3/15/25
 
CUMBERLAND, Md. – Lackawanna College baseball overwhelmed Allegany College of Maryland in game one, helping the Falcons earn a doubleheader split on Saturday afternoon in non-region action in Maryland. Lackawanna College ran away with game one, 14-0, before falling 6-1 in game two to the Trojans.
 
The Falcons (7-9) were dominant throughout game one, but got a huge boost from their starter on the mound.
 
Ryan Novakowski (Forty Fort, PA) had by far his best game of the season on the mound, striking out a season-high nine batters and scattering four hits over seven innings of shut-out pitching, while the offense pounded out 15 hits and topped ten runs for the third time in five games. Four Falcons had multi-hit games, and nine different Falcons scored a run on the day, as Lackawanna College spread the wealth in a dominant performance at both the plate and in the field.
 
Catcher Jake Kelleher (Exeter, PA) was 3-for-4 with three runs scored and a pair of RBIs, while Louis Kegerreis (Murrysville, PA) was 2-for-4 with a run scored and two RBIs and Tyler Lepage (Macungie, PA) hit a two-run homer and went 2-for-3 with two runs scored. Jack Hughes (Hamilton, NJ) hit a solo homer to cap a seven-run seventh inning, as the Falcons secured the game one win.
 
Game one got going with a leadoff single from Kelleher, and then a one-out double from Kegerreis, which put runners on the corners with one out. A wild pitch scored Kelleher, and then a sac fly to center scored Kegerreis, giving Lackawanna a 2-0 lead heading into the bottom frame.
 
Novakowski gave up a single and a walk to put the first two batters on, but sandwiched a fly out to third with a pair of strikeouts to strand the runners and fire the Falcons up for the second inning. A two-out walk put two runners on, and Kelleher ripped an RBI single to make it 3-0, Lackawanna, heading into the bottom half.
 
After a 1-2-3 inning from Novakowski, Lackawanna added two more in the third, when Nick Matson (Nanticoke, PA) reached on a two-out single and then scored on Lepage's fifth home run of the season, pushing the Falcons out to a 5-0 advantage.
 
Novakowski pitched around a one-out single, helped by a line-out double play at short, and the Falcons tacked on two more in the top of the fourth with a pair of back-to-back sac flies, running the lead up to 7-0.
 
ACM (10-9) had runners on the corners with just one out in the fifth, but a foul out put two away, and then Kelleher fired a dart to second to throw a runner out stealing for the third out, stranding the runner at third and keeping the Trojans off the scoreboard.
 
In the seventh, the Falcons really hit the gas pedal to put distance between themselves and Allegany. Three straight singles had runners at the corners and one out. Kenny Hirschfeld (New Hyde Park, NY) advanced to second, and Grant Dalton (Bedford, IN) singled home a run to make it 8-0. An error let the Falcons score two more runs, and then a Kelleher double made it 11-0, Falcons. Brooks Henderson IV (Feasterville, PA) kept his hitting streak alive with an RBI single, and got all the way to third because of an error in the outfield, and then a fielder's choice to score him made it 13-0, Lackawanna College, with two outs. In stepped Hughes, and then out went the baseball, as Hughes hit a solo homer to push the Lackawanna lead to two touchdowns heading into the bottom frame.
 
The Trojans hit a two-out single to get a base runner, then another single put two on with two outs, but Novakowski got a swinging strikeout for out number three to preserve the shut out and give the Falcons the win in game one.
 
Game two was very different for Lackawanna, as the Falcons made five errors on the field and managed just five hits in a 6-1 loss. Kegerreis had a homer and an RBI for the only run, while Matson, Kelleher, Deacon Brown (Williamsport, PA), and Jason Prudente (Wilkes-Barre Twp., PA) all added a hit apiece. Liam O'Leary (Souderton, PA) was tagged with the loss, giving up five runs, four earned, on six hits in five innings of work.
 
Kegerreis got the Falcons on the board early in game two with a solo homer, giving the feeling that Lackawanna might run away with the second game, but ACM had other ideas.
 
The Trojans tied the game in the bottom frame, getting to O'Leary with a pair of walks after the first and second outs. With two on and two down, a single scored the Trojans' first run of the day and made it 1-1.
 
The Falcons wasted a Matson double in the third, and the Trojans wasted a runner in scoring position in the bottom half.
 
Lackawanna had a pair of two-out singles to put runners in scoring position, but a fly out on the infield stranded the runners.
 
Allegany struck for a run in the bottom of the fourth, using back-to-back singles to manufacture a run for the 2-1 lead. O'Leary managed to dance out of trouble and strand two runners to end the threat.
 
Lackawanna went quietly in the fifth, and ACM struck big in the bottom frame. An error on the infield let the leadoff runner aboard, and that run came home on a single that made it 3-1, Trojans. A catcher's interference let another runner on, a passed ball put two runners in scoring position, and an RBI single, coupled with a sac fly, pushed the ACM lead to 5-1.
 
A two-out Brown double went nowhere for the Falcons in the top of the sixth, as a long fly out to left ended the inning. Trey Sajeski (Holland, PA) got the ball to start the bottom of the sixth, and ACM used two straight two-out hits, plus an error, to score a run and make it 6-1.
 
In the seventh, the Falcons were retired in order to seal their fate.
 
Lackawanna College will now look to its home opener on Tuesday, March 18^th, at Scranton HS, where the Falcons host the D3 #1 team in the nation, and the back-to-back defending national champion RCSJ Gloucester Roadrunners. First pitch is at 3:00pm ET.