5/8/25
 
WEST WINDSOR TWP., NJ – None of it was pretty, but the end result was exactly what Lackawanna College baseball wanted, as the Falcons took a pair of victories in Region XIX Division II playoff action on Thursday, May 8^th, at Mercer County CC in New Jersey. The Falcons beat Sussex County CC, 8-4, in the opening round, then hung on for a wild 11-9 victory over top-seed Mercer County CC, 11-9, in the semifinal contest.
 
The Falcons (30-16) rallied with six runs in the final three innings, while getting an enormous lift from the bullpen, which shut down the Skylanders (24-15) through the final five innings of work. Jake Kelleher (Exeter, PA) led the way, going 3-for-5 with a run scored, while Deacon Brown (Williamsport, PA) and John Hughes (Hamilton, NJ) each had two hits, with Hughes doubling in an RBI and Brown scoring a run. Tyler Lepage (Macungie, PA) had two RBIs, while Mark Zuppo (Garnet Valley, PA) added an RBI triple. George Creighton (Somers, NY) pitched two-thirds of an inning for the win, while Josiah Williams (Emmaus, PA) pitched a crucial scoreless inning in the eighth to help keep the Falcons in front.
 
Sussex hit the front in the first, taking advantage of a hit batter, a wild pitch, and a walk, by singling home a run to get on top. Later, another wild pitch brough home a second run, putting the Skylanders ahead 2-0 after the top of the first.
 
In the bottom frame, Kelleher and Brown led off with back-to-back singles, and Hughes doubled home Kelleher to get the Falcons on the board. A sac fly tied the game, but the Falcons couldn't bring home a runner on third, leaving the game tied at 2-2 after one.
 
Things were quiet until Sussex got back on top in the fourth. A leadoff walk, followed by a single and a stolen base, put runners on second and third with nobody out. Starter Daniel Jacobs (West Chester, PA) got a strikeout for the first out, but a walk, followed by a wild pitch and a ground out, scored two runs to put Sussex up 4-2. Jacobs managed to get out of any major trouble with a ground out to end the inning, but the Falcons found themselves in a hole.
 
Reliever Zach Ruffing (Marlborough, MA) took over in the fifth, and quickly got a 1-2-3 inning, but the Falcons wasted a two-out single in the bottom half to stay behind. The Skylanders got two singles to lead off the sixth, but a fly out and a baserunning error quickly put two outs on the board, and another fly out got Ruffing out of trouble. That was enough to give Lackawanna a spark in the bottom frame.
 
Two straight singles led the inning off, and the Falcons had runners at first and second with one out when Lepage came to bat. The lefty went opposite field for a single, and the left fielder overran the ball, allowing two runs to score and tie the game. The Falcons had Lepage at second with one out, but back-to-back outs ended the potential rally early.
 
Ruffing got an out in the seventh, and the Falcons made the switch to Creighton. After a strikeout, an error put a runner on base, but Creighton got a fly out to left to strand the runner and keep the game tied. Lackawanna rewarded Creighton's inning with a run in the bottom half of the seventh, taking the lead on a Kelleher single, after Jack Friend (East Setauket, NY) led the inning off with an error and got to second. Lackawanna took the 5-4 lead into the top of the eighth.
 
Williams took over on the mound, but a single and a double had the Skylanders in business with nobody out. A strikeout put one out on the board, and a grounder to third threatened to score the run, but Friend made a quick throw home to a covering Williams, who tagged for the out two put two away. With runners on second and third and two down, Williams struck out the final batter to strand the pair for a huge zero for the Falcons.
 
Looking for insurance in the eighth, Lepage drew a walk, and was lifted for a pinch runner in Jordan Czerniak (Levittown, PA) with one away. Czerniak got to second on a wild pitch, then scored on a Nick Matson (Nanticoke, PA) single to make it 6-4. Zuppo came up and tripled home Matson to push the Falcons ahead 7-4, and Friend singled in Zuppo to make it 8-4, Falcons. Lackawanna threatened to blow things wide open with the bases loaded and two outs, but a strikeout sent the game to the ninth.
 
With Liam O'Leary (Souderton, PA) on the mound to start the final frame, Lackawanna was never truly threatened. A one-out double from Sussex put a runner in scoring position, but back-to-back ground outs sealed the deal and sent Lackawanna College to the semifinal round, where they'd take on Mercer, 11-2 winners against County College of Morris in the other first round contest.
 
