Box Score 5/12/24
 
WEST WINDSOR TWP, NJ – Mercer County CC rallied from a seven-run deficit to stun Lackawanna College baseball, 10-8, in the Region XIX DII Championship game on Sunday afternoon at Mercer County CC's baseball field. The win clinched the sixth title since 2009 for the Vikings, and sends Mercer to next week's East District tournament. The loss ends Lackawanna College's season.
 
The defending champion Falcons (31-23) held a 7-0 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth, but Mercer (34-21) scored two in the fifth, three more in the sixth, and then two more in the seventh to tied the game, feasting on the Lackawanna College bullpen.
 
Lackawanna re-took the lead in the eighth at 8-7, and got two outs in the bottom half, but a single, a walk, and then an RBI-single scored the tying run. Later, with the bases loaded, a hit batter forced the go-ahead run in, and a bases-loaded walk forced in a key insurance run for the Vikings, who took a 10-8 lead into the ninth, then retired the Falcons in order for the championship.
 
Jake Kelleher (First Year; Exeter, PA) went 2-for-4 on the day with two runs scored, and he hit a solo homerun to right field to get the scoring started for the Falcons in the third. Aydan McNelly (Sophomore; Limerick, PA) followed with a two-out double to score a pair of runs and give the Falcons a 3-0 lead after 2 ½ innings. They put four more on the board in the top of the fifth, taking advantage of an error that plated a pair of runs, then hitting a sac fly and an RBI single to push out to a 7-0 lead.
 
Ty Federici (Sophomore; Dallas, PA) had been excellent to that point, allowing just one hit through four innings of work, but the Falcons made a pitching change, and that's where Mercer started to get itself going. The Vikings scored on a one-out RBI-double, then loaded the bases with two outs, and scored a second run on an infield single, before a ground out ended the threat.
 
Lackawanna was retired in order in the sixth, and Mercer struck for more in the home half, taking advantage of another pitching change. A leadoff double, followed by an RBI-single, got the Vikings a third run for the day. A single put two on, and a wild pitch put runners in scoring position, and a run came home on a ground out that made it 7-4. Another single scored a run to make it 7-5, and the Falcons went to the 'pen again. A double put runners at second and third with two outs, but that's when Brooks Henderson IV (First Year; Feasterville, PA) made a spectacular leaping grab on a hot-shot to third, then scrambled to the bag to double off the runner and get the Falcons out of trouble.
 
The bats were silent in the top of the seventh, and Mercer made Lackawanna pay in the bottom frame, loading the bases with one out, and then scoring on a two-run single up the middle to tie the game at 7-all.
 
Lackawanna had runners on the corners with two outs in the top of the eighth, and Nick Matson (Redshirt First Year; Nanticoke, PA) doubled to center to get the lead back for the Falcons at 8-7 with two outs. Lackawanna couldn't get anything else going in the frame, and setting Mercer up for the bottom half.
 
Two straight strikeouts started the inning, but a single, followed by a walk, put two on. An opposite field single just went over the outstretched glove of Brayden D'Amico (Sophomore; Bethlehem, PA) and plated the tying run, knotting the game up at 8-8. A walk loaded the bases, and a hit batter forced in the go-ahead run. After a pitching change, a bases-loaded walk pushed another run across, and the Falcons mercifully got out of any more trouble with a ground out, but the damage was done, and Lackawanna was retired in order in the top half to end an excellent championship contest.
 
Matson finished 3-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI, while Louis Kegerreis (Redshirt First Year; Murrysville, PA) went 2-for-5 with two runs scored.
 
Mercer advances to the NJCAA DII East District tournament, where the Vikings will clash with the Vikings from SUNY Westchester on Friday, out at host SUNY Sullivan in Loch Sheldrake, NY. Lackawanna ends its season with 31 wins on the year. After starting the year 2-9, and fighting through most of the season just to get above .500, Lackawanna won nine straight regular season games, then took a pair of games from Morris in the Region XIX playoffs to get to the championship contest with Mercer. It's the fourth year, and second straight, that the Falcons have won 30 or more games under head coach Mike McCarry.