5/3/24
 
WEST WINDSOR TWP., NJ – One of the most successful seasons in Lackawanna College softball's program history ended on Friday afternoon, after the Falcons fell to Delaware Tech and Mercer County CC in New Jersey at the Region XIX DII Softball Tournament. Lackawanna lost 6-5 to Delaware Tech in game one, then dropped an 8-0 decision in five innings to Mercer County CC in an elimination game.
 
The Falcons (35-19) were in a back-and-forth, seesaw battle in game one with Delaware Tech (25-8), fighting to tie the game in the sixth inning with a two-run homerun from Aria Reyes (Sophomore; Allentown, PA), only to see Delaware Tech score a run on an error on the infield with two outs in the bottom frame. The Falcons were then retired in order in the top of the seventh, handing Delaware Tech a narrow win in a first round contest.
 
Paige Pieper (First Year; Middleton, ID) was 2-for-2 with a run scored and a run driven in, while Reyes had two RBI, and Emmalee Mowery (First Year; Mechanicsburg, PA) went 1-for-3 with two RBI. Allyson Lemerise (Sophomore; Catonsville, MD) got hit with the loss, giving up six runs, four earned, on nine hits, while striking out four.
 
After the Falcons were retired in order on three pitches to start the game, Del Tech got an immediate single, then a sac bunt and a fly out to move that runner to third with two outs. A passed ball scored the runner, and Delaware Tech had a 1-0 lead, but Lemerise recovered to get a strikeout to end the inning.
 
An error at short stop on a throw to first let Lemerise reach in the top of the second, and a Skylar Borthwick (Sophomore; Pittston, PA) double put runners at second and third with nobody out. A strikeout was the first out, but Pieper drove in that runner on third with a sac fly to center, tying the game at one.
 
Neither team got a base runner until the bottom of the third, when the leadoff batter reached on an error on the Falcons. Lackawanna got a pop up on a bunt attempt for the first out, then a line out to short, which was turned into a 6-3 double play as the Falcons doubled off the runner at first to send the game into the fourth.
 
Lackawanna wasted a base runner, getting caught stealing at one point, and that set up Del Tech for the home half of the fourth. A leadoff double, followed by a single to right, scored a run to make it 2-1, Delaware Tech. Lemerise got a strike out, then a fielder's choice got the lead runner out to put two away with a runner on first. But Del Tech delivered with a two-run homer to deep center field, taking a 4-1 lead into the fifth inning.
 
In the top of the fifth, Pieper singled with one out, and advanced to second on an error in the outfield. Jillian Heimberger (First Year; Unionville, PA) hit a long fly ball to left, but the ball hit the glove of the fielder and dropped to the turf, gifting Lackawanna runners at second and third with still just the one out. That opened the door for Mowery, who singled through to left field and cut the deficit down to 4-3. Mowery got to third on a ground out, but was stranded at third to end the top of the inning.
 
Del Tech loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom frame, and Lemerise managed to get a strike out for the first out, but a fly ball to center was deep enough for the next batter to drive in a runner and push Del Tech's lead to 5-3.
 
In the top of the sixth, Lackawanna had a base runner with two outs. Reyes, trying to battle back in the count, got a hold of a pitch to deep right-center and cleared the fence for a two-run homer to tie the game at five. Pieper singled to get on, but the Falcons couldn't do any more in the sixth.
 
Del Tech had runners on the corners with one out, and Lemerise bounced back with a strike out to put two away. It seemed like the Falcons might be getting out of trouble when a ground ball went to the right side, but the Falcons misplayed the ball, letting the go-ahead run score.
 
In the seventh, Lackawanna couldn't answer the bell, going down in order to end the first game.
 
Game two saw the Falcons take on top-seeded Mercer, which lost its first game, 6-0, to Salem CC. Mercer (40-6) scored four runs in the first inning, and put up eight total runs to win via run-rule, thanks to a three-hit shutout from pitcher Shea Krebs.
 
Borthwick was 2-for-2 on the day, while Morgan McVicar (First Year; Blakely, PA) was 1-for-2. Alivia Graber (Sophomore; North Syracuse, NY) was tagged with the loss, giving up six runs, all earned, on five hits in two innings.
 
After Lackawanna came up empty in the first, Mercer immediately got things going in the bottom frame, hitting a two-run homer, just two batters in. A walk, followed by a single, then a wild pitch, put two runners on second and third with nobody out. A pop out was the first out, but a two-run single to center made it 4-0, Vikings, before Graber got a pair of outs to finally end the inning.
 
The Falcons wasted a one-out single in the second, and Mercer scored two more runs, one coming via a wild pitch, the other on a solo homerun to right field that made it 6-0, Vikings.
 
Lackawanna had its best chance in the fourth, putting two batters on with two outs, but a ground out to short wasted the runners, and Mercer would make the Falcons pay in the home half, adding two more via a two-run double with two outs that made it 8-0, Vikings, and forced the Falcons to need a score to stay alive.
 
Lackawanna once again struggled to get an answer, going 3-and-out in the top of the fifth to end the game early via the run-rule, and bring the Lackawanna season to a close.
 
The loss ends the season for Lackawanna College, which finishes 2024 with 35 wins, its most all-time in the Jeff Pittsman era, and its second-most all-time in program history. The Falcons graduate seven sophomores from this year's team.