Improvements on defense put Lincoln in regional

Lincoln hadn’t won 10 baseball games over the last two seasons combined, but the Wolves picked up their 10th win last week and earned a spot in this week’s Class 3A Region 1 tournament.

First-year head coach Reed Mendoza said he could see his team making progress, especially defensively over the last couple weeks of the regular season.

“One thing that’s held us back at times this year is consistency in the field,” said Mendoza, who was an assistant coach last season. “We talk a lot about freebies. Limiting walks, errors, mental mistakes. We’ve spent a whole lot more time on the fielding aspect and it’s starting to pay off.”

That all came together when Lincoln (10-19) knocked off Elkins, the No. 1 seed from the 3A-1 West, in the district tournament. The Elks beat the Wolves twice during the regular season, including a 17-3 thrashing. But all that was forgotten last week.

Seniors Caleb Lloyd and Sterling Morphis have been a good 1-2 punch for the Wolves this season. Lloyd has been Lincoln’s ace on the mound and top hitter. Morphis has been good defensively at shortstop and also come up with some timely hits, Mendoza said.

LAVACA

Coach Mark Headley said the one thing his team has been searching for is consistency at the plate.

Lavaca (11-5) used its strength on the mound to earn a hardfought 2-1 win over Danville in nine innings to reach the district tournament finals last week. The Golden Arrows had lost twice during the regular season to the Little Johns, including an 8-7 setback in 11 innings.

“Our pitching’s been very competitive,” said Headley, who served as the softball coach last season. “Not overpowering, but we have competed well on the mound. We’ve got five or six seniors and not all of them have a ton of baseball, but they have been really good leaders.”

Seniors Jimmy Hall and Trey Castor have been good on the mound, but classmate Colby Clunn moved behind the plate this season and has been key, Headley said.

“I feel good about where we’re at, Headley said. “I like the way we’re competing at the plate. We’ve been inconsistent there this year. There are days we look really good and then there are days we have way too many strikeouts. The games we’ve lost we haven’t put pressure on the defense and making them make plays.”

CHARLESTON

Experience is not an issue for the Tigers, who return every starter from last year’s state tournament team.

“We return everybody including the DH, so that’s 10 really,” Charleston coach Tyler Reese said. “So we have some experience of playing in district, regional and state tournaments and having some success.”

Charleston (19-4) is scheduled to take on Green Forest in the regional tournament today.

Junior Brayden Ross leads the Tigers on the mound. He’s 7-1 with a 1.19 ERA with 52 strikeouts and just five walks, while lead-off man Joe Huck, a senior, sets the table. He’s hitting .460 with 21 RBIs and an incredible .559 on-base percentage thanks to being hit 11 times.