The Lincoln Potters earned their stripes Saturday night, as they defeated the visiting Sierra Nevada Wolves on Zebra night by a final score of 8-4.
The Potters offense came alive late in the game, scoring four runs in the final two innings to break the game open and giving them their four-run advantage.
Isaiah Rodriguez gets the win after coming on in relief and giving the Potters three strong innings, striking out four and only allowing one earned run. Michael Potter and Lincoln High product Eli Garcia shut down the Wolves offense in the final two innings to seal the victory for Lincoln.
After falling behind by one early, the Potters came up in the bottom of the second and with two outs Tanner O’Tremba (2 H, 1 RBI) doubled into right and was then immediately brought home by a Parker Kelly (1 2B, 1 RBI) RBI double. Jordan Berry (2 2B, 1 RBI) then joined the party as he connected for his own RBI double, bringing in Kelly.
The Potters scored another run in the third, but found themselves trailing entering the bottom of the fifth after a three-run top half of the inning from Sierra.
In that bottom half, Isaiah Garcia (3 H, 2 R), another Lincoln High product, led off the inning with a line drive single into right. He was later brought in when Lorenzo Debrecht (1 3B, 1 RBI) smashed a RBI triple into deep center field, tying the game at four.
The game remained tied until the bottom of the seventh when I. Garcia once again led off the inning with a single into right field. After a pass ball and a sacrifice moved him to third, O’Tremba came to the plate once again and delivered the clutch hit of the night, bringing in the tie breaking run and giving the Potters a one-run advantage.
Lincoln wanted more though and Jordan Berry (2 2B, 1 RBI) delivered, as he kicked off the bottom of the eighth with a lead-off double into the left center gap. After advancing via a pass ball and a Thomas Greely (2 BB) walk, Zach Bushling (1 BB, 1 RBI) brought home Berry with a sacrifice fly giving the Potters a 6-4 lead.
Kana’ikai Gaughan (1 2B, 1 RBI) then stepped to the plate and brought home Greely with a RBI double, and later scored when Matt Lopez (1 H, 1 RBI) connected for an RBI single down the left field line putting the Potters up by four.
Local high school standout TJ Nichols received the start on the mound, throwing 3.33 innings of one run baseball while striking out three in his Potter debut.
The Potters now improve their overall record to 23-14-1 on the season with the win.
The Lincoln Potters will conclude their four-game homestand Sunday, July 21, when they square off with the West Coast Kings on the final Summerset Senior Sunday of the season! Fans 55+ will receive BOGO general admission, with all active or veteran members of the US Military receiving free general admission. First pitch is slotted for 6:05 p.m., with gates opening at 5:05 p.m.
