last appearance, a five inning start against Delaware Tech, where he gave up eight runs on six hits, while striking out six batters. Rodriguez was prolific from the plate against Monroe Bronx, going 3-for-6 with four runs scored, a double, and three RBIs.  
 
Casey DeMarco has seen time in four games this year for Raritan, starting one, and is 0-3 with a 16.39 ERA this year. DeMarco, in his 9.1 innings of work, has given up 24 runs, 17 earned, on 19 hits, while striking out seven batters, and surrendering a team-high five homeruns. DeMarco last saw relief work against Delaware Tech, going one inning, while allowing six runs on three hits. He lost his last start, against RCSJ-Cumberland, where he gave up 12 runs on ten hits in five innings of work.  
 
Connor Egan has made three appearances for the Lions, two as starts, and is 0-1 with a 9.00 ERA on the year. In eight innings of work, Egan has surrendered 13 runs, eight earned, on 13 hits, while striking out ten batters. Egan hasn't appeared since March 21^st, when he pitched three innings of relief against Atlantic Cape CC, giving up three runs on two hits.   
 
The interim head coach for Raritan Valley is Joe Pavlow, who stepped into the dugout this year after five years away from coaching baseball. Pavlow, also the Athletic Director at Raritan, spent 2008-through-2017 as the head baseball coach at Penn State Abington, where he had 181 victories, and was conference Coach of the Year on three separate occasions. The Nittany Lions won or shared their conference regular season title in five of his last seven seasons at Abington.  Before his hiring as Athletic Director at Raritan in September of 2021, Pavlow had served as Director of Athletics at Rosemont College at the NCAA Division III level for four seasons. Rosemont's athletics teams captured the college's first ever CSAC Championships, five in all, under his direction. Before his time at Penn State Abington, Pavlow was an assistant at Rutgers University Camden, and had also taught math and social studies at Paul VI High School in Haddonfield, NJ. Pavlow is a Rutgers University alum, where he got his Bachelor's in Economics, and also holds a Master's in Sports Science, Sports Administration from Lock Haven University.
 
Game Information
The doubleheader is set for a 1:00pm ET start on game one, followed by a 3:30pm ET start for game two on Thursday, March 31^st. The Lions are 0-2 in Region XIX play, while this will be the first pair of Region XIX games for Lackawanna College this season.  There is no video livestream available, but you can follow the Falcons Baseball Twitter (@Falconsbase) for live updates. 
 
Next up, the Falcons will keep their Region XIX schedule rolling, when they play host to the Titans from County College of Morris on Saturday, April 2^nd. It'll be a doubleheader, scheduled for 12:00pm and 3:00pm ET, at the Scranton HS baseball field.