3/4/23
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – While ice and rain pummel Northeast PA, the Lackawanna College softball team travels to sunny and warm Myrtle Beach, South Carolina to kick off the 2023 campaign. The Falcons will play eleven games in six days down in Myrtle Beach, starting on Sunday, March 5^th, when the Falcons take on Kaskaskia College and Frederick CC in doubleheader action.   
 
First pitch of game one against Kaskaskia is at 9:00am ET at the softball fields at Central Park in North Myrtle Beach, SC. The second game follows at 11:00am ET against Frederick on the same field. Then, on Monday, March 6^th, the Falcons will have another doubleheader, starting with a match-up against Bryant & Stratton College (WI) at 9:00am ET at the North Myrtle Beach Park & Sports Complex in Little River, SC. The second game will be an 11:00am ET match-up with Delta College in the same place.
 
Sundays games don't have a livestream video link, but Monday's games will be livestreamed via the North Myrtle Beach Park livestream HERE.
 
About The Falcons
The 2022 Falcons (31-22) won nine-straight games at one point in the back stretch of the season, going 13-2 in a 15 game span, before dropping their final six games, including losses to Mercer and eventual Region XIX champion Delaware Tech in the Region XIX tournament in Delaware. While the Falcons will miss a few key cogs in that offensive machine, they do return a few two of their top-five batters from a year ago, plus five more regular starters from last year's squad.
 
One of those returning players is right fielder Catarena Sommers (Windham, OH), a second team All-Region XIX selection from last year who averaged .428 at the plate with a 1.210 OPS. Sommers scored 42 runs and had 68 total hits, putting up 27 doubles and 35 extra-base hits overall, while driving in 49 runs. Sommers battled through the second half of the year with a nagging shoulder injury, but she expects to be back to full-strength as the season gets going.
 
Speaking of injuries, pitcher Alivia Graber (North Syracuse, NY) missed almost all of last season with injury after going down midway through the third game of the year in Myrtle Beach, SC. Graber returns this year healthy and ready to provide some much needed depth for the Falcons in the circle, as well as in the field.
 
Some other contributors returning from last season include pitcher/second base player Tess Ruschman (Easton, PA), left fielder Madison McVicar (Blakely, PA), center fielder Kira Ryan (Alburtis, PA), catcher Gwen Balavage (Avoca, PA), and catcher/shortstop Savannah Glover (Susquehanna, PA).
 
Ruschman was a first-team All-Region XIX selection from a year, ago. She was a .237 hitter, with 16 RBI and scored 19 runs, while putting up 57 put-outs, 49 assists, and four double-plays on the year. McVicar was a second-team All-Region XIX selection last season, hitting .359 with a 1.016 OPS. She led the team with 31 walks, and scored 58 runs, second on the squad. She had a .471 OBP on the year, and had a .983 fielding percentage on 58 put-outs in left field. Ryan was a .292 hitter last year in 51 of the 52 games, scoring 45 runs and driving in 32 on 14 extra base hits. She led the Falcons with 20 stolen bases on the season. Balavage was the steady catcher for the Falcons for most of last season, hitting .208 on the year with a pair of doubles and eight RBI. Balavage had just one error and 180 put-outs on the season. Glover stayed mostly on the base paths at shortstop last year, with 90 put-outs and 73 assists, posting five double-plays last year. At the dish, Glover hit .317 with 25 RBI and three homeruns. She had an .880 OPS last season, and stole ten bases last year.
 
Also returning this season is catcher/utility player Alexis Semanek (Wilkes-Barre, PA), who did not play last year due to injury.
 
