Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 2/23/24
 
MARTINSVILLE, Va. – There was some pop on the bats of the Falcons, as Lackawanna College softball started its season with a doubleheader split at the 2024 Juco Jamboree in southern Virginia. The Falcons knocked off host Patrick & Henry CC by a 6-4 margin, before falling 5-2 to the Cardinals of CCBC Catonsville in game two.
 
Lackawanna (1-1) was steady on offense in game one, scoring runs in the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth innings. The big runs came in the bottom of the sixth, when the Falcons grabbed a late lead thanks to a sac fly to right field, followed by an RBI single from Paige Piper (First Year; Middleton, ID) that pushed the Falcons ahead 6-4. Aria Reyes (Sophomore; Allentown, PA) pitched around a two-out double that put runners on second and third in the top of the seventh, getting a fly out to left to end the contest.
 
The scoring started when first year player Jillian Heimberger (Unionville, PA) smoked a liner over the left field wall to put the Falcons up 1-0 in the bottom of the second. A three-run homer in the top of the third gave PHCC a 3-1 advantage, but the Falcons edged closer when a passed ball let a runner cross in the bottom frame. A passed ball in the top of the fourth gave PHCC (8-14) a two-run lead, but an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth from Kizbelth Ortiz (First Year; New Britain, CT) cut the deficit to 4-3. A wild pitch in the bottom of the fifth allowed the Falcons to score, which set up the bottom of the sixth.
 
Reyes threw three innings of scoreless relief to pick up the win, giving up four hits and a walk. Emmalee Mowery (First Year; Mechanicsburg, PA) was 2-for-4 with a run scored, while Madison Maloney (Sophomore; Scranton, PA) was 1-for-2 with a run scored and a pair of walks. Heimberger finished 1-for-1 with a run scored, an RBI, and two walks, while Pieper was 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI. The Falcons won despite giving up 14 hits to the Patriots.
 
In game two, the Falcons were undone by five runs across the third and fourth innings, and couldn't mount the comeback. Catonsville (3-1) hit a two-run single in the bottom of the third to grab the lead, then added to that with a pair of RBI singles sandwiching a wild pitch in the bottom of the fourth, ballooning the lead to 5-0.
 
The Falcons hit their second homerun of the day and got on the board in the top of the fifth, when Alexis Semanek (Sophomore; Wilkes-Barre, PA) went yard out to left field. The Falcons had runners on second and third with one out in the top of the sixth, but could only muster an RBI ground out, followed by a strikeout to end the threat. Pieper got on base to start the top of the seventh, but the Falcons went down in order to close the game out.
 
Mowery once again led the way at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a run scored, while Semanek was 1-for-2 with a run scored and an RBI on her homer. Lackawanna had eight strikeouts as a team, and only got two walks on the day. Alivia Graber (Sophomore; North Syracuse, NY) got the start and was tagged with the loss, giving up five runs on nine hits in four innings. Graber struck out five. Heimberger pitched two innings of scoreless relief, walking three and striking out one.
 
Lackawanna softball gets right back to work on Saturday, February 24^th, when they are scheduled to play Corning CC. First pitch is scheduled for a 2:15pm ET start down in Martinsville.