Lincoln closes out Woodland, reaches first section final since 2017

Winning a best-of-three playoff series requires skill, timely execution, depth, grit and a little bit of luck. Top-seeded Lincoln displayed all of that Thursday afternoon in its 7-6 series-clinching victory over No. 4 Woodland in the Division V Sac-Joaquin Section semifinals. Playing three games in four days, Lincoln coach Mike Allen knew that he would need every arm available on the pitching staff to win the series. Clinging to a one-run lead in the seventh inning, Allen turned the ball to junior Billy Bass to close out the game. Bass had thrown just 13 innings all season, but Allen said that he had complete faith in him and noted that he has put in the time and work at practice all season and was poised to deliver in a situation like this. "Baseball is a funny game and you do a lot of stuff at practice. Billy may have thrown 13 innings in the score book, but he's probably got 50 or 60 in bullpens," said Lincoln coach Mike Allen. "He's been doing the work himself to prepare for a moment like this. It is something special." Bass did his job, setting down the Wolves in order to earn the save and send the Zebras through to the next round. He admitted that he was nervous when they called his number to close out the game, but he trusted his defense behind him and knew he could deliver for his team. "I was definitely nervous. I had tons of nerves going in," said Bass. "I knew that everybody's got confidence in me and that they know I can do what I need to do. That's why I was able to pitch and throw strikes, because I knew I had the best eight other guys in the entire section behind me." Bass received an ice cold bath from the water jug after the game, symbolic of the ice water that ran through his veins as he closed the game out. "It feels great to make it to this point because I know we've got the best team to do it," said Bass. Lincoln and Woodland were tied at four heading into the fifth inning before Landyn Plaut belted a solo shot over the right field fence to give the Zebras the lead. Plaut's homer kickstarted the offense and gave Lincoln a new life, as it rode that momentum to take a 7-4 lead. Allen said that he felt Plaut's homer was the catalyst to Lincoln's strong finish and gave it the energy that it needed to finish the game. "That just turned things around for us. Sometimes middle to the end of the game it gets a little slow sometimes for guys and that recharged the whole dugout," said Allen. "That was great. It was just a great spot for it." Woodland made a late push in the sixth, scoring two runs and loaded the bases but Cooper Maul pitched his way out of the jam to keep Lincoln on top. Maul earned the win in relief, throwing three innings and striking out two while allowing three runs on seven hits. He was aided by the strong defensive play of Eli Duff, Jackson Cook and Dylan Knell in the infield. Lincoln (23-9) will face No. 2 Hughson (27-6) for the Division V championship next week as it seeks its first section title since three-peating from 2015 to 2017. The date and location for the championship game will be announced Friday.