Some of the newer faces for the Falcons include a few players that local softball fans may be familiar with, starting with middle infielder Madison Maloney (Scranton, PA). Maloney helped lead the Lady Invaders of West Scranton last year to a 20-2 overall record and a Division championship, leading the team with a .442 batting average, with 34 hits and 32 runs scored. Another local stepping onto the team is outfielder Sophia Mandarano (Dunmore, PA), who is also a women's soccer player at Lackawanna College. Mandarano hit .311 last year for the Lady Bucks at Dunmore, scoring 18 runs in 19 games, and led the Lady Bucks with 12 steals on the year. Outfielder Krista Scoblick (Harvey's Lake, PA) comes from nearby Lake-Lehman HS, where she was second on the team with a .403 batting average, leading the team with 29 hits and compiling 15 extra base hits, including eight doubles, while scoring 29 runs on the year. Finally, amongst the locals joining the squad, is infielder/catcher Skylar Borthwick (Pittston, PA), who was a member of the PIAA state championship squad at Pittston Area HS last year. Borthwick hit .351 for the undefeated Patriots, putting up 27 hits and scoring 20 runs on the year. Also
 
Apart from the locals, the Falcons have pitcher/utility player Aria Reyes (Allentown, PA), infielder/pitcher Gabby Wettig (Manheim, PA), pitcher/infielder Allyson Lemerise (Catonsville, MD), utility player Riley Ernst (Youngsville, NY), and pitcher/infielder Emilee Dickinson (Hillsboro, OR).
 
The Falcons are coached by Jeff Pittsman, entering his 12th season at the helm for the Lackawanna softball. Coach Pitt was hired as the head coach in 2012, and was tasked with rebuilding the program from the ground up. Low in enthusiasm and overall numbers, coach Pitt got the Falcons through a tough first year to become immediately competitive in year two, improving by 13 wins in just one season. The next year, the Falcons finished .500, and by 2016, the Falcons won 20+ games for the first time in a while, and made the Region XIX playoffs, getting coach Pittsman the EPAC Coach of the Year. he won it again in 2017, when Lackawanna went 24-14 and won the Region XIX championship, their first since 2002. The Falcons won 29 games in 2018, making the Region XIX playoffs once again, and won 34 games in 2019, once again qualifying for the Region XIX tournament. In 2022, Pittsman got the Falcons to a 31-22 overall record and once again making the Region XIX tournament. Pittsman is 200-172 in his career at Lackawanna, with a Region XIX championship and two 30+ win seasons to his credit.
 
About Kaskaskia
The Blue Angels (3-5) enter the weekend with three wins in their last four games, and have a pair of games on Saturday, March 4^th before facing off with Lackawanna on Sunday morning. Kaskaskia won its last game(s), a doubleheader sweep over Schoolcraft on Friday, March 3^rd. The Blue Angels won game one 9-2 and then took game two by a 5-1 score. The Blue Angels scored seven runs in the fourth inning to put things out of reach against Schoolcraft in game one, then scattered seven hits over seven innings, not giving up a run until the seventh inning in the game two win.
 
With the stats that are available, Kaskaskia averages 5.8 runs per game this season. In their last four games, the Blue Angels are averaging eight runs per game, where they've scored five runs or more in each game. The Blue Angels have given up around 8.4 runs per game this season, but have been much better in their last four games, giving up just three combined runs in their three wins.
 
In the three games that have statistics for the Blue Angels, Ivy Smart is the team-leader with ten at-bats, going .400 with an .800 OPS. Smart has two RBI this year, one of three players with two RBI in those three games. Smart had the most hits at four, and had scored two runs, tied with three other players for the team lead.
 
Josie Grunloh was 3-for-6 in two appearances, with a 1.071 OPS and a .571 on-base percentage. She has a walk, alongside her three hits, and has three stolen bases through those two games she has played in.
 
Maddie Bailey has three hits in three games this season, striking out three times and hitting .333 on the year.
 
Smart is also the main pitcher, starting two of the first three games on the year, allowing 19 runs, 15 earned, in 12 innings pitched, and striking out five batters with an 8.75 ERA. The other pitcher who may see time is Aspen Schmidt, who is 0-1 in her one start through the first three games with a 13.13 ERA, lasting just 2.2 innings and allowing eight runs on six hits.
 
