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Quarter midget racing

Local quarter midget race on the Fourth of July

[JULY 3, 2001]  The Abe Lincoln Quarter Midget Club is having a race called the Shorey Shootout on Wednesday, July 4, at Rocking Horse Campground, Middletown. Racing will begin around 10:30 a.m. and continue for most of the day.

There is no admission fee. 

All sign-in proceeds are being donated to DARE. There will be a DARE representative at the track on the day of the race, and it will be a good opportunity for the public to come out and support many local racers who are racing for a great cause. 


Pony Division

Tri-Police defeats Battery Specialists for Pony title

[JULY 3, 2001]  Tri-Police defeated Battery Specialists 10-0 on Saturday morning to win the Pony Division playoff title. This completed their sweep of the titles for the regular and postseason crowns, leaving little doubt as to which was the superior team in 2001 in the Pony Division.

A five-run outburst in the first inning gave pitcher Elijah Shreve all the cushion he needed. Also seeing time on the mound were David Pickering, Seth Lawrence and Collin Neitzel.

On offense, Tri-Police was paced by Neitzel (two triples and one double) and Jordan Ackman (one double and two singles). Each also scored three runs. Pickering chipped in with two hits.

Coaches Derrick Cheek and John Tierney did a fine job with these young men all season, and Tri-Police suffered only one defeat along the way.

 


JV Legion baseball

Lincoln vs. Rochester at Mount Zion tournament

[JULY 2, 2001]  The Lincoln JV Legion baseball team defeated Rochester 11-5 to win the consolation title at the Mount Zion tournament this past weekend.       

Lincoln, now 13-11 for the season, plays at Olympia High School Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.

Lincoln scored four runs in the bottom of the first inning and was never headed by Rochester in the consolation game. Jason Williams worked the first three innings to gain the victory, giving up four hits, three runs, two earned runs, four strikeouts and four walks. Trent Kavelman came into the game in the fourth inning in relief of Bryce Cunningham and struck out the batter with the bases loaded. Kavelman then retired the side in order in the fifth to gain the save.

Leading Lincoln at the plate was Miles Musick with a pair of doubles, a run scored and one run batted in. Williams had a pair of singles, two runs scored and one RBI. Cunningham also had two hits, scored a run and drove in two. Ryan Purcell and Josh Turley each added doubles for Lincoln.

Score by innings

Rochester      120 20 – 5 - 6 - 2

Lincoln          434 1x – 11 - 10 - 1

Daugherty (L), Gideon (2) & Jeffers; Williams (W), Cunningham (4), Kavelman (4-S) & Peters.

[Bill Martinie]


Bronco tournament

Graue Pharmacy wins Bronco tournament

[JULY 2, 2001]  Graue Pharmacy won the Bronco tournament with a 22-9 victory over Images by James Coop.

Graue Pharmacy was led by Josh Edwards with four hits (two doubles, two singles), four runs scored and one RBI.  Joe Heidbreder had two hits (single and double), two runs scored and three RBIs; Cale Dahm, one hit (double), one run scored, three RBIs; winning pitcher Chris McGlasson, one hit (single), one run scored; Trevor Adye, two hits (singles), three runs scored, two RBIs; Lincoln Moore, two hits (singles), one run scored, two RBIs; Justin Mason, one hit (triple), two runs scored, one RBI; Matt Schick, two hits (single and triple), three runs scored, one RBI; Tyler Jones, one hit, two runs scored; Andrew Uhlry, one hit, run scored; Kaleb Gordan, two runs scored.

Graue Pharmacy finishes the season with a record of 11-1.

Images by James Coop was led by Ian Arneuad with two hits (singles), one run scored and two RBIs.  Justin Harnacke had one hit (home run), two runs scored and one RBI.  Cody Tucker had two hits (single and double) and one run scored.  David Williams scored one run.

[News release]


Lincoln Baseball Association will
play all-star games on the Fourth

[JUNE 28, 2001]  The Lincoln Baseball Association will play three all-star games at the Rec diamonds this Fourth of July.

