The Lincoln Potters dethroned the West Coast Kings Sunday night, putting on an offensive clinic and winning in dominate fashion by a final score of 15-7.
Five Potter players ended the night with multi-hit games, as the offense sprayed the ball all over the field, combining for 14 total hits in the win.
Ian Miller received the win on the night after striking out four in his 4.0 innings of work. Nolan Murphy was solid in his relief appearance, coming on in the seventh and throwing 3.0 innings of no-hit baseball, while striking out two Kings batters.
Lincoln wasted no time getting the offense started, with Zach Arnold (1 HR, 3 RBI) connecting for a two-run blast in the bottom of the first inning, his fourth of the season, to give the Potters an early two-run advantage.
The Kings did answer back though with five of runs of their own in the top of the second, but the offense for Lincoln had their own response, having themselves a four-run inning in the bottom of the second to reclaim the lead.
The Potters scored two more in the bottom of the third and the fifth, and took a 10-6 lead into the sixth.
After the Kings cut into the lead with one run of their own in the top of the sixth, the Potters finally broke the game open in the bottom of the seventh.
Zach Bushling (2 BB, 2 R) and Larry Fonseca (3 BB) both drew walks to lead off the inning, followed up by Nolan Young (2 2B, 3 RBI) driving a double down the left field line, bringing in Bushling (Fonseca was thrown out at home on the play). Arnold then brought in Young with a RBI single into left, and was later brought in when Kana’ikai Gaughan (1 2B, 1 RBI) connected for his own double, squeaking the ball just past third base into fair territory down the line.
Then in the eighth, Charles Middleton (2 H, 1 BB) connected for a lead-off single and later sprinted home when Alex Schroeder (1 3B, 1 RBI) smashed his first triple of the season into right field. Schroeder then sprinted home himself as he scored the Potters final run of the night off of a pass ball.
After the win, the Potters improve their record on the season to 24-14-1 overall.
The Lincoln Potters will now to travel to Healdsburg to square off with the Prune Packers on Wednesday, July 24, in the CCL North Playoffs! They will play a best-of-three series with the winner getting the opportunity to play for the California Collegiate League Title against the winner of the CCL South playoff. Game One is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. Wednesday night, with Game Two’s first pitch slotted for 2:00 p.m. on Thursday. Game Three, if necessary, will follow the conclusion of Game Two.
