4/24/25
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – A four-run rally in the sixth inning of game two helped Lackawanna College softball rally, and a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh secured a doubleheader sweep, as the Falcons beat the Salem CC Mighty Oaks in a pair of games on Thursday afternoon at Scranton HS softball field. The Falcons won game one in five innings, 11-2, then walked things off 8-7 in game two.
 
The Falcons (26-22, 11-5) trailed 7-3 in game two, heading into the bottom of the sixth. Salem (17-23, 6-12) had just added two runs on back-to-back doubles in the top half to give the Oaks what they thought would be serious insurance. In the bottom half, back-to-back one-out walks put two on for the Falcons. An infield fly put two outs on the board, when Abigail Yenalevitch (Kingston, PA) sliced a diving fly ball to shallow right field. As the outfielder sprinted to make the play, her dive came up just short, and the ball skittered away into foul territory, letting two runs score and putting Yenalevitch on second, cutting the deficit to 7-5.
 
Still with two outs in the sixth, in stepped pinch-hitter Paige Pieper (Middleton, ID). Pieper jumped on a 1-1 pitch and crushed it to left field, clearing the fence with ease to tie the game at 7-all and setting off a wild celebration in the home dugout.
 
Mia Scalese (Moscow, PA) entered in the seventh and pitched around a two-out single to keep the Oaks off the board, and the Falcons converted in the bottom half. A one-out double from Laniah Tasker (Chambersburg, PA) put the winning run in scoring position, and Kizbelth Ortiz (New Britain, CT) punched a single right up the middle to drive in Tasker and walk off Salem for the Lackawanna victory.
 
Yenalevitch went 2-for-2 with two runs and two RBIs, while Tasker finished 2-for-4 with a double and the game-winning run. Emmalee Mowery (Mechanicsburg, PA) had two doubles and an RBI, and Pieper had two RBIs on her pinch-hit homer. Scalese earned the win pitching the scoreless seventh.
 
The Falcons initially built a lead, with a pair of sac flies in the first, but Salem scored four in the third, tying the game on an RBI single and a bases-loaded hit by pitch. With two outs, a pinch hit two-run single hit the glove at third base and deflected into left field to make it 4-2, Mighty Oaks.
 
The score went to 5-2 with a two-out single to left in the top of the fifth, but Lackawanna hit its third sac fly in the bottom frame to get within 5-3 after five innings, setting the stage for the wild final two innings.
 
Game one was one-way traffic for the Falcons, as Lackawanna posted 14 hits and scored eleven runs in just four innings of batting, while Scalese gave up two runs on three hits in five innings, striking out five for the win. Mowery was 3-for-3 with three runs and two RBIs, while Jillian Heimberger (Unionville, PA) went 1-for-2 with three RBIs and a run. Scalese was 3-for-3 with two runs and two RBIs, while Pieper went 2-for-3 with an RBI.
 
Salem led first with a sac fly in the top of the first inning, but Lackawanna quickly tied it in the bottom half thanks to a Mowery leadoff triple and an RBI ground out from Heimberger.
 
Scalese stranded the bases loaded in the second, and the Falcons blew it up in the home half. Scalese singled to lead the inning off, and Pieper doubled her home with one out to make it 2-1. Later, with two outs and runners on second and third, Mowery doubled to center to score a pair, followed by a Heimberger single that made it 5-1, Falcons. Laniah Tasker singled to right to score Heimberger and put Lackawanna up 6-1 heading into the third.
 
The visitors put runners on the corners with one out in the top of the fourth, and a double steal resulted in a scoring, but the Falcons made the out at second to put two away. Scalese got a pop out to third to end the top half, and the Falcons scored five more in the home half.
 
Back-to-back singles resulted in a Heimberger sac fly to make it 7-2, Falcons. A passed ball let Mowery score, and a triple from Scalese scored two more runs to push it to 10-2, Lackawanna, forcing a pitching change. A ground out forced another run in to make it 11-2, and that was the margin the Falcons took into the fifth.
 
Scalese pitched around a two-out single in the top of the fifth to end things early via run-rule, giving her the first of what would be two wins on the day.
 
The victories for the Falcons guarantee Lackawanna at least the third seed in the Region XIX Division II playoffs. Lackawanna will host the current second-seed, Mercer County CC, on Friday, April 25^th, to continue their lightning-suspended doubleheader from last week. Game one will restart at 12:00pm ET in the top of the fifth inning, with Lackawanna up 4-1. Game two will follow shortly after that, with both games happening at the Scranton HS softball field.