Play commences at 10 a.m. with a nine-inning affair between all-stars from Lincoln’s Pony Division and all-stars from the Bloomington Pony Division. These players are ages 13 and 14. At 11 a.m. the Mustang (9 and 10 years old) and Bronco (11 and 12 years old) all-stars will play. These games will involve players from the Mustang and Bronco divisions here in Lincoln.

After the all-star games are over, the LBA will have a slow-pitch softball game involving all parents, coaches, umpires and LBA board members who wish to participate. This game will be played on the Bronco diamond. For a twist, some current ballplayers will be asked to coach and umpire this game.

For more information on the softball game, or any of the all-star games, please check out the LBA website at http://www.geocities.com/lincolnbaseball or call Jim Stone at 732-3285.

[News release]


JV Legion baseball

Lincoln vs. Decatur

[JUNE 28, 2001]  Lincoln’s junior varsity Legion baseball team split a twin bill with the Decatur JV Wednesday night at Lindstrom Field in Lincoln. Decatur won the first game 1-0, and Lincoln came back to win the nightcap 9-5.

Lincoln, now 12-9 for the season, will play in the Mount Zion double-elimination tournament this weekend. Lincoln will play Rochester in the first game at 8 a.m. Saturday. Six teams are entered in the tourney.

Losing pitcher Blaen Fletcher and Decatur’s Pruitt hooked up in a great pitching duel in the opener Wednesday night.  Decatur scored the only run of the game in the top of the seventh on a single, stolen base and a bloop single. Fletcher was outstanding, giving up just five hits while striking out six and walking none. Lincoln managed seven hits in the game but could not dent the plate due to some faulty base running.

Chris Matson and Miles Musick each had two hits in the game, while Fletcher, Bryce Cunningham and Bobby Ward each had one hit.

In the second game, Ryan Purcell, Cunningham and Jason Williams each collected a pair of hits to lead Lincoln to the 9-5 victory. Purcell had a double, scored a run and drove in two runs. Cunningham had a pair of hits with two runs scored and one driven in, while Williams had a run scored and a run batted in with his two hits. Jason Bednarko and Trent Kavelman had the only other Lincoln hits in the contest.

Chris Gosda picked up the victory, working the first five innings, giving up six hits and four runs, one of which was earned, while striking out two and walking none. Matt Brayfield worked the sixth inning and ran into trouble in the seventh when he loaded the bases. Trent Kavelman came on to strike out the final batter to gain the save.

 

[to top of second column in this article]

First game

Decatur      000 000 1 – 1 - 5 - 0

Lincoln       000 000 0 – 0 - 7 - 0

Pruitt (W) & Spurlock; Fletcher (L) & Peters.

Second game

Decatur     012 010 1 – 5 - 6 - 3

Lincoln      024 210 x – 9 - 8 - 4

Neiburg (L), Brozio (4), Bruce (6) & Collins; Gosda (W), Brayfield (6), Kavelman (7-S) & Bednarko.

[Bill Martinie]

 

 


Jeff Mayfield interviews Mike Thornton

Lincoln American Legion baseball
team about to get in the groove

[JUNE 21, 2001]  We were able to reach Lincoln American Legion baseball coach Mike Thornton at his office. What follows is a brief interview that we had with him concerning the rest of this summer’s season…

Q: Tell us a little about your team so far.

A: We are 1-6 but should be 5-2. We’ve been competitive, and we’re hangin’ in there. We’ve got eight guys back from last year. Primarily, the bulk of them are from Lincoln, but we fill in with guys from the area. The eight back from last year are solid. I think we’ll be OK. Once we get a few wins under our belts, I think we could get on a roll.

Q: What’s your everyday lineup?

A: Well, it’s different every day. We use a different lineup every day. We’re moving guys around here and there and seeing who can do what and what we’re going to be comfortable with. We’ll do that until the tournament at the end of the season, and by then we’ll have things pretty well solidified.

