Lincoln shows off power in wins

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6Pat Kelley?s Lincoln County girls softball team went to the long ball in the tournament in St. George, Utah last weekend. Kelley says he likes to play in the tournament ?because of all the great competition we face.?

And this year the girls hammered out 11 home runs in registering a 3-2 record. They got two more home runs in a non-league game Tuesday hosting Hurricane, Utah.

At St. George, the Lynx played three games on Friday beginning with Grand County of Moab. Here the girls had three home runs in an 8-1 win. Josie Burgess hit a solo homer, Easton Tingey and Aspen Wilkin both hit a two-run homers.

Next was an 8-4 loss to Carbon of Price, Utah. ?It was a really good game, 5-4 going into the sixth inning,? Kelley said, ?but just some errors we made and the 90-minute time limit got us.? Burgess hit a two-run homer.

The third game of the day was a 17-7 win over Beaver, Utah. Three girls, Wilkin, Burgess, and Cameron Lloyd all had two-run homers. Lloyd also had a solo home run.

Two games followed on Saturday. Lincoln lost to Desert Hills 9-6. ?Another tight game until we lost it in the sixth inning with errors,? Kelley said. Tingey continued the home run parade with a single shot, and so did Lloyd.

Lincoln followed up on Saturday with a 7-0 shutout of Summit Academy of Salt Lake City.

?The girls had a great weekend, played great ball, but a couple of times let the pressure get to us,? Kelley commented. ?But this is what we want, being under pressure against good competition. We spotted both Carbon and Desert Hills five runs in the first inning, but we battled back, tied up one game and came within one run on the other, but lost in the last innings.?

He said, ?We had great pitching from both Wilkin and Burgess. She [Burgess] had two complete game wins over Beaver and Summit Academy. She got some great experience. We wore the whole team out, everybody got to play, and they all enjoyed it.?

On Tuesday this week, Wilkin pitched a complete game two-hit 10-0 shutout of visiting Hurricane, Utah (1-1).

Chesnee Harding went 3-for-4 with a triple and a double to help the Lynx top the Tigers in six innings.

Easton Tingey was 2-for-3 with a home run and a double, and Kia Phillips went 2-for-4 with a triple and a double for Lincoln, which also got a home run from Cameron Lloyd. Tingey and Lloyd both got their home runs in a five-run fifth inning. Both girls said they don?t look for home runs, ?just wanting to get a solid hit to help the team, but we?ll take what we get.?

With having 13 home runs in the last week or so, Kelley said he is pleasantly surprised, ?because we lost a lot of power from last year – graduating five players and a couple of others who did not turn out this year – but they are really coming through. I knew we had the potential, but didn?t expect to see it this early.?

The Lynx (8-2, 2-0) get back into league play this Friday at Calvary Chapel (1-3, 0-1) and play in the Spring Jamboree at Majestic Park in Las Vegas next weekend. They open April 2 against Fallbrook, Calif. (2-8), (east of Camp Pendleton), and Louisville High (7-3) from Woodland Park, Calif., northwest of Los Angeles.