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The Lincoln Potters picked up a huge CCL win last night over the Healdsburg Prune Packers 7-5 as they began the final week of the regular season. Lincoln entered the game clinging to the second playoff spot with a one game lead over third place Walnut Creek and a game and a half lead over Solano.

“Every game this week is going to be big for us,” said manager Ryan Stevens. “If we’re going to be where we want to be at the end of it, it's going to take games like this and wins like this to get us where we want to go.”

The Potters started off strong, scoring two in the bottom of the first thanks to a pair of RBI singles by Brennan Rozell (Long Beach State) and Garet Crenshaw (Sacramento State). Lincoln kept its foot on the gas in the second by adding another, this time with a sacrifice fly by JT Waldon (Folsom Lake College).

Healdsburg got on the board in the third, but Lincoln got the run back in the bottom frame thanks to a balk. The Prune Packers slowly chipped away at the Potter lead, and finally tied things up in the eighth inning at 4-4.

The Potters were once again elevated by late inning heroics, as JT Waldon blasted a three-run homer over the right field fence for his third hit of the night to give the Potters a 7-4 lead. Healdsburg added one in the ninth, but were unable to complete the comeback and the Potters escaped with a victory.

“JT was dialed in. I just told him to look for something up in the zone,” said Stevens. “He's been hot all night. I knew they might try to pitch around him a little bit. So I just said look for some up in the zone and don't miss it and he did exactly that.”

On the mound, Kaden Riccomini (UC Davis) had a strong start, giving up just one run in six innings of work. Jake Torres (Sierra College) was the man who earned the win however, tossing the final 2.2 innings on the mound to close the door on the Prune Packers.

“What I love about Torres is that you're getting the same thing every time,” said Stevens. “Every time he goes out he competes. You know he's gonna be a bulldog on the mound even when things aren't always going right for him. I think that was just his game to finish.”

The Potters will be back in action Wednesday on the road against Healdsburg before returning to McBean on Thursday to take on the Solano Mudcats.

You can find tonight’s box score here.