John Barnes is the head coach at Kaskaskia, now entering his fourth season in charge. Barnes took over in April 2019 on an interim basis, and the Blue Angels won 11 of their remaining 18 games. Kaskaskia brass decided Barnes was the man for the job and removed the interim label, and, in his first full season in 2021, Barnes guided the Blue Angels to 26 wins. Then, last season, Kaskaskia had a school-record 43 wins and finished second in the GRAC. Barnes, a Kaskaskia College graduate (1997), went on to become a two-time All-American at Greenville University. He spent two seasons post-graduation as an assistant with Greenville, before taking a full-time position as a teacher and softball coach, as well as athletic director, with Mulberry Grove CUSD in Illinois. In his 13 years with Mulberry Grove, Barnes helped the Lady Aces to 416 wins, nine regional titles, and had the program as a staple on the statewide playoff stage year in and year out. He also set up the Mulberry Grove Jaguars travel-team, which ended up winning seven state championships in nine seasons, which he also used to help send nearly 60 different players to go play softball collegiately. In 2012, Barnes left athletics full-time to become a law enforcement officer, where he is still employed as a full-time deputy with the Bond County Sheriff's Department. He jumped back into coaching as an assistant with Greenville's softball team, was moved to interim head coach in his first year, and ended up guiding the Lady Panthers to 77 wins in three years, a pair of St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships, and a pair of NCAA DIII tournament appearances.
 
Frederick CC
The Cougars (0-0) come into the weekend just like the Falcons, having not played a game, though they are scheduled to play two games on Saturday against Patrick & Henry and Kaskaskia.
 
Frederick has not played competitive softball since the 2021 spring season, where the Cougars went 10-18 and fell in the Region XX playoffs to Hagerstown CC. They did not field a team last season, but hired head coach Shawn Harbaugh as the new head coach and leader for the program in April 2022 last year.
 
Harbaugh is charged with helping rebuild the program. He has over a decade of coaching experience in travel softball and high school softball. Harbaugh leads the Heartbreakers 18U Elite softball travel squad, and was elected by his colleagues to serve as the President of the organization, which is based in Frederick, MD. He also served as the assistant coach at nearby Fairfield HS in Pennsylvania. He's a longtime member of the NFCA and is both a One Star Master Certified Coach, as well as an NFCA Endorsed Hitting Instructor. The Cougars have a roster of ten players this season.
 
Bryant & Stratton (WI)
The Bobcats have also not played yet this spring. Last year, Bryant & Stratton reached the NJCAA DII National tournament with a 37-11 record, capturing the Region IV championship before bowing out to Kirkwood CC and Lackawanna's Region XIX partner Delaware Tech CC.
 
Bryant & Stratton is coached by Dean Herman, who joined the program in the fall of 2018. Herman, now in his fifth season with the Bobcats, suffered through a 13-37 season in his first year, followed by a year where the Bobcats only played three games before the pandemic shut things down in 2020, before winning 33 and 37 games, in back-to-back years, to help the Bobcats arrive as a program. Herman spent several seasons prior to his time at B&S as a head varsity softball coach at Johnson Creek HS, winning 78 games in four years. He also founded the Johnson Creek Yellowjackets travel team, from 8U to 18U levels, getting the program to national prominence with a seventh place finish at the NAFA Nationals out of 84 squads.
 
Delta College
The Pioneers have also not played a game this season, entering the weekend with a pair of games on Sunday before their Monday morning clash with Lackawanna College.
 
Delta went 9-24 last year, making the Region XII championship game against Owens CC before dropping two in a row to end their year.
 
Jeremy Hartwick coaches the Pioneers. Delta has nine players on its roster, but seven of the Pioneers players were on last year's squad. Almost the entire offense is back, including the top five hitters.
 
Game Details
First pitch of game one against Kaskaskia is at 9:00am ET at the softball fields at Central Park in North Myrtle Beach, SC. The second game follows at 11:00am ET against Frederick on the same field. The Monday doubleheader starts against Bryant & Stratton College (WI) at 9:00am ET at the North Myrtle Beach Park & Sports Complex in Little River, SC. The second game will be at 11:00am ET against Delta College in the same place.
 
Sundays games don't have a livestream video link, but Monday's games will be livestreamed via the North Myrtle Beach Park livestream HERE.