4/10/25

SCRANTON, Pa. – Lackawanna College softball shook off a slump in game one with a hitting display in game two, helping the Falcons salvage a doubleheader split at home against Harford CC on a cold and wet Thursday afternoon at Scranton HS softball field in non-region play. Harford took game one 5-1, while the Falcons won game two, 15-8.
 
The Falcons (18-18) struggled throughout game one, striking out seven times, leaving six runners on base, and managing just four hits. The only run the Falcons scored in game one came on a sac fly in the sixth inning. Harford (13-11) scored four runs in the first two innings, pouncing on starter Mia Scalese (Moscow, PA). Scalese settled in well and went the distance, giving up five runs on eleven hits, but still got hit with the loss.
 
Back-to-back singles from the Fighting Owls put runners on the corners with one out to start the game, and the visitors scored on a double steal to get the first run of the game. A walk put two on, and then a single to center scored another run to push the Harford lead to 2-0. Scalese bounced back to minimize the damage, striking out a batter and getting a fly out to short.
 
Harford added two more in the top of the second, using some two-out magic to get three straight singles and score a pair of runs to make it 4-0, Owls.
 
The Falcons got their first baserunner in the second, when Laniah Tasker (Chambersburg, PA) reached on a walk to lead the inning off. Scalese singled with two outs to put two on, but a strikeout stranded the runners and kept the Falcons off the board.
 
As the game unfolded, the rain continued to spit and the wind started to pick up. Harford added another run when Hanover Area grad Kayla Gist tripled to deep center to drive home a runner with two outs and make it 5-0, Owls, through 3.5 innings.
 
A Lindsey Tasker (Clarks Summit, PA) double in the bottom of the fifth with two outs was the next real chance for the Falcons to get something going. A walk put two on with the top of the order due up, but a pop up to short left the pair on base and kept the Falcons off the board.
 
After Scalese shut the Owls down in the sixth, Lackawanna finally got on the board in the bottom frame. Jillian Heimberger (Unionville, PA) reached on a one-out walk, then got to third when Laniah Tasker singled to right. With runners on the corners and one out, Gracie Sokol (Belle Vernon, PA) lifted a fly ball to left field, sacrificing herself to score Heimberger and get Lackawanna on the scoresheet. Another single put two on for the Falcons, but another pop out on the infield stranded the runners and halted the potential rally.
 
Scalese pitched around a single in the top of the seventh, but Lackawanna was retired in order in the bottom half to end game one. Both Taskers each had a hit, while Scalese and Paige Pieper (Middleton, ID) each added hits. Sokol had the RBI, and Heimberger scored the lone run.
 
For as frustrating as game one was, game two was that much more cathartic for the Falcons, as Lackawanna pounded out 14 hits and scored runs in five of the six innings they had to bat. Lackawanna drew six walks, had five players with multiple hits, and overcame a pair of errors to pull off the big win.
 
Hanover Area grad Gist got the Owls going early in the first, smacking a two-run home run to left center field to give the visitors the early advantage. Lackawanna starter Brianna Dinice (Terryville, CT) worked around some trouble to get out of the inning unscathed, but it wasn't until the bottom of the second where Lackawanna got the offense going.
 
Laniah Tasker led the second off with a double to left to give the Falcons an immediate baserunner. Sokol singled to left to put runners on the corners, and the Falcons eventually loaded the bases with nobody out. Tori May (New Castle, PA) popped up to shallow right field, where the second base player had to make an over the shoulder catch falling away from the plate. It was just deep enough to score the runner from third to get the Falcons on the board.
 
Back-to-back walks tied the game at 2-2 and forced a pitching change from the Owls. With relief pitcher Kaylee Pruett on the mound, Harford got a pop out to second to put two outs on the board, but a bases loaded walk forced in the go-ahead run for the Falcons, making it 3-2. The big blow came when Heimberger stepped in, as she lined a single to right field, then advanced on the throw in. Three runs scored, and the Falcons led 6-2 after two innings.
 
Harford got two back in the third, scoring two runs on just one hit and two errors. Back-to-back one-out walks, followed by a single, scored one run, while back-to-back errors allowed another run to score and make it 6-4. With the bases loaded and two down, Dinice managed to get a soft liner to right field that was caught, stranding the bases loaded and keeping the Falcons in front by two.
 
Three straight singles scored a pair of runs to start the bottom of the third for Lackawanna, as May singled to right, then advanced to second on an error. Later, a fielder's choice let Lindsey Tasker reach, as the short stop tried to get an out on the bases at second base, but the Falcons managed to get back to the bag in time. Meanwhile, a run scored to make it 9-4, Falcons. With two on and one out, an RBI ground out scored another run, pushing the Lackawanna advantage to 10-4.
 
Dinice was chased in the fourth, as she loaded the bases with nobody out. In came Abigail Yenalevitch (Kingston, PA), and Harford, initially, took advantage, scoring two runs on a bases-loaded walk and a hit batter. Lackawanna led 10-6, still with nobody out and the bases loaded, when the Falcons traded a run for an out on a fielder's choice, cutting the advantage to 10-7. Yenalevitch got a big strike out to get to two outs, then a fly out to left to strand a pair of runners and keep the Falcons in front.
 
Laniah Tasker doubled to left to lead off the fourth, then eventually came home to score when Emmalee Mowery (Mechanicsburg, PA) bunt-singled her way on, and an error at third let Tasker score, making it 11-7, Falcons.
 
A one-out RBI single scored a run for the Owls in the fifth, but Yenalevitch got a big strikeout, then a ground out to get out of any sort of trouble. Meanwhile, Lackawanna added two more, getting a one-out two-run single from Heimberger that pushed the Lackawanna lead out to 13-8 heading into the sixth inning.
 
In the bottom of the sixth, Mowery led the inning off with a single and eventually got to third with one out. With runners on second and third and one out, a Lindsey Tasker sac fly to center scored Mowery to make it 14-8, Falcons. Lackawanna added another run when Mekenzie Dineen (Wilmington, DE) singled to center.
 
In the top of the seventh, Yenalevitch shut the game down, pitching around a two-out single to get a fly out to Mowery in center to end the game and secure her third win of the season.
 
Mowery finished 3-for-3 with three runs, while Heimberger had two hits and five RBIs. Lindsey Tasker had three RBIs and two runs, while Yenalevitch scored three runs on three walks. Laniah Tasker and Sokol each had two runs and two hits.
 
Lackawanna has Friday off before getting back to action on Saturday, April 12^th, when the Falcons are scheduled to host County College of Morris for a non-region doubleheader. First pitch is set for 12:00pm ET at the Scranton HS softball field.