5/27/23
 
ENID, Okla. – The patient Lackawanna College offense came alive late, turning a tight ballgame into a run-rule victory on the first day of tournament play at the NJCAA Division II Baseball World Series, as Lackawanna College scored six runs combined in the seventh and eighth innings to take a 9-1 victory in eight innings over Glendale CC on Saturday afternoon in the World Series opener for both teams.
 
Lackawanna College (39-15) had fallen behind 1-0 after a two-out walk, followed by a steal and an RBI double in the top of the third. But that deficit to the Gauchos from Glendale (32-29) was to be short-lived, as third baseman Dennis Pierce (Quakertown, PA) continued his scorching return to the Falcon lineup, hitting a two-run homer with two outs in the bottom half of the inning. He added a leadoff shot in the sixth to make it 3-1, Falcons, and, after the Falcons scored another run in the seventh to chase the Glendale starter, he singled home another run to make it 5-1 and blow things open for Lackawanna. Christian Rush (Perkasie, PA) added a two-run shot, and Cole Casamento (Limerick, PA) walked things off in the bottom of the eighth, hitting a one-out double to the gap in left-center to score a pair of runs and activate the eight-run rule.
 
Things were tight early, as Falcons starter Kyle Scott (Westminster, MD) battled and dodged major trouble, walking a season-high seven batters, but allowing just two hits, and getting the outs where he needed to, eventually coming away with the win. Scott, along with the rest of the Lackawanna pitching staff, was helped along by some outstanding defense. Scott helped himself out with a nonchalant barehanded snag with two outs and two on to end the top of the fifth. The even bigger defensive play came in the top of the sixth, with Lackawanna clinging to a 2-1 lead. Glendale got a pair of walks, and moved those runners to second and third with two away, when a hot shot to second was snagged by a diving Ranciel Ventura (Allentown, PA) to strand the runners and get Scott out of the jam. Leading 7-1 in the top of the eighth, the Falcons avoided letting up another run when a fly ball to Zachary Walsh (Spring Brook Twp., PA) was quickly fired home to hose a runner trying to tag from third in a nifty 8-2 double play.
 
Pierce finished the day 3-for-4 with four RBI coming on a two-run homer, a solo homer, and an RBI single. Casamento finished the day going 2-for-4 with two RBI, and Brayden D'Amico (Bethlehem, PA) went 2-for-3 with two runs scored. Walsh chased the Gauchos' starter in the bottom of the seventh with an opposite field RBI hit that caromed off the corner in the outfield, letting him scoot around the bases for a one-run triple.
 
Scott hit the mound first, and gave up back-to-back one-out walks to get the Gauchos in business early, but a strikeout, followed by a fly out to left, kept things clean. The top of the second was almost a different story, when a leadoff triple had Glendale 90-feet away from scoring the game's first run. Scott bounced back with authority, getting back-to-back strikeouts to put two away, and inducing a ground ball to D'Amico at short to strand the runner.
 
In the bottom of the second, the Falcons got their first baserunner of the day on an error at third with two outs, which let Spencer Butz (York, PA) climb aboard, but Lackawanna couldn't bring Butz home, leaving it scoreless after two innings.
 
A walk started the top of the third for the Gauchos, but a fly out, followed by Casamento combining with Michael Rickert (Moosic, PA) for a caught stealing quickly put two away. Another walk gave Glendale a two-out baserunner, and a successful stolen base put that runner at second. A double into the gap in left-center scored that runner and gave Glendale an early 1-0 advantage. Scott got a fly out to center to get out before more damage could be done.
 
In the bottom of the third, D'Amico singled with one out to give Lackawanna a baserunner. He then stole second with two outs to put himself in scoring position. Pierce then crushed a fastball down the left field line, just keeping it fair as it went over the wall for a two-run homerun to give Lackawanna a 2-1 advantage.
 
The Falcons got a leadoff baserunner in the bottom of the fourth, but a tidy 4-3 double play erased that runner, and a ground out ended the inning, with Lackawanna still ahead at 2-1.
 
In the top of the fifth, Scott hit a batter on a 3-2 pitch to let up another baserunner, then balked to let that runner get to second. A fly out to center put one away, then a ground out to D'Amico made it two outs. Another walk put runners on first and second with two down, and the next batter hit a chopper back to the mound. Scott calmly sidestepped and barehanded the ball, then tossed to first for the out, stranding the runners and giving the Falcons a big boost heading into the bottom of the fifth, where they'd get a one-out baserunner to second on a steal, but would come up empty.
 
In to the top of the sixth, Scott gave up a walk, his sixth, to start the inning. A pop out back to Scott was the first out, but his seventh walk followed, making it first and second with one out. A fly out to Butz put two away, but a wild pitch put both runners in scoring position. The next batter lined what looked to be the go-ahead RBI hit, but Ventura, who had just subbed into the game at the top of the inning, laid out to his right to come up with a spectacular grab, getting Scott out of trouble and stranding the runners to keep it at 2-1.
 
In the bottom half, Pierce got a hold of another one, first-pitch swinging at a fastball into left field that made it 3-1, Falcons. Rush reached on an errant throw from third, and got to second on a ground out, but the Falcons made two more outs and had to settle for the just one run in the sixth.
 
In the top of the seventh, Matthew McElligott (Columbus, OH) came on to relieve Scott, and started the inning with a walk. He'd settle in after that, getting a fly out on the infield, followed by a swinging strikeout, and finally a fly out to Walsh in center to strand the baserunner and get the Falcons into the bottom frame.
 
Lackawanna, still up against Brock Jessup, the Glendale starter, made two quick outs with a grounder to third by Ventura and a hard-hit line out to center by Casamento. D'Amico blooped a single in front of the left fielder to climb aboard, then stole second to get into scoring position. Walsh finally got himself going, driving a pitch to the opposite field that sliced down the right field line, bouncing off the wall and ricocheting past the right fielder. D'Amico scored, and the speedy Walsh made it to third with a triple, chasing Jessup in the process. Pierce welcomed the relief pitcher with an RBI single to score Walsh and make it 5-1, and Rush followed with a towering two-run drive to left field that blew the game open at 7-1 after seven innings.
 
Jace Cunnane (Clarkstown, NY) came on for the eighth, and a moon-shot to right-center bounced off the wall for a leadoff double, just missing a leadoff homer. A balk put the runner on third with nobody out, but Cunnane got a major break from his teammates. A fly ball drifted into shallow center field, where Walsh shagged it and quickly fired a dart home to Casamento, beating the runner who tagged with ease to put two away. A fly out to right field ended the top half of the eighth.
 
A leadoff single, followed by a walk, put two on with nobody out for the Falcons. A pop out put one away, but Casamento wouldn't miss his chance, roping a liner into the left-center gap that bounced to the wall, scoring two runs and walking off the Falcons' first win at the DII World Series since 2012.
 
The win is just the second ever for Lackawanna College at the DII World Series, and their first in the top-side of the bracket. The task gets much bigger for Lackawanna in its next game, when the Falcons take on the top-seeded Heartland CC Hawks, the Region 24 champions and Central District representatives. That game is set for an 8:15pm ET start on Sunday, May 28^th, right back at David Allen Memorial Ballpark in Enid, Oklahoma, and will be the fourth game of the quadruple-header.