CLASS 3A : Lincoln piles up 10 to win 10th consecutive
Posted on Saturday, May 10, 2008
SEARCY — Lincoln took advantage of 11 errors to extend its winning streak to 10 games Friday with a 10-5 victory over Cotter in the first round of the Class 3 A state tournament at Jerry Moore Field on the Harding University campus.
The Wolves pounded out eight hits as they advanced to today’s quarterfinals, where they will play Genoa Central at noon.
“We had a few jitters being in the state tournament,” Lincoln Coach Jonathan Johnson said. “It took us a while to get to their pitcher, and Cotter made some mistakes. We had an error early that led to a run for them and, fortunately for us, we were able to scatter some hits in with their mistakes and take advantage of it.” The Wolves (18-9 ) got on the scoreboard first in the third inning after Trevor Center was hit by a pitch and scored on a single past short by Seth Pitts.
Cotter tied it in the fourth after a walk set up Tony Bruzzichesi’s RBI single past shortstop.
The Wolves jumped on Cotter with a three-run fifth. Center led off with a single to shallow center and scored on Cody Smith’s single up the middle. Tyler Whorton slapped an RBI single past first for a 4-1 lead.
Cotter answered with four runs in the sixth to take the lead, 5-4. Justin Ivens singled to left, Jacob Kasinger followed with an RBI double and Lucas Hickman slapped a single to left. Bruzzichesi hit a two-run single up the middle, and another run scored during a rundown between first and second.
But Cotter’s defense collapsed in the sixth.
Lincoln’s Patrick Rich led off with a double to deep center, and the Warriors committed three consecutive errors that led to three runs.
Jason Rich’s sacrifice bunt was mishandled by the pitcher. Center tapped an infield single to short but advanced to second and scored on an errant throw to first on the same play.
Korey Ayers’ ground ball to short was booted, scoring another run. Four additional errors in the inning and Pitts’ single past second scored three runs for a 10-5 lead.
Cotter’s sloppy play overshadowed Lincoln’s three errors, but they didn’t go unnoticed by Johnson.
“We’ve been able to hit the ball and overcome the errors,” Johnson said. “At this level, kids are going to make mistakes. It’s important for us to continue hitting the ball. Eventually those errors are going to hurt, so we’ve got to play better defensively if we want to move on.” Cotter........................................................ 000 104 0 — 5 6 11 Lincoln..................................................... 001 036 X — 10 8 3 Holder and Kasinger; Smith, Carr and J. Rich. W — Smith. L — Holder.
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