Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 3/3/26
 
CARNEYS POINT, NJ – Through rain, sleet, and snow, the offensive firepower from Lackawanna College softball was just as relentless, as the Falcons swept past the Salem CC Mighty Oaks in a Region XIX DII doubleheader on a wet and cold Tuesday afternoon in South Jersey. Lackawanna won game one by a 21-0 scoreline in five innings, then hung on for the 7-6 win in game two.
 
The Falcons (3-2) braved the 30° temperatures and driving rain and ice for their region opener against Salem (0-2), playing its first two games of the season. In game one, Lackawanna was utterly dominant, piling up 21 runs on 12 hits and allowing just one hit from the Oaks in the five-inning victory.
 
Lackawanna had seven extra-base hits and one home run, a grand slam, courtesy of Haleigh Mazol (Stroudsburg, PA), which was the capper to a 12-run third inning that blew the contest wide-open. Mazol finished 2-for-4 with seven RBIs and three runs scored, while four other Falcons had multiple hits.
 
After a scoreless first, the Falcons got started in the second when Mackenzie Adolfson (Throop, PA) drew one of her three walks to lead things off. A one-out single pushed it to runners on the corners, and Kyleah Edwards (Throop, PA) doubled to center to score Adolfson and put the Falcons ahead 1-0. A pop up put two down and threatened to cut the rally short, but Ayahna Fleisher (Duncannon, PA) powered a double to center to score a pair of runners and make it 3-0, Falcons, after 1.5 innings.
 
Fleisher pitched around a two-out double in the bottom half, and the Falcons went wild in the third, as the precipitation began to surge outside. Back-to-back walks led the top of the third inning off, and then Adolfson shot a laser of a ground ball up the middle that reached the fence for a double and scored a run. Mazol singled in the same spot and drove two more runs in to make it 6-0, Falcons. An out, followed by two walks, loaded the bases, and Fleisher helped herself out with a single to center to score two more runs. A double from Mia Scalese (Moscow, PA) made it 9-0, Falcons, and a walk, followed by a triple-steal, pushed the Lackawanna advantage to 10-0. Adolfson drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 11-0, and Mazol, after a pitching change, smashed the first ball she saw on a screamer over the center field fence for the grand slam, her first career home run and the exclamation point on a dominant third.
 
Fleisher retired the side in order in the bottom of the third, and the Falcons piled on five more runs in the fourth, using an RBI double from Gracie Sokol (Belle Vernon, PA), a bases-loaded hit by pitch, a two-run error, and then another bases-loaded hit batter to make it 20-0 heading into the bottom of the fourth.
 
A batter reached in the bottom of the fourth, but a quick double-play on a pop-up to Abigail Yenalevitch (Kingston, PA) at second quickly ended the inning and, for at least 30 minutes, the action, as the umpires deemed the worsening conditions to be unplayable. Both teams waited out the rain, the grounds crew worked hard, and play resumed about a half hour later, with the Falcons using an Adolfson double to lead into a two-out error that forced in a run, making it 21-0. Fleisher pitched around two walks to keep the Oaks off the board in the fifth and trigger the run-rule victory.
 
Fleisher earned the win, her first of the year, giving up just one hit in five innings and striking out four. On top of Mazol's big day, Adolfson was 2-for-2 with five runs, two RBIs, and three walks. Sokol scored three runs on one hit and one RBI, while Fleisher was 2-for-3 with four RBIs, Scalese went 2-for-3, and Edwards was 2-for-2 with two runs.
 
As wide gap as there was in game one, the margins were razor thin in game two. After Salem tied things up in the fifth at 4-4, Laniah Tasker (Chambersburg, PA) delivered the big blow with a two-run double in the top of the sixth to put the Falcons back on top at 6-4. Mazol followed with what would prove to be the most important at-bat for the Falcons in the contest. An inside pitch skipped off the catcher's glove, allowing Tasker to get to third. Then, on a 2-2 pitch, Mazol popped a ball to the left side of the infield that landed in front of the third base player, who picked it up inside the lines for the fair ball. Mazol hustled down the line to beat a throw that would never come, and Tasker crossed the plate for what would prove to be the decisive run.
 
In the bottom of the seventh, Salem scored two on a two-run jack with one out to get within a run. Lackawanna made a pitching change and put Fleisher on for the two-out save. She got the Falcons one out away with a runner on first. A long fly ball to right field initially looked to have the juice to send the Oaks to the win, but outfielder Alexis Shotwell (Lehman, PA) ranged back to the fence and made the catch just on the track to secure the narrow sweep for the Falcons.
 
Starting pitcher Mia Scalese was hit early for Lackawanna in the bottom of the first, as a one-out single and a two-out walk set up a long homer to center that gave Salem its first runs of the year and a lead at 3-0. Scalese pitched around another walk and single to limit the damage, but the Falcons, after stranding runners in the first, stranded three more in the second, failing to take advantage of a leadoff single, a walk, and a two-out walk that loaded the bases.
 
In the top of the third, Lackawanna would get a pair of runs back. Back-to-back singles form Sokol and Mazol gave the Falcons baserunners, and those potential runs moved into scoring position on a passed ball. With two outs, Riley Knott (Clarks Summit, PA) knocked a two-run single to left that scored the pair and got the Falcons on the board. Scalese quieted the Oaks in the bottom frame, setting up the Falcons to take the lead in the top of the fourth.
 
After Mekenzie Dineen (Wilmington, DE) reached on a hit by pitch, Fleisher gave Scalese a boost with a slicing ball to right center that cleared the fence and made it 4-3, Falcons. Lackawanna couldn't add to it, stranding a runner and clinging to a one-run lead into the fourth.
 
Salem managed to strike back in the fifth, using a leadoff double to set up a one-out RBI single that tied the game at 4-4. The Oaks had plans for more, using two walks to load the bases with two outs, but Scalese got a huge strikeout to strand the bases loaded and keep Salem off the board.
 
After the heroics in the top half, Scalese breezed through the bottom of the sixth, earning a pair of strikeouts. Lackawanna wasted a leadoff double from Knott in the top of the seventh, setting up the dramatic bottom frame.
 
Scalese gave up a single, then got a strikeout through the first two batters. Her first pitch to her third batter ended up in the trees beyond the center field fence, cutting the deficit to one for Salem. In came Fleisher and, after an initial single on her first pitch, she struck out a batter to put two away. Her first pitch to the final batter was driven to right field, but Shotwell's catch preserved the sweep and the excellent start to region play for the Falcons.
 
Scalese struck out seven in 6.1 innings for the win, her second this year, giving up six runs on ten hits. Fleisher got the two-out save. Tasker went 3-for-4 with two RBIs, while Mazol, Adolfson, and Knott each had two hits. Knott had two RBIs. Fleisher had two RBIS and two runs, while Dineen picked up a pair of runs.
 
Lackawanna College is next scheduled to be in action on Friday, March 6^th, when the Falcons are set to host Monroe University in a non-region doubleheader at Scranton HS. It will be the home opener for the Falcons. First pitch of game one is set for 2:00pm ET.