ARCHBALD — A motorcycle crash left an 18-year-old baseball player dead hours before he was set to take the field.
The crash happened just before noon at the intersection of Business Route 6 and Route 247 in Archbald. Police say an SUV and motorcycle collided.
The driver of the motorcycle, Shane Rivenburgh of Mayfield, died at the hospital. Rivenburgh was a starter for the Lackawanna College baseball team. The team went ahead with its game just after hearing the news.
“Definitely a rough day for us all and it was something we’re going to all have to deal with.”
About 30 minutes before the Lackawanna College baseball team was set to play Northampton Community College, the coaches and players learned that their star slugger died in a motorcycle crash earlier in the day.
“I asked the guys if they wanted to play today or if they, I think, the other team would understand if we didn’t play. They voted and said they wanted to play and that’s what Shane would’ve wanted,” head coach Bruce Thompson said.
The Falcons lost the game 15-2. After the final out, both teams gathered around the pitcher’s mound in prayer.
“You can see our guys are devastated, but he became such good friends so quickly with a lot of our guys and we’re going to miss him.”
Rivenburgh was a standout athlete in high school, playing for Lakeland in Lackawanna County. He loved playing college ball just a few miles from where he grew up.
“He was really good. He hit the ball a lot, really well. He was a great team player. Everybody loved him. Everybody on the team loved him. He definitely helped us. It’s going to be a huge loss now that we don’t have him here,” said freshman pitcher Max Frederick.
The team will miss its .400 hitter, its solid fielder, but more importantly, the players and coaches say they’ll miss their friend.
“This is going to be difficult for us to overcome. I don’t know if we can, but we’re just going to go out there come tomorrow. We have another game. Put our jerseys on, play for him, and go one day at a time.”
Lackawanna College decided to cancel the next game that was scheduled for Thursday at home.
The crash that killed Shane Rivenburgh is still under investigation.
