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JV Legion baseball

Cobras play in weekend Lincoln Heat tournament

[JUNE 26, 2001]  The Lincoln JV Legion baseball team won one of three games over the weekend in the Lincoln Heat baseball tournament at the Lincoln Recreation Department Lindstrom Field.   

Lincoln's lone win came due to a forfeit from the Twin City Twins. Olympia defeated the Springfield Stars 2-1 to win the tournament championship.

Lincoln suffered two one-run defeats, losing to Olympia 4-3 on Saturday. Rochester handed the Lincoln team a 3-2 setback Friday night.

In the Saturday game against Olympia, Lincoln took a 3-2 lead into the seventh only to lose on a wild pitch and an error with two outs. Leading the offensive attack for Lincoln were John Peters and Bobby Ward with two hits each.  Ryan Purcell, Mitch Shelley and Matt Bayfield each had one hit.

Lincoln, now 11-8 for the season, will play host to Decatur at 6 p.m. Wednesday in a doubleheader at Lindstrom Field.

[Bill Martinie]

JV Legion baseball

Lincoln Cobras vs. Mount Zion

[JUNE 21, 2001]  Lincoln JV Legion rode the strong right arm of Blaen Fletcher and some timely hitting to a 4-2 victory over Mount Zion in the first game of a doubleheader at the Lincoln Recreation Center Wednesday night.   Mount Zion rebounded to pound the Lincoln Cobras 16-4 in the second game.

In the first game, Lincoln plated two runs in the first inning when Miles Musick drew a walk to open the inning.  Mitch Sheley singled and Bryce Cunningham drove in both runs with a triple to right. After Mount Zion tied the score in the third, Lincoln came right back with a run of its own to take the lead, and Fletcher held the visitors in check the rest of the way. Sheley started the winning rally with a single, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Jason Williams. The final Lincoln run crossed the plate in the fourth when Matt Brayfield doubled and scored on an infield single off the bat of Musick.

Fletcher went the distance, striking out six and walking just one. He permitted eight hits and only one earned run.

In the second contest, Mount Zion put four runs on the board before Lincoln was able to record an out. The Cobras were never able to recover, as the visitors scored in every inning except the fourth against a host of Cobra pitchers. Josh Turley collected a pair of hits and two RBIs for Lincoln. Trent Kavelman, Sheley, John Peters and Steve Shanle each had one hit.

[to top of second column in this article]  

Lincoln, now 7-9 for the season, will play against Rochester at 5:30 p.m. Friday in the Heat Tournament at Lincoln.    

First game

Mount Zion         101 000 0 – 2-8-0

Lincoln                201 100 x – 4-6-2

Webb (L), Jones (5) & Brown; Fletcher (W) & Peters.

Second game

Mount Zion       451 021 3 – 16-8-0

Lincoln             000 400 0 –  4-6-8

Taylor (W), Wells (5) & Anderson; Cunningham (L), Williams (1), Brayfield (2), Kavelman (4), Shanle (5), Peters (6), Deters (7), Musick (7) & Bednarko.

[Bill Martinie]

[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…

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

A: He’s certainly working hard at it!

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.

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.

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

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]

Announcements

ALMH golf outing planned

[MAY 29, 2001]  Teams are filling fast for the FORE-ALMH golf outing, so don’t be left out! Get your team signed up for the outing scheduled for Friday, June 29, at the Elk’s Country Club in Lincoln. The format will again be a four-person scramble, with a shotgun start at 7:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.

Your $75 entry fee includes greens fee and free cart rental, plus opportunities to win prizes and awards including Hole-in-One, Top Foursomes, Longest Putt, Longest Drive and Closest to the Pin for both men and women. Also provided are a continental breakfast and buffet luncheon.

In addition to golfing, a variety of sponsorships are available including Tee, Cart and Prize Sponsorships. Appropriate recognition and benefits are provided for each sponsor.

All funds raised from the golf outing support the ALMH Care-A-Van service. The Care-A-Van is a specially equipped van, custom-built to provide non-emergency transportation for individuals who are wheelchair-bound or need transportation assistance to get to necessary appointments.

For more information on player registration or sponsorship opportunities, please call Cynthia Kelley at (217) 732-2161, Ext. 405.

[ALMH news release]

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