OFier
Kyle OFier climbed through the ranks of the best hitters in school history while helping Bloomsburg University land a spot in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II baseball tournament, leading to a series of postseason honors for the Pittston Area graduate.
The redshirt junior second baseman was a first-team Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference all-star and a second-team American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings All-Atlantic Region selection.
Bloomsburg was just 18-14 in the PSAC East and 24-18 overall, but used clutch postseason performances to win its second straight PSAC title and third straight trip to the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional. The previous trips came in 2018 and 2019. The 2020 season was shortened because of the pandemic and did not include any playoffs.
The Huskies were 5-2 on the road and 4-1 in elimination games during the PSAC playoffs. They opened the Atlantic Regional with OFier hitting a solo homer to lead off the bottom of the 10th inning and lift the team to a 3-2 win over Charleston.
The homer was the third walk-off of the season for OFier, who ended both games of an April 18 doubleheader against Mansfield with a single and a home run.
OFier led the team in home runs with 10, runs batted in with 43, doubles with 10 and total bases with 87. He had a .322 batting average, .596 slugging percentage and .421 on-base percentage.
Including nine games in the abbreviated 2020 seasons, OFier has started in 151 of his 152 career games in 3½ years. He has 28 home runs, 127 RBI and a .285 batting average, putting him within range of the school career records of 37 home runs and 165 RBI by Matt Karchner, who went on to pitch in the Major Leagues.
Among the other spring college performances by Greater Pittston athletes, not previously reported in the Next Level portion of the Sunday Dispatch sports section:
Division III Baseball
Freshman pitcher Matthew Lanzendoerfer made 10 appearances for the Misericordia University team that made its 10th straight appearance in the NCAA Division III tournament.
The Scranton Prep graduate from Pittston picked up his only decision in a doubleheader between Middle Atlantic Conference champions between the end of the MAC playoffs and the start of the national tournament.
MAC Freedom champion Misericordia swept MAC Commonwealth champion York College, 18-2 and 7-5.
Lanzendoerfer struck out three in 2 1/3 innings of relief while finishing up the second game to get the win.
In 13 innings, Lanzendoerfer struck out 15 while giving up nine hits and five walks and posting a 4.85 earned run average.
The University of Scranton joined Misericordia in the NCAA Tournament, making its first appearance ever and earning Old Forge resident Mike Bartoletti Landmark Conference Coach of the Year honors.
Bartoletti won his 300th game at Scranton on the way to the school’s first Landmark title.
All seven 20-win seasons in Royals history have come with Bartoletti as head coach.
Division III Softball
Three sophomores from Scranton Prep, all of them Greater Pittston residents, were part of the University of Scranton team that batted .365 on the way to the Landmark Conference championship series.
The Lady Royals went 20-4 in the Landmark regular season and 24-7 overall.
Outfielder Lauren Cawley batted .406 and was tied for second on the team with 26 RBI in 29 games.
Catcher Isabella Gorzkowski batted .362 and drove in 12 runs in 25 games.
Outfielder/catcher Mia Gianello went 2-for-6 (.333) while appearing in six games.
