DUNMORE, PA (Mar. 1, 2024) - - After a thrilling six run comeback in the ninth inning, King's College baseball recorded its first win of the 2024 season against Clarks Summit University at the Defenders' home field, Schautz Field, with a final score of 12-7. The Monarchs are now 1-1 this season overall.

King's managed to get one runner on base at the top of the first inning after Chase Yochem was hit with a pitch, but the Monarchs were unable to send him home before starting the bottom of the inning. The Defenders' lead off batter hit a single to kick things off for Clarks Summit before stealing second and later reaching third to put himself in scoring position just in time for them to get a second hit and send him home to score the first run of the game. The Monarchs ended the first inning with a double play after Owen Kosar fielded a ground ball to tag the runner going to second and throw out the runner headed to first. The Defenders led 1-0 going into the top of the second. 

Justin Stefanowicz led the second inning for King's with a walk before later stealing second base, but was unable to reach scoring position before the end of the inning. The Monarchs flexed their defense in the bottom of the second starting with Connor Reynolds pitching his first strikeout of the day. While two Defenders did get on base, King's did not allow anyone to score before ending the second. Clarks Summit continued to lead 1-0. 

Despite King's retiring all three at the top of the third, the team continued to play strong in the field. Reynolds started the bottom of the third with another strikeout as the Monarchs ended it with another double play. The Defenders grounded out to Kosar at shortstop again, giving him the opportunity to get the out at second before throwing the ball to Caleb Graham at first. 

Stefanowicz started the fourth inning similar to the second and was walked to first before advancing to second when King's grounded out to third, but was unable to score before Clarks Summit earned its third out to go to the bottom of the inning. Two batters reached base before Dusty Shaver came in to take the mound for King's. The bases were loaded for the Defenders when they scored off a wild pitch and then singled for a run batted in. Shaver struck out his first batter of the day before Clarks Summit ended the fourth inning with a 3-0 lead. 

Jacob Sutton and Nick Ciszak both reached base to give the Monarchs a quick start to the fifth inning. Jaiden Wanamaker then reached first by a Defender throwing error that also send Sutton home to score King's first run and Ciszak to third. Despite Yochem grounding out, his hit sent Ciszak in for a second run before the top of the inning ended with King's catching up to Clarks Summit 3-2. The Defenders had a powerful start to the bottom of the inning with a double from the first at-bat. A Clarks Summit single sent that runner home giving the team a 4-2 lead as the inning ended.

The sixth inning held multiple big at-bats for both the Monarchs and the Defenders. Brayden Schoonmaker got on base at the very top of the inning just in time for Ciszak to step up to the plate for the Monarchs and ripped a triple that sent Schoonmaker in to score to send King's to the bottom of the sixth behind just 4-3. The Defenders singled at their first at-bat before hitting a two-run homer to put them up 6-3. Another Defender was walked with bases loaded to give them a seventh run as the inning ended for a 7-3 lead going into the seventh.

Yochem got on base during the first-at bat for the Monarchs before Stefanowicz was walked again. Ciszak hit a single that sent Yochem in to score just before the top of the seventh inning ended. King's made it a quick inning for Clarks Summit in the seventh with only four batters coming up to the play and Ricky Hynick getting his third strikeout of the day to move onto the eighth inning. The Defenders still led 7-4 at the bottom of the seventh.

Ciszak got walked in the top of the eighth to get on base before Yochem hit a single that allowed Ciszak to score on a passed ball to bring the Monarchs within 5-7 of the Defenders going into the bottom of the inning. King's kept the eighth short for Clarks Summit yet again with just four at-bats before going into the final inning. 

Stefanowicz, Kosar and Schoonmaker loaded the bases at the start of the ninth inning before Sutton was walked to give the Monarchs their sixth run. Ciszak singled again before Wanamaker also walked to give King's two more runs to give the Monarchs their first lead of the game. Yochem stepped up to the plate with a big bat and ripped a three-run double to put King's up 11-7. Michael Marmolejos hit a single just before the end of the Monarchs' at-bat that gave Yochem a chance to score from a Clarks Summit error to end the top of the ninth with a 12-7 lead. The Defenders retired all three batters to end the game and give King's its first win of the season.

Josh Kilvitis was the winning pitcher for King's and had one strikeout without allowing any hits. Ricky Hynick tallied four strikeouts and did not give up any hits in the win, along with two strikeouts each from Reynolds and Shaver. Ciszak led in runs with three for himself, followed by Yochem, Schoonmaker and  Sutton with two each. Yochem also tallied three RBIs while Ciszak and Wanamaker each had two and Kosar and Sutton had one each.

The Monarchs take the field again on Sunday for their first doubleheader of the season away at Penn State Scranton starting at noon.