4/17/26
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – Lackawanna College pounded out 18 hits and hit five home runs, breezing past Delaware Tech CC for their eighth-straight victory, 19-9, in a run-rule-shortened seven innings on Friday afternoon at Scranton HS baseball field in Region XIX Division II action.
 
The Falcons (17-19-1, 8-5) scored runs in six of the seven innings where they came to the plate, posting nine extra-base knocks and getting contributions up-and-down the lineup. DTCC (15-16, 4-9) had eleven hits and touched up the Lackawanna pitching, but couldn't string together enough offense to keep up with the torrid pace set by the Falcons.
 
Lackawanna starter Jacob Amador (Boulder, CO) pitched around a leadoff double and error to retire the side and strand a runner at third to start the game, and the Falcons rewarded him with a four-run home half. A leadoff walk eventually led to a one-out RBI single from Sean Moore (Philadelphia, PA), followed later in the inning by a towering three-run homer to dead center from Hunter Austra (Larksville, PA), making it 4-0 Falcons after one.
 
The Falcons added two more in the second, when Mark Zuppo (Garnet Valley, PA) hit the first of his two homers on the day, going long to left field to make it 6-0 after two.
 
In the third, DTCC broke through on a single and an RBI triple, followed by a sac fly that made it 6-2. After retiring the Falcons in order in the home half, the visitors had runners on the corners with two away, but Amador induced a ground out to himself to get out of the jam and strand the pair.
 
In the bottom of the fourth, Jose Soquiel (Hazleton, PA) led the inning off with a monster shot to left field to put the Falcons up 7-2. Zuppo singled, and Quinten Jones (Harrisburg, PA) doubled him home to make it 8-2 and chase the DTCC starter. Jones scored on a sac fly to put a ninth run on the board, and the Falcons threatened with two more on the basepaths, but a ground out to first kept the inning from breaking wide open.
 
Del Tech got to Amador in the fifth, using a leadoff walk, followed by a double and a two-run triple to get within 9-4. An RBI ground out made it 9-5, and a double put another runner in scoring position with just one away, but Amador got a ground out, followed by a fly out to keep the Falcons ahead by four going into home half of the fifth.
 
Soquiel cashed in a leadoff walk with an RBI double, and he later scored on an error to make it 11-5. Later, a Deacon Brown (Williamsport, PA) triple to right made it 12-5, and Moore singled up the middle to push the Lackawanna lead to 13-5 after five innings.
 
Amador pitched around a leadoff double in the sixth, and the Falcons scored three more in the bottom frame, with Zuppo going opposite field for his second two-run homer of the day, followed by a long solo homer from Brown to deep right-center field. Lackawanna led 16-5 after six innings and was just three outs from ending the game early.
 
Amador came back out, but Del Tech hit him hard, using a walk and back-to-back singles to get a run across. An error on the infield loaded the bases, and, after a fielder's choice got one out, a wild pitch let another run score. A double pushed two more runs across to cut the deficit to 16-9, and the Falcons went to the pen and brought on Liam Newhouse (Philadelphia, PA). Newhouse quickly got the Falcons out of trouble, getting a fly out and a strikeout to get the Falcons to the bottom portion of the seventh.
 
Austra and Danny Stickney (Secane, PA) singled back-to-back to get a pair of runners on with one away, and Matthew Cichocki (Bridgewater, NJ) punched a double to center field to score a run and get the Falcons to a 17-9 lead. With runners on second and third and needing two runs to force the run-rule victory, the first pitch to the next batter skipped off the catcher's glove and sputtered towards the third-base dugout. Stickney sprinted home and slid into the plate. The toss back to the covering pitcher wasn't in time, and Stickney's slide knocked the pitcher down and the ball rolled away. In the chaos, Cichocki rounded third and sprinted home to walk it off and give the Falcons the first win in the three-game series on the weekend.
 
Austra was 3-for-5 with two runs and three RBIs, while Zuppo went 3-for-4 with two homers, four runs, and four RBIs. Brown had three hits and two RBIs, while Moore had two hits and three RBIs. Soquiel had three hits, three runs, and two RBIs. Amador picked up the win, his first of the year, allowing nine runs, seven earned, on eleven hits in 6.1 innings.
 
Lackawanna College has now won eight games in a row, and has guaranteed itself no worse than the third-seed in the Region XIX DII playoffs on Thursday, May 7^th through Saturday, May 9^th, at Mercer County CC. The Falcons are back to work on Saturday, April 18^th, with a doubleheader at Delaware Tech CC for a doubleheader to wrap-up their season series. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00pm ET in Georgetown, DE.