4/19/24
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – The tying run was on base, and a howling visitors dugout was making noise in the top of the ninth, where Lackawanna College baseball clung to a one-run lead with nobody out. A lesser team may have buckled under the pressure, but this Falcons squad is finally figuring out how to win, and, lo and behold, they found a way.
 
Jace Cunnane forced a ground ball that turned into a 4-6-3 double play, then pitched around a walk to get a swinging strikeout to secure a 5-4 victory for Lackawanna over Sussex County CC on an overcast and chilly Friday afternoon at Scranton HS baseball field in a Region XIX DII contest.
 
The Falcons (19-19, 6-4) had actually held a 4-2 lead heading into the eighth inning, but the visiting Skylanders (15-14, 4-9) tied the game on back-to-back one-out singles, the second a two-RBI single to left that plated a pair of runs. Lackawanna's Ty Federici (Sophomore; Dallas, PA) bounced back with a pop out and an emphatic strikeout to send the game into the bottom of the eighth, where Lackawanna re-took the lead, thanks to a bases-loaded sacrifice fly to left by David Baltrusaitis (Sophomore; Tunkhannock, PA).
 
That set the stage for Cunnane (Sophomore; Clarkstown, NY), who came on and initially walked the first batter. Cunnane got a big play on the next batter, however, when a 1-0 pitch was grounded towards Michael Rickert (Sophomore; Moosic, PA) at second base. Rickert gathered the ball and flipped over to a scrambling Brooks Henderson IV (First Year; Feasterville, PA), who brushed the bag with his foot and fired a dart to Aydan McNelly (Sophomore; Limerick, PA) to complete a massive double play and put two outs on the board. A subsequent walk put another runner on, but Cunnane blew past the pinch hitter with a 1-2 fastball up in the zone. The Skylanders batter offered a half-hearted swing that just crossed the plate, giving Lackawanna a huge win in the first of three games this weekend against Sussex.
 
Cunnane picked up the win for his inning of work, his second win of the year. Louis Kegerreis (Redshirt First Year; Murrysville, PA) was 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles, while Nick Matson (Redshirt First Year; Nanticoke, PA) went 2-for-5 with a run scored and a RBI, and Logan Mote (Redshirt First Year; Branchburg, NJ) went 2-for-3 with a run scored.
 
Each side had a pair of baserunners in the first inning, but neither squad could take advantage. In the second, Sussex loaded the bases with two outs, but starter Hayden Klyver (First Year; Wilton, CT) got a huge strikeout to end the inning and strand the bases loaded. In the bottom half, a two-out single from Mote was followed up by two more singles, the latter of which scored Mote to make it 1-0, Falcons.
 
Sussex loaded the bases again in the third inning, but Klyver got a pop out to the catcher, followed by a ground out to second to strand them loaded. In the bottom half, Baltrusaitis drew a one-out walk to give Lackawanna a baserunner. Henderson doubled with two outs to put runners in scoring position. A wild pitch let Baltrusaitis score, and, after a walk put runners on the corners, Mote singled home Henderson to make it 3-0, Falcons, after three innings.
 
Sussex broke through in the fourth. A leadoff single, followed by a one-out double, put runners in scoring position. A double to left scored the pair and cut the deficit to 3-2, with just one out. Klyver bounced back to get a fly out, then a ground out, to strand the tying run.
 
Kirk Stensrud (First Year; Glenside, PA) pitched around back-to-back one-out walks to strand a pair in the fifth, and the Falcons capitalized in the bottom frame. Rickert reached on an error to lead the inning off, then got to third on a one-out single from Jacob Simpson (Sophomore; Scranton, PA). Lackawanna then executed a double-steal, where Simpson strayed off second to force a throw from the catcher, allowing Rickert to race home. The Skylanders fired the ball quickly back to the catcher, but Rickert slid under the tag for the run, and Simpson reached second safely, putting the Falcons up 4-2 after five.
 
Lackawanna stranded two in the sixth, and Sussex stranded two in the seventh, eventually leading into the decisive eighth inning. Stensrud left after giving up a single and a walk, with a ground out in between, and Federici came on and gave up the back-to-back hits, including the single that tied the game, before settling in and getting the two outs he needed.
 
In the bottom half, Matson and Kegerreis hit back-to-back doubles to put runners at second and third with nobody out. McNelly walked to load the bases, and Baltrusaitis flied a 1-2 pitch in left field, just deep enough to bring Matson home as the go-ahead run. The Falcons had a chance to score more, when Rickert singled on a teardrop to right field, but a base running error resulted in Kegerreis getting caught too far down the third base line, resulting in him making an out trying to get home. Sussex then got a ground out to get out of trouble, setting up Cunnane's big inning to nail down the win.
 
Lackawanna has now won five of its last seven games, and remains in second in the Region XIX DII Baseball standings. The Falcons have two more games against Sussex County, with a doubleheader scheduled for Saturday, April 20^th. First pitch of the doubleheader is at 12:00pm ET in Newton, NJ.