Lincoln Land Advances to NJCAA Division II World Series

Lincoln Land Community College baseball team went 4-0 in the Region Tournament to advance to the NJCAA Division II World Series by defeating DACC 7-6 in the championship game at Lanphier Ball Park in Springfield. Lincoln Land will play Hinds Community College Saturday at 4 p.m. in Enid, Oklahoma.

DACC scored one run in the top of the first and the Loggers responded with three runs in the bottom half.  Both teams battled back to tie the game 5-5 in the bottom of the third inning.  LLCC took the lead scoring two runs in the fourth to take the lead 7-5.

Coach Ron Riggle said, "The key play of the game came in the eighth inning. Tyler Borski threw out the tying run at the plate, keeping DACC to just one run scored."

The Loggers held on to the lead to win the game 7-6.  

Michael Ringer started for the Loggers and went 1.2 innings before being relieved by Logan Faber. Faber (W, 4-1) allowed four hits and two runs. Nick Lonergan picked up the save (6) as he threw the ninth inning. David Anderson (4-3) was the losing pitcher for DACC.

The Loggers collected 11 hits with Colby Griggs leading the offense two hits and three RBIs. Will Schneider, Bryce Wright and Sam Goode each added two hits on the afternoon. Lonergan, Schneider and Goode each had doubles in the championship game.

Area members of the team include Effingham High School graduate Drew Levitt and Effingham St. Anthony graduate Reed Willenborg. Levitt, a freshman, has a .288 batting average with 32 hits and 13 RBI. Willenborg is a sophomore pitcher with a 5-3 record and 29 strikeouts.

The Loggers return to the World Series marks their first appearance since 2000.