LINCOLN -- Lincoln's baseball team finished 9-10 overall with a 7-5 record in the 3A-1 that placed the Wolves third in the team standings.
Speaking at Lincoln's athletic awards banquet on May 23, first year head coach Shad Surber hailed the Wolves' league record, which he said positioned them to make a postseason run.
"By finishing third in the conference it gave us an opportunity when we got to the district tournament to be where we wanted to be [in the bracket]. We progressed as the season went on. Against Bergman in the district tournament, we scored 17 runs in the first inning. They batted in the second inning, then they forfeited. I thought we were peaking at the right time. We didn't have any seniors," Surber said.
All-State
Junior Drew Moore was named All-State and honored as Lincoln's Pitcher of the Year, given the team Cy Young Award with 47 strikeouts and recognized as Player of the Year by posting a .575 batting average.
Surber marveled at Moore's resilience, noting that twice during the conference schedule the Wolves played two doubleheaders in the same week, a phenomena which wreaks havoc with pitching, but Moore was able to contribute multiple appearances which helped manage those situations.
Surber noted the Wolves hosted the District 3A-1 baseball tournament and praised the facilities although rain forced games for the State 3A tournament, which Lincoln hosted, to be played at Shiloh Christian.
"The baseball equipment and playing surface was top notch. There's nothing we can't do here in Lincoln," he said.
Surber brought attention to this year's group of players working the upkeep.
"There's a lot of stuff in baseball that's not seen on the field like dragging surfaces and tamping clay. It's not something I had to ask them to do. They wanted to do it," Surber said.
Caleb Roy was named the Most Improved Player and the Wolf Award went to sophomore Kaden Brown.
Kellar Price was named Offensive Player of the Year. He batted .375 with an on-base percentage of .430 and stole 18 bases.
Traegan Pathkiller was honored as the Defensive Player of the Year, after switching positions twice.
"When I first came here, he was playing shortstop, then I moved him to third, and then when we needed a catcher he moved back there. He went from a place he wanted to be [at shortstop] to a place I wanted him to be [at third base] to a place where the team needed him to be at catcher," Surber said.