4/15/24
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – A squeeze-play late in game two from Jake Kelleher gave Lackawanna baseball a lead it wouldn't surrender, as the Falcons split the spoils in doubleheader action against Mercer County CC on a sunny late Monday afternoon at Scranton HS baseball field. Lackawanna fell in game one, 11-2, before prevailing in game two, 5-1.
 
The Falcons (17-18, 5-4) were tied at one heading into the sixth inning in game two, when Kelleher (First Year; Exeter, PA) came up with runners on second and third and one out. Knowing his team needed a spark, the catcher laid down a squeeze bunt, scoring the go-ahead run and getting himself on base, giving the Falcons a 2-1 lead out of nothing. Another squeeze, this time from Nick Matson (Redshirt First Year; Nanticoke, PA), brought another run home, putting the Falcons up 3-1. An error let Kelleher score, and Louis Kegerreis (Redshirt First Year; Murrysville, PA) singled home the fourth run of the inning to put Lackawanna ahead 5-1 heading into the top of the seventh.
 
That's where Nicholas Finarelli (Sophomore; Hunlock Creek, PA) put a bow on his gem of an outing. Finarelli struck out the side to finish his night with 14 strikeouts, allowing just one run on four hits in seven innings of work, helping the Falcons to the victory.
 
It didn't look like it was going to be a gem to start the game, as Mercer (25-13, 9-2) loaded the bases with two outs, but a third strike out of the inning got Finarelli out of the jam. He struck out two more in the third, pitching around a one-out triple to get a ground out to strand the runner.
 
The Falcons scored in the second, courtesy of a sac fly from Vincent Proietto (Sophomore; Drexel Hill, PA) that traded the second out of the inning for a run. Finarelli got a double-play and a ground out to get through the top of the third, but the Vikings tied the game in the fourth with a solo homer to lead the inning off. Finarelli settled in to strike out the side in order from there to keep the game tied at one.
 
Lackawanna had two base runners in the fourth with one out, but the Falcons couldn't capitalize. In the bottom of the fifth, Lackawanna had runners on first and second with one out, and then runners on the corners with two outs, but still couldn't break the deadlock. In the top of the sixth, an error gave Mercer a base runner, but Finarelli pitched around it to get a pair of strikeouts and set up the bottom half of the sixth.
 
Kegerreis finished 2-for-3 with a RBI, while Kelleher and Proietto each put up one RBI for the Falcons. The win for Finarelli was his fourth of the season.
 
The Falcons needed that game two win, as Mercer took it to Lackawanna in game one. The opener was at a standstill through four innings, with neither side breaking through, but a disastrous fifth inning turned the game on its head for Lackawanna. Back-to-back walks, followed by a single, loaded the bases for Mercer in the top frame, with nobody out. A bases-loaded walk provided the first run of the game, then back-to-back hit batters with the bases loaded pushed two more runs across. A two-run single, made it 5-0, Vikings, a hit batter loaded the bases again, and a fielder's choice to get a force out at second represented the first out, making it 6-0 and forcing the Falcons to go to the pen.
 
Jace Cunnane (Sophomore; Clarkstown, NY) came on in relief, but a hit batter loaded the bases again, then back-to-back RBI-hits scored three runs to push the Mercer lead out to 9-0. A strike out was the second out, but a wild pitch scored the tenth run of the inning, giving Mercer a 10-0 lead into the bottom of the fifth.
 
Logan Mote (First Year; Branchburg, NJ) smashed a solo homer to lead off the bottom of the fifth to get the Falcons on the board, and a walk from Proietto gave the Falcons a base runner and forced a pitching change. That would be all, however, as Lackawanna couldn't keep the rally going. In the sixth, the Falcons added another, after Michael Rickert (Sophomore; Moosic, PA) tripled to center to lead the inning off, and Aydan McNelly (Sophomore; Limerick, PA) singled him home to cut the deficit to 10-2.
 
Mercer added a run in the seventh, then sat the Falcons down in order in the seventh to take game one. Nicholas Biasi (First Year; Hazle Twp., PA) was hit with the loss, going 4 1/3 innings and giving up eight runs on three hits, walking five and hitting three batters. Rickert was 2-for-3 with a run scored, while Mote had the solo homer and was 1-for-3.
 
Mercer took two-of-three from the Falcons over their three-game series, but the win for the Falcons in game two keeps Mercer within sight of the chasing pack in Region XIX. The Falcons are currently 5-4 in Region XIX, with three-game sets against Delaware Tech and Sussex County CC left for Lackawanna. The Falcons are next in action on Tuesday, April 16^th, with a doubleheader at Monroe CC. First pitch is at 1:00pm ET up in Rochester, NY.