Lackawanna College

5/1/26
 
WEST WINDSOR TWP., NJ – A listless, sloppy performance threatened to completely derail Lackawanna College softball's incredible season, but sophomore shortstop Mekenzie Dineen (Wilmington, DE) was the hero in game two, stunning Salem CC with a two-out, bases-clearing double to walk off the elimination contest and help Lackawanna College stay alive in the Region XIX Division II Softball Tournament on Friday afternoon at Mercer County CC.
 
The Falcons (41-14) had just lost to two-seed Delaware Tech CC, 5-0, in a game where they only had two hits and struggled to get their offense going. In the elimination game with four-seed Salem CC (28-20), the Falcons were behind 5-0 heading into the bottom of the fifth, similarly sputtering at the plate and compounding their issues with four errors in the field. But, undaunted, Lackawanna finally began to swing the momentum, eventually chipping away to get within 5-3 heading into the bottom of the seventh.
 
With two outs and the bases loaded, Dineen, hitting eighth in game two, stepped in. The sophomore, with just one hit in her previous five at-bats across the day, stepped up with one of her biggest hits of the season, smacking a line drive back to center field that skipped past the outfield and bounced off the fence. Runners Riley Knott (Clarks Summit, PA) and Mackenzie Adolfson (Throop, PA) each scored to tie the game, but the game-winner was plated when fellow sophomore Gracie Sokol (Belle Vernon, PA) motored home and set off a wild celebration for the Falcons, with Dineen mobbed at third base as the hero.
 
The Falcons needed it, committing three errors in the first inning alone to fall behind to the Mighty Oaks 2-0. Salem added two more in the fourth, scoring on two-straight passed balls to move ahead 4-0 after 3.5 innings of play, and then made it 5-0 on a one-out double to center in the top of the fifth inning. To that point, Lackawanna's potent offense had only three hits, all singles, and was held completely in check.
 
In the home half of the fifth, with two outs, Kyleah Edwards (Taylor, PA) smashed a double to the opposite field to give the Falcons a bit of life, and Knott scored her with a double to center to cut in at 5-1. After Mekenzie Revere (Ansonia, CT) pitched around a pair of baserunners in the sixth, the Falcons scored two more, with Dineen trading a ground out for a run, and then a passed ball scoring Mia Scalese (Moscow, PA) to make it 5-3. The Falcons had runners on first and second with two down that inning, but Edwards grounded out to short to cut the rally short.
 
In the top of the seventh, Revere did what she needed to, retiring the side in order on three-straight fly balls to set up Dineen's game-winner, keeping Lackawanna's season alive and sending a snake-bitten Salem CC home early.
 
Knott was 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI, while Edwards and Sokol each had a pair of hits. Dineen had four RBIs and the game-winning triple. Revere picked up her 16^th win of the season, allowing just three hits in seven innings, but walking five and striking out four.
 
Lackawanna needed that dramatic game two, as game one was completely bereft of offense for the Falcons against the dominant pitching from Delaware Tech (27-12). Lackawanna mustered just two hits and wasted three walks, while Del Tech scored five runs, only two earned, on just four hits.
 
The Falcons looked, initially, like they had manufactured a run in the top of the second against Del Tech, with a potential sac fly to center that seemed to score Adolfson, but the umpires ruled she left third base early, and the score was erased from the board and the inning ended. Del Tech made the Falcons pay in the home half, using a walk, then a bunt and an error on the throw to first that let the first run of the game score to make it 1-0, DTCC.
 
Lackawanna had a walk and a single to put two on with one out in the top of the third, but back-to-back strikeouts kept the Falcons off the board. Starting pitcher Ayahna Fleisher (Duncannon, PA) struck out the side in the home half of the third, but the Falcons were retired in order in the fourth, and it remained 1-0 after the fourth inning.
 
The Falcons wasted a single in the fifth, and were retired in order in the top of the sixth. In the bottom half, Fleisher ran into trouble with two walks and a single, loading the bases with two away. A third walk forced a run in to make it 2-0, and then an error on a fly ball into right field was the death knell, as all three runs scored and Del Tech pushed in front, 5-0. Lackawanna was retired in order in the top of the seventh.
 
Fleisher and Dineen had the only hits for Lackawanna, while Edwards, Adolfson, and Haleigh Mazol (Stroudsburg, PA) all reached on walks. Fleisher pitched well, striking out seven in six innings, but walked five and allowed five runs, two earned, on four hits for the loss.
 
Lackawanna College's season is still alive, as the Falcons advance to the elimination bracket final tomorrow, Saturday, May 2^nd, back at host Mercer County CC. Lackawanna College will once again face Delaware Tech, which lost to Mercer 4-2 in the semi-final game on Friday. A loss, and Lackawanna's season is done. A win, and the Falcons will advance to the Region XIX Division II championship series against top-seeded Mercer County CC, set for a 12:00pm ET start tomorrow. Lackawanna would need to beat Mercer twice in a row to win the region championship. However, a win against Delaware Tech would also guarantee that, win or lose against Mercer, Lackawanna College will advance to either the Atlantic A or Atlantic B District series at either the Region 10 champion or runner-up.