5/19/23
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – It took two separate rallies from three-run deficits, but Lackawanna College baseball did what it has done all season and found a way, running its postseason win-streak to five straight with a pair of victories on Friday afternoon in the opening rounds of the NJCAA East District DII Baseball tournament on Friday at Scranton HS baseball field. Lackawanna beat UConn Avery Point by a 12-4 score in seven innings, then outlasted Delaware Tech by a 7-5 score in the second game of the day.
 
The Falcons (37-15) twice managed to wriggle out of three-run jams thanks to some late magic. It started against the Pointers from UConn Avery Point (27-10), as the visitors form Connecticut built an early 3-0 lead behind strong starting pitching and some errors from Lackawanna. The Falcons got a run in the third, thanks to an Ian Murphy (West Deptford, NJ) RBI single, and then another run in the fifth, courtesy of a Zachary Walsh (Spring Brook Twp., PA) homer. They'd add another pair in the sixth, taking the lead on a sac fly from Michael Rickert (Moosic, PA). An RBI single for the Pointers tied the game in the seventh, but the Falcons, finally into the Avery Point bullpen, uncorked an eight-run seventh inning, highlighted by a two-run single from Dennis Pierce (Quakertown, PA) and a two-run triple from Brayden D'Amico (Bethlehem, PA), and punctuated by a wild pitch on ball four to Murphy, scoring D'Amico from third and ending game one early because of the eight-run rule. Walsh, Murphy, and Pierce each had two hits and a handful of RBIs, while Aiden Starn (Pennsville, NJ) overcame some of those early runs to get his sixth win of the season, giving up four runs on five hits and five strikeouts in seven innings of work.
 
Avery Point got the scoring started in an unconventional way in the top of the first, using a two-out walk, followed by a stolen base and a two-bag error on the throw, which made it 1-0 Pointers just like that. Starn got a strikeout to end the inning. The Falcons got a two-out baserunner of their own when Christian Rush (Perkasie, PA) singled, and that was followed by a Michael Miller (Lafayette Hill, PA) single to put runners on the corners, but a fielder's choice ended the inning before the Falcons could convert.
 
The Pointers added to their lead in the third. A leadoff walk, followed by a sac bunt, put a runner on second with one out. A single put runners on the corners, and a stolen base made it second and third, still with one out. A fielder's choice scored the runner form third, but eliminated the runner heading to third, making it 2-0, but putting two outs on the board with a runner on first. A stolen base, followed by an RBI single from UCAP made it 3-0 in favor of the visitors. Starn walked the next batter to put two on, but got out of trouble before more damage could happen with a fly out to center.
 
Lackawanna got a run back in the bottom of the third, getting a runner to third after Walsh singled, stole second, and got to third on an error from the catcher. Murphy scored him with an RBI single to get the Falcons on the board, trailing 3-1. Avery Point recovered to get the next two outs to keep it to the one run crossing.
 
In the top of the fourth, Avery Point got a leadoff single, but Starn got three straight outs to keep the Pointers off the board. In the bottom frame, the Falcons got a leadoff single, but Avery Point also got three straight outs to keep things quiet.
 
In the bottom of the fifth, still trailing 3-1, Lackawanna clawed another run back when Walsh homered with two outs, cutting the deficit down to 3-2 heading into the sixth.
 
Avery Point had two baserunners with one out, but Starn and the Falcons managed to get out of trouble, getting a fly out and a swinging strikeout to strand the runners and fire Lackawanna up heading into the bottom half.
 
Rush was hit by a pitch to start the bottom half, and he immediately stole second to put himself in scoring position with nobody out. A fly out to right ended in Rush scoring, when the right fielder threw to third base to try to get Rush out, tagging up, but the throw was off-target and Rush managed to scamper home to tie the game at three. An error put a runner on and forced a pitching change. Back-to-back singles loaded the bases with one out, and Rickert gave the Falcons the lead with a sac fly to right, making it 4-3.
 
In the top of the seventh, A two-out walk led to a stolen base, followed by a passed ball, putting the tying-run 90 feet from the plate. An RBI single cashed in that run to tie things up at four. Starn got a ground out to get the Falcons out of trouble before any other runs crossed, sending things to the bottom of the seventh.
 
In that bottom frame, Walsh led off with a walk, and back-to-back singles loaded the bases with nobody out. A wild pitch let Walsh score the go-ahead run to make it 5-4. Later, the bases were loaded again with one out, and Pierce dropped the hammer with a two-run single to push the Falcons advantage out to 7-4. A Casamento RBI hit made it 8-4, followed then by a Ranciel Ventura (Allentown, PA) RBI single and a two-run triple from D'Amico that pushed the Falcon lead out to 11-4, still with one out. Now, the Falcons suddenly found themselves a run away from a run-rule victory. After a strikeout put two away, Murphy drew a walk with D'Amico on third, and the ball skipped away from the catcher, giving D'Amico the chance to score the game-clinching run, giving the Falcons the victory.
 
