Colton Johnson and McClain O’Connor were the main players leading Lincoln County to the Division III Southern League baseball tournament title last week at Needles.
Johnson was 4-for-4 with two triples, a double, two runs and four RBI’s to spark the Lynx to a 9-6 win over Needles in the Saturday championship game, and an undefeated 3-0 record in tournament play.
Earlier in the week, O’Connor was 2-for-4 with a triple, three runs and an RBI to help Lincoln top Mountain View 12-2 in their opening game Thursday.
On Friday, O’Connor was a perfect 5-for-5 at the plate, four runs and four RBIs, in a 27-3 rout of Needles in the winner’s bracket final.
After Needles had eliminated The Meadows 13-1, the Lynx and Mustangs met again in the title game.
Preston Robbins was 2-for-2 with a run, and Paul Boag went 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI for the Lynx (22-4-1).
Michael Miranda was 4-for-4 with a run, and Kobee McCorkle and Jason Neverov each went 2-for-4 for the Mustangs (16-10-1).
Both teams advanced to the state tournament, which began Thursday in Reno.
In the game last week with Mountain View, along with O’Connor, Johnson was 2-for-2 with four RBIs and a run, and Christian Florence was 2-for-3 with three runs and an RBI. Preston Robbins was 1-for-2 with two RBIs, and Zach Shinkle was 1-for-3 with two RBIs for Lincoln.
Trenton Van Kempen was 3-for-3 with a double for the Saints (8-12).
Then on Friday, in the rout of Needles, O’Connor again was the hero with his 5-for-5 day, and Mike Wood was 3-for-4 with a triple, four runs and three RBIs and Preston Robbins finished 3-for-4 with a double, five runs and two RBIs for the Lynx (21-4-1), who scored 12 runs in the second inning and pounded out 27 hits in all.
Christian Florence was 3-for-4 and scored four runs, while Derek Shumway, Paul Boag and Nick Vincent each had two hits and Johnson drove in two runs for Lincoln.
Lynx coach Raymond Wadsworth said, “You want to be peaking around tournament time,” and he thinks the team is getting there. “We’re doing a little bit of everything well right now, pitching well, fielding well, hitting the ball well, and getting the big hits at key moments. Everyone is contributing, not a weak bat in the whole lineup, 1 through 9,” he said. Wadsworth also noted every player is batting over .315 for the season.
The State Division III tournament is in Reno this week. Lincoln played the Northern No. 2 seed Battle Mountain (16-7) on Thursday, and Needles faced three-time defending state champion Yerington (20-11).
Lincoln’s last state championship was in 2006.
