SACRAMENTO  — Anyone who thought the rivalry between Lincoln and Colfax High baseball was over following the regular season did not see the two clubs open the CIF-San Joaquin Section Division III semifinal match up Saturday at McAuliffe Memorial Ballparks.

The rivalry has been fierce. The three previous games were decided by just five runs.

The Fighting Zebras exploded for seven runs in the fourth inning to walk away with game one of the best of three series 12-5.

“We started shaky, the team doesn’t have any give-up in them” said Lincoln head coach Troy Petersen, “We need to stay humble, Colfax has a lot of good players and we need to take it one play at a time and one a game at a time.” 

Trailing 5-3 heading into the top of the fourth inning, the Falcons tied the game up at five apiece following a two-run double by Jens Boblitt. But Colfax pitching broke down in the bottom of the frame, allowing the Zebras to hit the gas and never look back.

The Zebras’ rally started with a Chance Smith double followed by a Jordan Erickson deep single that brought Smith home from first. Isaiah Garcia was hit by a pitch and three more batters were given a base on balls to score two more runs.

Robby Higgins drove in a run with a sacrifice, as the parade continued until a fly-out ended the rally with Lincoln in the lead 12-5.

“We just saw the ball right. They threw a good pitcher at us and we went after it,” said Eli Garcia, who went 3-4 with two runs batted in and two stolen bases.

Jake Sola took the mound in relief of Craig Schmich and Erickson came in to close. The Zebras scattered seven hits and struck out three with only two walks.

 “It was the worst game we’ve played all season,” said Colfax head coach Lyell Marks, “We didn’t play the game right.  We need to improve on base running, first-pitch strikes, all aspects of the game.”

The series continued Wednesday with game two at 4 p.m. A win by Colfax in the game two would require a game three prescheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Lincoln 6, Yuba City 4

Taking on the Div. III top seeded Honkers, the Zebras put together a terrific rally to score five runs and erase a 4-1 deficit and go on to eliminate the defending champions.

Yuba City added its fourth run off a three-run home run by Austin Van Poole, but Lincoln refused to rattle.

 “[Van Poole] fouled two times to the right,” said Petersen. “He timed it just right and got to the pitch.”

At the plate, Sola was hit by a pitch to take first with two outs. Middleton followed with a double and Eli Garcia repeated the feat to drive in both Sola and Middleton to cut the lead to 4-3.

The momentum swung in favor of Lincoln as Sola tied the game on a sacrifice fly to score Sam Russell and Middleton broke the tie with an RBI to bring Erickson home.

 “Once we got the lead, I knew we could shut them down,” said Charles Middleton on the late-game rally.

Eli Garcia started on the mound for the Zebras and struck out four in five innings of work. Erickson came on to relieve in the sixth.

“I just kept calm and kept my cool out there,” said Erickson.

The Zebras’ defense gave up just two hits following the home run.

Sola capped Lincoln’s scoring by driving in Isaiah Garcia with a single.

“They’re fighters,” said Petersen. “It took a lot of talking, all the coaches were involved, their good baseball players and I never doubted that we could win it.”

Lincoln High Fighting Zebra

To Game Hitting Totals

Jake Sola (2-3, triple, 4 runs, 2 RBI)

Chase Middleton (2-4, double, 2 runs, 3 RBI)

Eli Garcia (4-7, run, 4 RBI)

Isaiah Garcia (2-5, triple, 4 runs)

Kyle Boynton (2-2, run, RBI)

Mitch McGuire (single, run, 2 RBI)

Jordan Erickson (single, 4 runs)

Chance Smith (double)

Robby Higgins (RBI)

Sam Russell (run)

 

Source:  http://www.lincolnnewsmessenger.com/article/lincoln-opens-baseball-semis-win-over-colfax