4/27/24
 
SCRANTON, Pa.– A steady diet of homeruns and solid pitching was too much for Lackawanna College softball to overcome, as WVU Potomac State took both games of a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at Scranton HS softball field. The Catamounts won game one 14-4 in five innings, then took game two by a 10-4 score.
 
Game one saw the Catamounts (30-11) immediately hit the front, scoring ten runs in the first three innings on their way to the run-rule victory. Potomac pounded out 14 hits, four of which were long balls, and never let up on the Falcons (35-16). Jillian Heimberger (First Year; Unionville, PA) got the start and was hit hard in the loss, giving up nine runs, five earned, on seven hits in 2 1/3 innings pitched. Allyson Lemerise (Sophomore; Catonsville, MD) did her part, going 2-for-3 at the plate with three RBI coming on a pair of doubles, while Madison Maloney (Sophomore; Scranton, PA) had the only other hit, a run-scoring single in the fourth.
 
Heimberger got the game going with a strike out, but a triple to right, followed by an error, let the runner score to put Potomac ahead 1-0. Heimberger managed to pitch around a two-out walk to get out of the inning without any more damage. Morgan McVicar (First Year; Blakely, PA) drew a two-out walk, and Lemerise cashed her in with a double to make it 1-1 after the first inning.
 
Potomac struck out to start the second, but a homer from the Catamounts' pitcher made it 2-1. An error put a runner on, and a two-out walk made it runners at first and second, then a three-run shot to the outfield marked the second homer of the day for Potomac, giving the Catamounts a 5-1 advantage.
 
Potomac would add to that lead in the third, when three-straight singles opened the inning to score one run, and a one-out homer drove in three more to make it 9-1, Potomac, and chased Heimberger from the game. Brianna Dinice (First Year; Terryville, CT) came on in relief, gave up a single, but then got a fly out for the second out of the inning. A two-out walk put two on, and a single scored another run to give Potomac a 10-1 advantage. Dinice eventually got a ground out to second to end the inning, but the damage was done.
 
Lackawanna responded in the bottom half of the third, when Maloney, and McVicar each walked to put two on with two out. Lemerise came up with another RBI-double, driving in a pair of runs to cut into the deficit, 10-3, but a strikeout ended the inning before the Falcons could keep the rally going. Potomac hit a solo homer in the top of the fourth, and the Falcons responded with a two-out single from Maloney to get that run back, but another strikeout, this time with a pair of runners on, ended the inning early.
 
The Catamounts added to their 11-4 lead in the fifth, getting a one-out double to score a run, then three-straight two-out singles to add two more runs, taking a 14-4 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth, where the Falcons were unable to get anything going.
 
Lackawanna took the lead in game two, jumping ahead at 3-0 and taking a 4-1 lead into the fourth, but a disastrous fourth saw the Catamounts put up seven runs, five coming on a pair of homeruns, to take the lead, and eventually run away with the win. Aria Reyes (Sophomore; Allentown, PA) was tagged with the loss, giving up nine runs, six earned, on eight hits in four innings of work. Maloney was 2-for-4, while Lemerise had three RBI. Reyes was 1-for-2 with a run driven in, McVicar had two runs scored, and Heimberger, Alexis Semanek (Sophomore; Wilkes-Barre, PA), and Kizbelth Ortiz (First Year; New Britain, CT) each had hits.
 
After a 1-2-3 top of the first, the Falcons immediately hit the gas pedal in the bottom frame. Skylar Borthwick (Sophomore; Pittston, PA) reached on a one-out single, an error let McVicar aboard, and another error, this time in the outfield, let Lemerise reach and scored two runs. Lemerise got to third, then came home on a single from Reyes that put Lackawanna ahead 3-0. Back-to-back strike outs ended the inning for the Falcons.
 
Neither team got anything going in the second, but Potomac woke up in the third, using a leadoff double, followed by a single and an error, to put runners at second and third with nobody out. A ground out to third was the first out, but a sac fly to right scored the runner at third and made it 3-1. Reyes got another ground out to third to limit the damage.
 
McVicar led the bottom of the third off with a triple, then scored on a Lemerise ground out to make it 4-1. Heimberger singled with two outs, and Semanek followed with a single of her own, but was out trying to stretch it into a two-bag hit, potentially a costly error after three innings.
 
Potomac had a runner on with one out, when a two-run shot to left-center field made it just a 4-3 Falcons lead. Another single, followed by a walk and an error, loaded the bases with one out. Another error plated a run to tie the game, and a single scored the go-ahead run, but the second out was made at third. But, Potomac unloaded a three-run homer in the next at-bat, giving the Catamounts an 8-4 lead after 3.5 innings.
 
Lackawanna got a runner to second in the bottom of the fourth, but couldn't get her home. Alivia Graber (Sophomore; North Syracuse, NY) took over pitching for Lackawanna in the fifth, and Potomac scored a pair of runs via two ground outs to extend the lead to 10-4. Lackawanna was retired in order in the bottom of the fifth and sixth innings, and had a runner in the bottom of the seventh, but the Falcons couldn't get the offense to bounce back, eventually grounding out to end the game.
 
The Falcons will host WVU Potomac State for one more contest, the final regular season bout, on Sunday, April 28^th, at 11:00am ET at the Scranton HS softball field.