4/19/25

SCRANTON, Pa. – On Sophomore Day 2025, it was the freshmen class that stepped up big for Lackawanna College softball, as first-year players Mia Scalese and Laniah Tasker delivered in the clutch to help the Falcons split their doubleheader at home with Delaware Tech CC on Saturday afternoon at Scranton HS softball field. The visitors took game one, 9-0, in six innings, while the Falcons squeaked out game two, 1-0.
 
Lackawanna (22-22, 7-5) had only two hits in game one and struggled with just one hit through the majority of game two, but Scalese (Moscow, PA) was stellar in the circle, striking out season-best nine batters and allowing just four hits and stranding six batters in her seven innings of work. That dominance helped set the stage for the dramatic finish.
 
Del Tech (22-4, 14-2) sent out their dominant pitcher, Mara Everton, to start the bottom of the seventh. Everton had struck out eleven batters and surrendered just one baserunner, which came on a hit in the first inning. Emmalee Mowery (Mechanicsburg, PA) started the inning with the second hit of the game for the Falcons, singling on a bloop to right field that dropped in between the outfielders. Fellow sophomore Jillian Heimberger (Unionville, PA) ripped a single to right on the first pitch, and Mowery high-tailed it to third, sliding in safely, while Heimberger coasted into second to put runners in scoring position with one out. Tasker (Chambersburg, PA) stepped in, and quickly swung at the first pitch she saw, cracking a shot over the head of the left fielder. The first-year's double scored Mowery and set off the celebration for the dramatic victory for Lackawanna College.
 
Mowery scored the only run, Tasker had the only RBI, and Heimberger and Brianna Dinice (Terryville, CT) had the only other hits for the Falcons.
 
Scalese, who was excellent through her seven innings, was nearly undone in the top half of the seventh, when an error on the infield let a runner reach, then that runner got to second with one out when the Falcons failed to pick her off in a rundown. Scalese bounced back with two straight strikeouts to end the inning and keep the winning run at second, setting up the Falcons for the win in the bottom frame. The win is her sixth of the season.
 
The first game was much more difficult for Lackawanna, as Del Tech scored nine runs on just seven hits. The visitors drew four walks and took advantage of three wild pitches, while hitting two homers that scored a total of five runs.
 
Starting pitcher Dinice struggled through the first two innings, giving up an RBI single and a run-scoring wild pitch in the first, then another run-scoring wild pitch and an error at the plate that let two more runs cross.
 
In the bottom of the second, Laniah Tasker singled to right, then back-to-back walks with two outs loaded the bases, but a strikeout ended the threat before the Falcons could take advantage.
 
A walk and a single put two on with one out in the top of the third, and DTCC didn't waste their chance, clubbing a three-run homer to left field that made it 7-0, Del Tech, heading into the bottom of the third.
 
Heimberger took over in the fourth for the Falcons, and they got a much-needed 1-2-3 inning to keep Del Tech off the board. Unfortunately, the Falcons couldn't muster a response, going quietly in the fourth and fifth innings.
 
With Del Tech ahead 7-0 in the top of the sixth, they put a runner on with a leadoff single on a hotshot to third. Later, with a runner on second and one out, another deep shot to left made it 9-0, Del Tech, putting the game in run-rule territory. Lackawanna was retired in order in the bottom half, ending the game early in six innings.
 
DTCC starter Kylee Hill struck out 12 and allowed just two hits in six innings for the win, while Dinice was hit with the loss, giving up seven runs in three innings. Heimberger and Laniah Tasker were there only Falcons to record hits, while Mekenzie Dineen (Wilmington, DE) and Lindsey Tasker (Clarks Summit, PA) each drew walks.
 
Before the doubleheader, Lackawanna College honored its seven sophomore student-athletes: Mowery, Heimberger, Dineen, Dinice, Kaislyn Currie (Gibbons, AB), Paige Pieper (Middleton, ID), and Kizbelth Ortiz (New Britain, CT).
 
The Falcons will get two days off before getting back to action on Tuesday, April 22^nd, with a road doubleheader at Sussex County CC in Region XIX Division II action. First pitch is set for 3:30pm ET at Sussex County.