Lincoln downs Wheatland, clinches at least a share of PVL title

Lincoln High School defeated Wheatland 5-2 at home Tuesday to secure a share of the Pioneer Valley League baseball championship. The Fighting Zebras had a chance to claim the title outright when the teams met again Thursday in Wheatland. Lincoln leaned on a mix of timely hitting and a strong performance on the mound by junior Cooper Maul, who pitched a complete game. Maul allowed five hits, didn't issue a walk and struck out four. The Zebras didn't make an an error behind Maul. Wheatland scored in the first inning, as Hughston Rodney knocked a double to right field to bring home a run. Lincoln (20-3-1 overall, 9-2 PVL) responded in the bottom of the second with the game's decisive swing. The Zebras plated three runs in the inning, highlighted by a two-RBI double by Diego Cuevas that scored Eli Duff and Declan Gonge. Cuevas advanced to third on the throw and scored on a passed ball, giving Lincoln a 3-1 advantage. Wheatland (19-7, 8-3) trimmed the deficit to 3-2 in the third. From there, Maul retired 11 of the final 12 batters to guide the Zebras to victory. The lone batter that reached base in that stretch was caught stealing at third in the top of the sixth. Lincoln added two insurance runs in the fifth. Gavin Gnech lifted a sacrifice fly to right field to score Garrett Ernst, and Gonge followed with an RBI single to center that brought home Dylan Knell. Gonge led the Zebras with a 3-for-3 performance, while Knell had two hits and scored twice. Cuevas drove in two runs from the lower half of the lineup. Rodney had two doubles and an RBI for Wheatland, and Kale Nakamura drove in a run.