The Falcons jumped ahead by a 7-3 margin through the first 4.5 innings against Mercer, then hung on for dear life, scoring a run in each of the final five innings, matching Mercer just enough to stay ahead, then hang on for the victory. Brown was 3-for-6 with an RBI and a run, while Hughes and Louis Kegerreis (Murrysville, PA) each had two hits and an RBI, each. Zuppo had two hits and two RBIs, while Matson had two hits and another two RBIs, along with a pair of runs scored. Reliever Ryan Novakowski (Forty Fort, PA) got the win, giving up two runs on four hits in 1.2 innings of relief, while Matson picked up the save, allowing a run and a hit in one inning of action. Mercer made the Falcons earn it, leaving the winning run at the plate. The Falcons got the final out when Brown charged in from right field and made a sliding catch, colliding with Kegerreis coming in from second. Brown hung on through the contact to seal the victory.
 
Mercer (33-17) got ahead in the bottom of the first on starter Trey Sajeski (Holland, PA), using a two-out single and an RBI double to go ahead 1-0 after an inning.
 
Lackawanna loaded the bases with nobody out in the second, and Matson delivered with a two-run single to put the Falcons ahead, 2-1. Back-to-back strikeouts put two outs on the board, but a wild pitch, then back-to-back RBI singles made it 4-1, Falcons. Another wild pitch, followed by another single, pushed the Lackawanna lead out to 5-1, before a fielder's choice stranded a pair.
 
A sac fly in the bottom frame for Mercer made it 5-2, but the Falcons got that run back on a two-out single from Zuppo. A one-out double for Mercer in the third cut the deficit to 6-3, but a pair of strikeouts from Sajeski stranded two and kept the Falcons up.
 
In the top of the fourth, some two-out baserunners had the Falcons in business, but a fielder's choice kept Lackawanna off the board. In the bottom half, Novakowski came on in relief. A one-out single got Mercer a baserunner, and it looked like the Vikings had something cooking with another single to center, but the runner was caught straying, and the Falcons got a crucial second out on the basepaths. Novakowski got the fly out to left to end the inning and stranded a runner.
 
With one out in the fifth, Matson tripled to get on base. Zuppo singled him home to get the Falcons a 7-3 lead. Zuppo got to second with two outs, but a ground out stranded him in scoring position. Mercer made Novakowski work in the bottom frame, loading the bases with one out and forcing a runner home with a walk to cut it to 7-4. A sac fly got another runner in, and the Falcons went to Julian Montez (Westfield, NJ) on the mound for the lefty-on-lefty matchup, which Montez won with a strikeout to strand a pair and keep the Falcons ahead by two.
 
Brown led the sixth off with what appeared to be a home run, but the fly ball was deemed to have bounced over the fence and ruled a ground rule double. With two on and two out, a wild pitch put runners in scoring position. Lepage hit a ground ball to third, but an error let him on and let Brown score, pushing the Falcons back out to an 8-5 lead.
 
Pitcher Jay Creighton (Somers, NY) came on with one out in the sixth and got a strikeout to put two away, but a single, followed by a double and an error scored two runs to bring the Vikings within a run at 8-7. Creighton managed to get out of any trouble with a ground out to keep Lackawanna afloat into the seventh.
 
A Friend single scored a run in the seventh, but the Falcons gave that run back in the bottom half with an error at second with two outs, making it 9-8, Falcons, heading into the eighth inning.
 
With the bases loaded and nobody out in the top of the eighth, Lepage managed to force a run home with a ground out to first. The Falcons couldn't get any of those other runners across, however, so the lead stayed at two into the bottom half. Lepage, back on the mound for a second inning of work, got a quick 1-2-3 inning to get the game to the ninth, where Lackawanna added an insurance run when Kegerreis singled with two outs, making it 11-8, Lackawanna, heading into the bottom frame.
 
Matson came on to try to close things out. A one-out double, followed by back-to-back walks, loaded the bases. A sac fly to center cut the deficit to 11-9, and Mercer looked to have at least another run on a bloop fly ball hit to right. Kegerreis sprinted from second, while Brown charged in to shallow field, and the two collided, sliding into each other to meet where the ball threatened to drop. Luckily, for the Falcons, Brown made the snag, and Lackawanna College secured the win and its spot in the Region XIX DII championship.
 
The Falcons can win their fourth region championship in seven years with a victory tomorrow, Friday, May 9^th, at 2:00pm ET at Mercer County CC's baseball field. Lackawanna will play the winner of the 10:00am ET elimination game between Mercer County CC and Sussex County CC, which defeated Morris 4-2 in the elimination game on Thursday. There is rain expected in the forecast, so a decision on whether the games will be postponed until Saturday, May 10^th, will be made early Friday morning.
 
The win also guarantees the Falcons at least a place in the East District tournament next weekend. The winner of the Region XIX tournament will be the host team, and the other participating teams are the Region XIX runner-up, the Region XV champion, and the sub-district winner between Monroe CC and UConn Avery Point. The winner of the East District tournament will punch a ticket to the NJCAA Division II World Series in Enid, Oklahoma.