REGION SOFTBALL: Lincoln County’s offense comes alive, Lynx win Division III title

Lincoln County’s softball team knew it had to get its offense going after managing just one hit in a 3-2 loss to Needles Saturday morning.

That offense surfaced in the second game, as the Lynx scored seven runs in the first three innings to earn a 9-4 win at Mountain View for the Division III Southern League softball crown.

Both teams advance to the Division III state tournament, which begins Thursday at The Meadows.

“Its good to see them because they have quality pitching,” Lincoln County coach Pat Kelly said. “I’m so proud of this team. They did everything that was asked. They worked in the cold, in the rain, in the snow. They have worked hard all season.”

After going five innings without a hit in the opener, Lincoln County (23-4) came to life quickly in Game 2. Elle Scott led the way, with two hits and four RBIs. Scott’s two-run single in the first gave Lincoln County a quick 2-0 lead.

The Mustangs (23-8) answered in the bottom of the first to tie the game at two. Abby Chandler’s RBI single with one out keyed the inning.

But Lincoln County blew the game open in the third, batting around to score five runs. Scott had a two-run triple, and Kourtney Gloeckner added a two-run single.

“We don’t get to see this type of pitching until late in the season,” Kelly said. “It was good to see two games worth of good pitching. I think that’s why it took us so long to get going.”

After just the one hit in the first game, Lincoln County had 14 in the second. Gloeckner had three hits for the Lynx, and Jaycee Wadsworth and Britten Hafen added two each.

Andrea Leslie-Merchain had three hits, drove in a run and scored once for the Mustangs.

In the opener, Dakota Lillard struck out only two, but didn’t allow a hit in the first five innings as the Mustangs earned a 3-2 win to force the deciding game.

Needles scored all of its runs in the fourth, as RBI singles from Meghan Mann, Jeannine Otero and Taylor Lainhart produced a 3-0 lead.

Lincoln County pushed a pair of runs across in the sixth to cut the margin to one. In the seventh, Jessica Shoup reached on an error with two outs. Shoup stole second then went to third on a passed ball. However, Gloeckner grounded out to end the game.

DIVISION IV SOUTHERN LEAGUE

Brook Higbee went 4-for-4 with an RBI, and Pahranagat Valley used a six-run fifth inning to erase a 10-6 deficit and top Indian Springs, 12-11 in the Division IV Southern League final in Alamo.

Jamie Hansen went 3-for-3 with a double and two RBIs for the Panthers (19-4), who put the first six runners of the fifth inning on base, five of them on hits.

Veronica Allen was 4-for-5 with an RBI, and Gabi Lopez went 2-for-3 with two RBIs for the Thunderbirds (15-7).