3/31/23
 
NEWTON, NJ – Lackawanna College baseball recovered from a stumble early to hand Region XIX DII foe Sussex County CC its first loss of the season with a 15-5 pounding in seven innings on Friday morning in Newton, NJ.
 
The Falcons (11-10, 3-1) scored three runs early in the first, but three errors in the bottom frame unraveled that lead and allowed the Skylanders (18-1, 6-1) to tie things up after one. Lackawanna College recovered its form, taking advantage of a pair of triples and a double to score four in the top of the fourth. After Sussex scored two in the bottom half, the Falcons added six more in the top of the sixth, a run that started with a George Castro (Philadelphia, PA) RBI tirple, and was punctuated with an RBI single from Christian Rush (Perkasie, PA), giving the Falcons the 13-5 advantage. Lackawanna sent this to run-rule territory when Mitchell Jolikko (Middletown, NY) crankeda two-run homer to right center in the top of the seventh, and the Falcons closed things out in the bottom frame to seal the win and send Sussex to its first defeat of the year.
 
Four Falcons had multi-hit games, with Cole Casamento (Limerick, PA) leading the charge at 3-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBI, including an RBI double in the fourth that gave the Falcons the lead for good. Castro had a much-needed breakout game, going 2-for-4 with two runs and two triples, while Rush was 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs, and Brayden D'Amico (Bethlehem, PA) went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBI. Kyle Scott (Westminster, MD) went six innings to pick up his fourth win of the year, giving up five runs, three earned, on six hits and striking out seven. The Falcons pounded out 15 hits and drew ten walks at the dish.
 
The Falcons couldn't have asked for a better start to the game, using a leadoff walk from Zachary Walsh Spring Brook Twp, PA) to set the table for D'Amico, who ripped a double into the right center gap to quickly stake Lackawanna to the lead. Back-to-back walks loaded the bases with nobody out, and the Falcons got another run across when Rush was hit by a pitch. Up 2-0, with the bases loaded and nobody out, a ground ball gave the Falcons one more run, but the Skylanders turned a tidy 4-6-3 double play to put two down, then got a ground out to minimize the damage at 3-0, Falcons.
 
Scott took the hill for the Falcons in the bottom frame, but an error up the middle put the leadoff batter aboard. Scott got a strikeout, but a single put two on with just the one out. A ground ball to short looked primed for a double-play ball, but an errant throw to first cost the Falcons that third out, and allowed the first Skylanders run to score. Sussex added another with an RBI double, then had runners at the corners with two down, when a throwing error allowed the tying run to cross in what was becoming a disastrous bottom frame for the Falcons. Scott managed to get a strikeout to end proceedings, but leaving the Falcons knotted at three after one.
 
Another double-play ended the Falcons inning early in the second, and Scott pitched around a two-out walk to keep things moving in the bottom half as both teams started to settle in. In the bottom of the third, Scott gave up a one-out walk, followed by a single and a hit batter, which loaded the bases for Sussex. Scott battled back, getting a fly out and a pop out to strand the runners and fire the Falcons up for the top of the fourth.
 
Still tied at three, a one-out triple from Castro gave the Falcons a runner in scoring position. A walk put runners on the corners, and Casamento delivered with a double to left that scored a pair and put Lackawanna back on top at 5-3. Before anybody could catch their breath, Walsh whacked a liner over the center fielder's head that rolled to the wall, scoring Casamento and putting Walsh at third. D'Amico brought him home with an RBI single, giving the Falcons the 7-3 advantage. A pitching change followed, and Sussex settled in after an error let a Falcon on, getting a pair of ground outs to get out of the inning and strand a pair.
 
A one-out single was the prelude to a two-out triple that, because of an error in the outfield, allowed the batter to make it home, as well, giving the Skylanders a pair of runs to get within 7-5. Scott recovered to strikeout the next batter swinging for the third out.
 
Lackawanna went right back to business in the top of the fifth, as Spencer Butz (York, PA) drew a leadoff walk, and got to third on a passed ball and a stolen base. Castro delivered another triple, his second of the game, to score Butz. A Giovanni Lopez (Olyphant, PA) single put two on with no outs, and, thanks to some nifty running from Gio, the Falcons got another run home, when the catcher's throw to second on a Lopez steal attempt caromed off the base and into the outfield, allowing Castro to score and Lopez to get to third, making it 9-5, Lackawanna. A Casamento RBI single scored Lopez to make it ten, and Casamento then got all the way to third on a stolen base and a wild pitch. Walsh drew a walk to put two on, and another pitching change followed for the Skylanders. D'Amico got plunked to load the bases, and Eric Ludwick (Bethlehem, PA) joined the fun, ripping a two-RBI single to blow the game open at 12-5. A fly out was the first out of the inning, but Rush singled to score D'Amico and push the Falcon lead to 13-5. The Falcons got the bases loaded again, still with one out, but an infield fly, followed by a fly out to left, got the Skylanders out of the inning.
 
A one-out walk gave Sussex some life in the bottom of the fifth, but Scott induced a ground ball to short on the next batter, which D'Amico flipped to Lopez at second, who quickly fired to Ludwick at first for the 6-4-3 double play to get Lackawanna out of the inning and into the sixth, still up 13-5.
 
The Falcons got a base runner but couldn't do anything in the top of the sixth, and the Skylanders had a base runner in scoring position with one out, but Scott worked out of trouble to preserve the eight-run lead heading into the seventh. Back-to-back singles from Rush and Butz, followed by stereo stolen bases, had the Falcons in business again with one out, but Rush strayed a little too far from third and was picked off for the second out. Still with Butz at second, and in danger of squandering an opportunity, Jolikko, who came in for Castro in the bottom of the sixth, launched a two-run homer over the left field wall for his second homerun of the year, gifting the Falcons a crucial ten-run lead at 15-5. The Falcons had two more baserunners after that, but a strikeout ended the threat.
 
Jace Cunnane (Clarkstown, NY) relieved Scott for the seventh, and, after a one-out single gave Sussex a baserunner, he got a swinging strikeout for the second out, then got the fly ball to left field to end things and give the Falcons the ten-run win in seven innings, knocking the Skylanders from the ranks of the unbeatens and giving the Falcons their fourth win in five games.
 
Weather permitting, Lackawanna baseball is set to be home at Scranton HS on Saturday, April 1^st, for a doubleheader against Sussex. First pitch of game one is set for a 12:00pm ET start.