Lynx Baseball Ready for 2019 Season

[March 08, 2019] 

Tony Thomas is preparing to begin his 26th season at helm of the Lincoln College Baseball program, but this will be his first as the head coach of a member team in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA).

Up until this year, Lincoln College has been a part of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). LC joined the NAIA for the 2018-2019 schoolyear and is completing a probationary season before becoming a full member institution next fall.

“My record is currently 0-0,” joked Coach Thomas when asked about his outlook on the move to the NAIA. “We are going into this season with appositive attitude and focused on meeting the new challenges that we will face as a varsity team,” he added.

The Lynx will feature a comparatively young roster of players for a four-year varsity program. Of the 21 players on the squad, thirteen of them are either freshman or sophomores. Eight upperclassmen will be looking to take on leadership roles for Coach Thomas, including juniors Andrew Bernas and Ryan Thomas and senior Ty Mattix.

Bernas, a 6’0” right handed pitcher from Chicago, has been one of the Lynx most reliable pitchers the last two seasons. In 2018, he led the team with 47 total innings pitched.

Lincoln Community High School grad Ryan Thomas will take up his familiar spot at shortstop again this spring. Thomas has anchored the Lynx defense at the position since his freshman year. Last season, out of a team-high 161 total chances in the field he committed only 9 errors. Thomas, who has shown his glove can be counted on in the field, figures to contribute more on offense this season in the middle of the LC lineup.

Senior Ty Mattix is an Indiana native who will be a big part of the LC rotation. The 5’11” lefty rebounded from successful Tommy John surgery his freshman year to take the mound regularly as a starter for his team over the past two seasons.

Left to right standing:  K.J. Fry, Coby Isenbarger, Ty Mattix, Coach Thomas, Andrew Bernas and Ryan Thomas. Kneeling in the center is Will Desollar

LC’s sophomore class will be called on to contribute quite a bit this season. Two standouts among the talented group of athletes are Kevin Beard (Charleston) and Devin Lasanska (PORTA).

Beard should spend most of this season batting in the leadoff spot and patrolling in the outfield for the Lynx. According to Coach Thomas, speed and a high baseball IQ should help Beard achieve his goals of getting on base often and being among the team leaders in runs scored.

Devin Lasanska will be at second base and is projected to hit third or fourth in the LC lineup. Lasanska is coming off a freshman season in which he was among the team leaders in several offensive categories, including hits, RBI’s and runs scored.

Coach Thomas is optimistic about his team’s ability to be successful at the NAIA level. “We are going into this season healthy and excited about the chance to see where we will fit into a new league,” said Thomas. “A lot of this year will be about finding our identity at this new level of competition and seeing what we need to do to meet the challenges that moving to the NAIA will bring.”

The Lynx will start their 2019 campaign with a trip south next week to Orlando, Florida where the team will play four games in as many days. Lincoln will play their first home game on April 2nd at 3:00 PM when they host Culver-Stockton College. A complete schedule of games can be found at www.lincoln lynxsports.com.

[Mark Tippett
Lincoln College
Sports Information]