Zach Lopatka secured his Division I baseball future in the offseason.
Then, he went out this spring and continued to prove he belonged at that level.
Lopatka, who will receive a partial athletic scholarship from Youngstown State in Ohio, led the Lackawanna College Falcons to the National Junior College Athletic Association Region XIX championship game and earned Eastern Pennsylvania Athletic Conference Division II Player of the Year honors.
The pitcher/outfielder from Wyoming Area was also voted team Most Valuable Player by Lackawanna’s coaches after leading the team in runs batted in and going unbeaten on the mound.
“If I just said, ‘oh I’m committed,’ and got complacent, that’s not going to make me better,” Lopatka said. “I had to go out and do better than I did last year, improve and take that into summer ball.”
Lopatka will keep working on his game with the Allentown Railers of the wooden-bat Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League.
Lackawanna went 9-5 in the conference and 35-17 overall.
“We definitely had a good year, but it was not the outcome we wanted,” Lopatka said.
Lopatka hit seven homers, drove in 52 runs and scored 41 times while batting .358 in 51 games. He had 11 doubles, three triples and drew 42 walks.
On the mound, Lopatka started seven times and made two relief appearances. He went 5-0 with a save, a shutout and a 2.61 earned run average. In 38 innings, Lopatka struck out 52 while giving up 24 hits and 18 walks.
