Lincoln beats Gentry, 7 to 6, in final at-bat

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

LINCOLN - Gentry had Lincoln down to the last out and last strike with a 6-5 lead in the bottom of the seventh inning but could not close the deal.

Facing an 0-2 count, Cord McCaslin smacked an RBI double, keeping Lincoln alive and tying the game at 6-6. Gentry had a final opportunity to send the game into extra innings with a 1-2 count on Drew Harris; but he took a ball, then fouled off a hit out of play and reached a full count before blasting the game-winning RBI single into left field, giving Lincoln a 7-6 win over Gentry on Thursday.

“We didn’t a hit a lot. Today we got hits in situations,” said Lincoln coach Brad Harris. “These are two guys who have been struggling a little bit. Hopefully that will build their confidence.”

In a see-saw game, the lead shifted back and forth. Gentry scored two runs in their first at-bat and held that lead going into the second inning when Lincoln loaded the bases and scored a pair of runs on a two-out single by Payton Hulse.

Gentry starter, Dusty Haag, retired the Wolves in order to preserve a 4-4 tie in the fourth. And after giving up a leadoff single to begin the fifth, induced a ground out and a sacrifice fly. Although he hit the next batter with a pitch, Haag got out of trouble when Lincoln reliever Tyler Cummings flied out to center field.

For Cummings the game was only his second back in the lineup after sustaining an ACL injury in the first football game of the season, way back on Aug. 31.

“Tyler came in and pitched well. He gets the win,” Brad Harris said. “He kept us in the ball game.”

Lincoln went up 5-4 in the sixth, and Gentry threw out a runner at second to keep the Wolves from adding any more runs.

In the top of the seventh, Gentry got runs off a Lincoln error coupled with a base hit and a walk to take a 6-5 advantage. But reliever Chris Wiand couldn’t close out, and Lincoln came back to win, 7-6, in their last at-bat.

In other play, the Pioneers fell to Pea Ridge on April 1, 2-1, with Gentry picking up its solo run in the top of the seventh.

Gravette

Gravette's Lions lost to Farmington 3-2 on Tuesday and beat Ozark 5-1 on April 1.

Sports, Pages 7 on 04/10/2013