Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Grand Theft Apaches
STOLEN BASE RULING DASHES LINCOLN’S STATE TOURNEY BID
FARMINGTON — “Take this bat from me, I can’t use it anymore, I’m blinded by tears can’t you see? Feels like I’m knock, knock, knocking on the state tournament door.”
A Bob Dylan classic epitomized the Lincoln plight.
The realization that he had just struck out was gut-wrenching for the last Lincoln batter, who reacted angrily as the umpires scurried off the field while Pottsville celebrated a 3-2 upset which knocked Lincoln out of postseason play Friday.
A myriad of emotions, none of which could be described as positive, descended relentlessly upon the Wolves, their coaching staff and fans much like rain the day before, which forced Lincoln to give up home-field advantage and move the 4A North Regional baseball tournament they hosted with a split schedule at Farmington and Prairie Grove on Friday.
They were only 12 miles east yet home never felt so far away, sort of like gallant starship Captain James T. Kirk dying on some distant planet — an unceremonious exit after personifying a well-documented career of distinguished service and countless merited feats.
This was the conclusion of Brad Harris’ coaching tenure at Lincoln and nobody except the Apaches wanted it to end this way, but like Capt. Kirk, the Harris family leaves Lincoln knowing they made a difference.
Brad Harris said Lincoln is very much a great community.
“My attitude or my beliefs about them or the way I look at Lincoln don’t change after what happened today. I mean we got a great bunch of kids and they played extremely hard. You know we just came out on the short end of it today. Potts- ville came and played real well and we didn’t.”
The outgoing Lincoln coach, who led the Wolves to the school’s first- ever football playoff wins last fall, has taken a job as Benton defensive coordinator to be closer to family and took the loss hard.
“We had a lot of things happen throughout the day. We were supposed to play at our place. I got the guys up about 7:30 this morning and tried to start getting the field ready and we found it wasn’t do-able so we moved it over here,” Brad Harris said. “It’s been a long day for them and I hate the way it’s capped off the way it is. These guys deserve better than that. I mean they’re one of the best teams in the state in my opinion and unfortunately we’re not going to get to go to the state tournament. We’ll not get to show that.”
The difference in the outcome came down to Pottsville’s successful steal of home in the top of the third inning with two outs. Blayze Schrepfer was the second Apache to score in the frame after hitting a single into left field. Taylor Waddell drove in a run with a sacrifice fly, then the Wolves bobbled an infield hit allowing Dalton Stacy to get on board.
Cavin Reed popped up to third for the second out but Tanner Jones was hit by a pitch to load the bases and Schrepfer stole home for a 3-1 Pottsville lead. He was ruled safe on the desperado ploy despite a throw coming from the mound.
After a quiet day at the plate, Lincoln made some noise with their bats in the sixth inning. Cord McCaslin got on with a leadoff hit, which the Apaches couldn’t cleanly field at third. Then Drew Harris reached on a fielder’s choice with both runners safe on a bad throw to second.
A base-running error cost Lincoln dearly when Emilio Marrufo hit a fly ball into shallow right field. With two outs, Dakota Riggin smacked an RBI single into center field, which probably would have scored two runs had they remained on base. As things stood the best Lincoln could do was close the gap to 3-2.
In Lincoln’s final at-bat, Dalton Simmons battled to get onboard. After chasing strike two, he took ball three and fouled off two straight pitches keeling over after hitting himself in the ankle with the bat. The senior gamely got to his feet and drew a walk after fouling off two more pitches.
Pinch- hitter Jesse Claybrook hit a chopper towards third that bounced hard not allowing the Apaches to get an out. Meanwhile Simmons raced to third positioning himself as the tying run. Payton Hulse made contact on a 1-1 pitch and Simmons charged towards home but was ruled out after sliding headfirst.
The game ended on a strikeout by Pottsville starter Travis Cole with Lincoln runners at first and third.
Pottsville scored a run in the second inning on a passed ball. Lincoln countered with Simmons’ stand-up double and an RBI single by Kaleb Ayers to tie the game at 1-1.
Brad Harris finished his final season at Lincoln with a 16-7 record, having guided the Wolves to a 4A-1 Conference championship and District tournament crown earlier in the week with a 7-0 victory over U.S. 62 rival, Prairie Grove, on Monday. PRAIRIE GROVE — Fishing of all species went well at Prairie Grove Lake this past weekend according to lake manager Dennis Kruse.
“Crappie have picked up with many limits coming in, on minnows and jigs fished 3-5 feet deep,” Kruse said.
Kruse noted catfish are doing good on worms and commercial dough bait of various flavors and Bass continue to do well, after coming off their spawning period.
“Bluegill and redear are biting well on crickets, as they prepare to home on their spawning beds,” Kruse said.
Prairie Grove Lake is open from 6 a. m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Admission is $2 per person or $3 a boat. Kids, 16 and under, fish free and senior citizens over 65 receive a $1 discount. Canoes, kayaks and boats with electric motors can be used on the 200 acre lake, which is Prairie Grove’s water source. No gas motors are allowed.