In game two, Lackawanna faced Delaware Tech CC for the sixth time this season. The Squares (33-20), awarded the home team honors because of a pre-game coin toss and fresh off a 14-9 win over SUNY Sullivan CC in their first game of the day, battered the Falcons early and often, overcoming an early 2-0 deficit by tying things up in the first, then scoring three runs on the second, highlighted by back-to-back RBI doubles to push their margin to 5-2 against Lackawanna and starter Kyle Scott (Westminster, MD). Del Tech, riding its own ace in Region XIX Pitcher of the Year Zach Hart, was on cruise control through most of the game, allowing a smattering of Falcons baserunners here and there, but not letting those runners cross. Scott, meanwhile, settled down after his rough first two innings, striking out 13 batters in seven innings of work. It wouldn't be until the top of the eighth, with Delaware Tech still ahead 5-2, that Lackawanna would make its move. Back-to-back singles led the inning off and forced Delaware Tech to go to its bullpen. Against a new pitcher, the Falcons drew back-to-back walks to force a run home and make it 5-3, now with the bases loaded and nobody out. After a fly out put one away, catcher Cole Casamento (Limerick, PA) delivered the go-ahead blow, smashing a three-run double to the outfield to clear the bases and, improbably, give the Falcons a late lead. A Walsh RBI single made it 7-5, and the Falcons had the lead going to the bottom frame of the eighth. Matthew McElligott (Columbus, OH) came on and threw a scoreless eighth, then got two outs but left the bases loaded in the ninth for Jace Cunnane (Clarkstown, NY), who came on to get the one-out save when he got a fly ball to left field for the final out. Pierce continued his hot-run since coming back from injury, going 3-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI, while Murphy was 2-for-5, and Casamento had the big three-run hit. McElligott gets the win, coming on in the eighth with the lead and pitching 1.2 innings, striking out a pair and walking a pair. Cunnane gets the one-out save, his fifth save of the year.
 
Lackawanna got off to a quicker start in game two on the day, using a leadoff walk from Walsh, followed by a single from Murphy, to immediately get a pair of baserunners. A passed ball put runners at second and third, and a walk loaded the bases, still with nobody out. Miller grounded into a double play at second base, but that did score one run. In danger of squandering their opportunity, the Falcons got a boost from Pierce, who doubled to score a second run. A fly out ended the inning with the Falcons ahead 2-0.
 
In the bottom half, the Squares responded. A leadoff single got Del Tech going, and an error at third with the next batter put runners on second and third with nobody out. A strikeout put one away, but a wild pitch brought home Del Tech's first run. Another strikeout from Scott put two away, but an RBI single scored the second run, tying things at 2-2. Scott got a third strikeout to get out of trouble.
 
A one-out double from Rickert gave the Falcons a baserunner in scoring position in the second, but Lackawanna couldn't bring Rickert home. Delaware Tech made them pay in the bottom half, using a leadoff single to get a baserunner, followed by a pair of stolen bases to get that runner to third. Scott got back-to-back strikeouts in the meantime, but an error with two outs let another runner on and brought a run home. An RBI double scored another run, and that was followed by another RBI double that pushed the lead for the Squares out to 5-2. A fly out ended the inning before more runs could cross.
 
Scott pitched around some leadoff singles in the bottom of the third and the bottom of the fourth innings, while Lackawanna got a leadoff single in the top of the fourth, but came up similarly empty. In the top of the fifth, the Falcons got a two-out baserunner when Walsh reached on an error. Murphy singled to put runners on the corners, but a fly out to center stranded the runners and kept Lackawanna off the board. An error let Del Tech get a leadoff runner aboard in the fifth, but Scott got out of trouble again, retiring the next three batters to keep the Squares off the board.
 
In the top of the sixth, still trailing 5-2, Lackawanna got a one-out walk, then a two-out single to put runners on the corners again, but Hart got a strikeout to end the threat and keep Lackawanna from cashing in. Scott kept the Falcons in striking distance, retiring the side in order in the bottom of the sixth.
 
A one-out walk was wasted by Lackawanna in the top of the seventh, but Scott got a huge half-inning in the bottom frame, striking out the side in order to fire up the Falcons and set the stage for a massive eighth inning.
 
Miller led the top of the eighth off with a single, and Pierce followed him with a single to put two on with nobody out. Del Tech subbed out Hart, and back-to-back walks from the new reliever forced one run home, cutting the deficit to 5-3. With the bases loaded and nobody out, an infield fly put one away, but the Falcons wouldn't waste their chance, thanks to Casamento's big double, a three-run shot that cleared the bases and put the Falcons in front at 6-5. Walsh singled home Casamento in the next at-bat to push the Falcons lead out to 7-5, still with one out, before Del Tech got a pair of outs to end the threat with Lackawanna in front at 7-5.
 
McElligott relieved Scott to start the bottom of the eighth, and retired the Squares in order. Del Tech would get another crack at him in the bottom of the ninth, and got a leadoff walk to get a baserunner. The tying run reached with one out on an error, putting runners at first and second. An infield fly put the Falcons on the brink, but a two-out walk loaded the bases. Lackawanna went to its pen, bringing in Cunnane for the one-out save opportunity. Cunnane worked a fly ball to left field, where an oncoming Rush squeezed for the final out to give Lackawanna College the comeback victory, the sixth straight for Lackawanna over Delaware Tech this season.
 
The win sends Lackawanna to the NJCAA East District Championship round, where the Falcons will await the winner of Delaware Tech and SUNY Sullivan CC. The Squares and the Generals will meet tomorrow for the second time this weekend at 11:00am ET at Scranton HS, and the winner will face Lackawanna in the first game of the NJCAA East District Championship at 3:00pm ET, also at Scranton HS. A win for the Falcons tomorrow secures them a spot in the NJCAA DII Baseball World Series. A loss tomorrow means there will be a winner-take-all championship game on Sunday, May 21^st, at 12:00pm ET, at Scranton HS.