FARMINGTON — A pitching change was just what Lincoln’s baseball team wanted to see Monday afternoon.
The Wolves sent 11 batters to the plate against Booneville reliever Cody Harrel and blew the game open in the sixth inning, scoring seven runs en route to an 11-3 victory in the Class 4A North Region Tournament.
“Even though the kid they brought in throws hard, we had heard he also had control problems,” Lincoln coach Brad Harris said of Harrel, who relieved starter Brandon Wolski to start the sixth. “You saw that it happened.
“We knew we had to stay in the game against Wolski to have a chance, and I was proud of the kids. We had some strikeouts, but we put the ball in play. It’s a matter of survival now.”
At A Glance
CLASS 4A NORTH REGION BASEBALL TOURNAMENT
at Farmington
Monday
GAME 1: No. 1 Prairie Grove 6, No. 4 Maumelle 2
GAME 2: No. 3 Lincoln 11, No. 2 Booneville 3
GAME 3: No. 4 Ozark 6, No. 1 Dover 3
GAME 4: Farmington, Pottsville
Today
GAME 5: Prairie Grove vs. Lincoln, 11 a.m.
GAME 6: Ozark vs. Winner Game 4, 1:30 p.m.
GAME 7: Third-place game, 4 p.m.
GAME 8: Championship, 6:30 p.m.
Lincoln (15-5) had a 4-2 lead to start the sixth, and Harrel’s wildness was evident. The right-hander walked the first four Wolves, with Ossy Escareno’s walk forcing in a run.
Lincoln then belted the ball hard when Harrel gained his control. Kaleb Ayers had a sacrifice fly, then Cord McCastlin, Drew Harris and Payton Hulse had consecutive run-scoring hits as Lincoln extended its lead to 11-2.
“We’ve brought in Cody in middle relief and to close out games before,” Booneville coach Darby Ulmer said. “When I’ve brought him into relief, he’s been a competitor. Wolski had thrown a lot of pitches, and when I had brought Cody in before he’s done a good job.
“It was a smaller strike zone than what I thought, and he had trouble finding it. When he found the zone, he grooved some pitches and they hit him.”
Lincoln took advantage of two Booneville errors, which helped account for the Wolves’ runs against Wolski (7-1), whose sacrifice fly gave Booneville (13-5) a 1-0 lead in the first. McCaslin reached on an error to start the third and scored the tying run on Harris’ single.
The Wolves then took the lead for good when Colton Barnum scored on a passed ball in the fourth. Moments later, Dakota Riggin’s line drive was dropped in right field, allowing two more Lincoln runners to come home.
Tyler Cummings (4-1) pitched six strong innings, and Riggin completed the five-hitter for Lincoln, which assured itself of two more games today and earned a berth in the Class 4A State Tournament at Harrison. The Wolves will play an 11 a.m. semifinal game against Prairie Grove, a 6-2 winner in an earlier game against Maumelle.
Lincoln 11, Booneville 3
Lincoln 001 307 0 — 11 9 0
Booneville 100 100 1 — 3 5 2
Cummings, Riggan (7) and Riggan, Simmons (7); Wolski, Harrel (6) and Krepps, Wolski (6). W-Cummings, 4-1. L-Wolski, 7-1. Sv-None. HR-None.