4/14/23
 
GEORGETOWN, De. – In a match-up pitting the top two teams, record-wise, in Region XIX DII, it was the Lackawanna College Falcons coming out on top, outslugging the Delaware Tech CC Terry Hawks, 15-7, in nine innings on Friday afternoon in Georgetown, DE.
 
The Falcons (19-13, 7-1) led 6-5 after five innings, but used a seven-run sixth to break the game wide open and give the Falcons a comfortable cushion over the Terry Hawks (24-11, 8-2). The Falcons used a sac fly to take a 7-5 lead, then got an RBI triple from Christian Rush (Perkasie, PA) that pushed it out to a 9-5 lead. Michael Miller (Lafayette Hill, PA) followed that up with a one-run double, and Eric Ludwick (Bethlehem, PA) hit a one-run single to make it 11-5, Falcons. Later, with two outs, Mitchell Jolikko (Middletown, NY) hit a two-run single that made it 13-5, capping off the big inning for Lackawanna. Brayden D'Amico (Bethlehem, PA) went 5-for-6 with two runs scored and an RBI, while Rush went 2-for-5 with three runs scored and three RBI, and Miller went 2-for-5 with a run scored and two RBI. Spencer Butz (York, PA) added a three-run homer to the Falcons cause. Ty Morris (Manchester Valley, MD) got the win, giving up three runs in the first inning of his appearance, but pitching a scoreless fifth to secure the win.
 
Things started brightly for Lackawanna, as the Falcons got a one-out walk and quickly capitalized with an RBI double from Rush to make it 1-0. Miller followed with an RBI single that pushed the lead to 2-0. The Falcons had two more baserunners, but Del Tech got out of the jam. Brandon Holzinger (Bethlehem, PA) got the start for the Falcons, and Del Tech greeted him with back-to-back one-out walks, followed by a single that loaded the bases. A sac fly scored one run, and two more walks brought home another, tying the game at two-apiece. Holzinger got a fly out to strand the bases loaded and get the Falcons out of the inning.
 
All was quiet until the top of the third, when the Falcons got a two-out walk, followed by a single, to put a pair of baserunners on. That's when Spencer Butz stepped up and went yard on a three-run homer, staking Lackawanna to a 5-2 advantage.
 
Holzinger gave up a leadoff walk in the bottom of the third, but got a 4-6-3 double play to fire up the Falcons and keep Delaware Tech off the scoreboard in the third.
 
Flash forward to the fourth, where Morris came in for Holzinger with the Falcons still ahead, 5-2. A one-out homerun made it 5-3, and a pair of one-out singles, helped on by an error, put another run home to make it 5-4. A two-out RBI single tied the game, but Morris managed to get a fly out to end the threat.
 
In the top of the fifth, the Falcons got a run back, again with some two-out magic. An error led the inning off to get Rush aboard, and he got to third on a balk. A two-out single from D'Amico scored Rush to put the Falcons back in front at 6-5, after 4.5 innings.
 
Morris came back out in the bottom frame, and pitched around a single, a stolen base, and an error that put that runner on third, getting a pop out, a strikeout, and a ground out to get out of the inning.
 
The sixth was where the Falcons really hit the accelerator. A leadoff walk from Jolikko was followed by a single from Michael Rickert (Moosic, PA). Jolikko stole second and advanced to third on Rickert's single, and Rickert stole second to put runner son second and third with nobody out. Zachary Walsh (Spring Brook Twp., PA) struck out, but reached on a dropped third strike. A sac fly from Ian Murphy (West Deptford, NJ) scored one run, and Rush tripled home another pair to pus the lead to 9-5. An RBI double from Miller, followed by an RBI single from Ludwick, pushed it out to 11-5, Falcons. Later, with two on and two out, Jolikko singled another pair of runs home, giving the Falcons a 13-5 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth.
 
Still leading 13-5 in the top of the eighth, the Falcons were looking for more. Back-to-back one-out walks put two Falcons aboard. A strikeout threatened to derail the inning, but a double steal put the runners in scoring position, and Walsh added a pair of runs with a two-run single that made it 15-5, Falcons, heading into the bottom of the eighth.
 
Delaware Tech got a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth. A one-out error put a runner on, and another error on a subsequent single let that runner score. Later, with two on, another error on the infield let another run score to make it 15-7. The Falcons recovered to get a strikeout and a fielder's choice to end the inning.
 
Nathan Russell (Drexel Hill, PA) came on to close out the ninth, and did just that, allowing only a two-out single before getting a ground ball to third to give the Falcons a decisive 15-7 win.
 
Lackawanna College will continue its series with Delaware Tech CC on Sunday, April 16^th, when the Falcons are set to host their Region XIX rivals for a doubleheader starting at 1:00pm ET at the Scranton HS baseball field.