Q: Who do you have returning this season?

A: I hope I don’t leave anybody out. Korey Davis is from Elkhart. The Lincoln kids are Chris Phillips, Andrew Bartman, Justin Dedman, Aaron Mattson and Nick Bay. Matt McQuality is from Williamsville and Tyler Hendrickson is from Athens.

Q: The Lincoln kids put together quite a season out at the high school. They should really be ready to go this summer, right?

A: Yes, they did. They really did well with them. I’m not displeased with what we’ve got at all. I think that we’ve got a pretty well-rounded ball club.

Q: With your experience, some of these guys might really have impressed you already. Who is standing out so far?

A: Korey Davis has been a standout! He just jumps out at you. I like the way he conducts himself. He is very businesslike. He goes out there and does his job. He is steady and good. He doesn’t try to be too flashy, he’s just confident in himself.

Q: You consider him a team leader, or do other players come to mind?

A: Andrew Bartman as much as anyone. Korey kind of leads by example and Bartman’s kind of a yell guy. I guess you’d call him a rah-rah guy. It’s not that the rest of the guys aren’t or don’t; it’s just that those two make their presence felt. It’s hard to miss them.

Q: How does your pitching stack up through the long haul of the summer?

A: It will be OK once we get some consistency. We played several games in a row, and now we’ve been off since last Thursday … well, we did play on Thursday. But, we’ve had two games postponed on us Saturday and another one postponed on us tonight! So, we’re playing Wednesday and Thursday, and we’ve got a doubleheader on Saturday. Next week we’ll jump right back into the schedule of having three games a week again. We’ll have to see where we’re at, at that time.

[to top of second column in this article]

Q: Who will be some of your starting pitchers, and who will be your closers?

A: They’re all pretty good and pretty consistent. Phillips had a good high school year and so did Davis. Michael Martin went out a week ago Sunday and held Danville, a perennial power, to just three runs over nine innings. He did an outstanding job that day. He was very impressive. I’ve had Andy Knopp in a couple of times as a closer in the eighth and ninth innings, and he has been impressive in that role. He comes in and just throws strikes. He won’t walk people. If you don’t walk anybody, you’re going to be successful. At least you’ve got a better chance of being successful. Other than that we’ll probably try them all. Ryan Williams is a pitcher, McQuailty is a pitcher, Matt Gleason is, and of course Phillips. There are several of our players that are pretty good hurlers. It may get done by committee as much as anything else. We have a pitch count on all of them. When it gets up to about 80, you start looking real close and take it from that point. If they get in trouble after that point, you go and get ’em. I’m not going to burn somebody out. On a nice warm day you can sometimes throw over 100 pitches, but other days they just can’t.

Q: Have you gotten together with LCHS coach Pat Hake, and how has that gone?

A: It’s worked well. We’ve sat down and talked several times and traded notes. We’re definitely on the same page.

Q: What little we know about it is that coach Hake has really got in there and turned the LCHS fortunes around and seems to be pretty well-liked by the players.

A: He’s certainly working hard at it!

Q: Who’s hitting the baseball for you right now?

A: Again, Davis. He’s been ripping the cover off the ball. Danny Schick has hit well. Blake Schoonover has been hitting the ball on the nose.

Q: How does the schedule shape up for you guys this summer?

A: We usually play Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 7 p.m., with Tuesday and Thursday games usually at home, out at the Rec. Then we play Saturdays, and we’ve got a couple of Sundays thrown in there, usually at 11, noon or 1 o’clock.

Q: How many games are scheduled?

A: We had 38 originally scheduled, but we’ll probably only get in 34.

Q: And you expect to have a stellar year, don’t you?

A: I think that we will do real well, once we get it rolling. No excuses, but the reality — some of our guys hadn’t played in three or more weeks. Our timing was off just a bit, but now it’s coming back.

On behalf of the LDN, we certainly wish the Legion baseball teams and all local summer baseball and softball teams the best of luck!

[Jeff Mayfield]


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