Lincoln baseball fall to American Heritage in Class 5A state semifinals
Lincoln baseball's season comes to an end in Fort Myers.
Facing the defending Class 5A state champions American Heritage (21-10) on Friday afternoon in the Class 5A State semifinals, the Trojans (18-12) fell to the Patriots 3-2 in a low-scoring semifinal battle.
"We're obviously bummed out, you never want to lose the last game of the season," Lincoln head coach Mike Gauger said. "My message to the kids was just telling them how much I appreciate them and all the things that they accomplished, especially the seniors."
American Heritage took an early lead in the first inning as Lucas Ramirez singled, scoring Christopher Levy to give the Patriots the advantage. The Trojans responded with two runs in the top of the second after a bunt from Tyler Anderson forced an error by Spencer Krasner, both Neil Porter and Blair Baisden scored.
The Trojans held on to the lead until the bottom of the fifth when the Patriots tied the game, followed by a run in the sixth inning to give American Heritage a one-run lead that it wouldn't relinquish.
Lincoln only allowed three hits, with Nate Dietz throwing five innings, striking out one, before being replaced by Chase Fuller in the sixth inning, who struck out two.
With five seniors, much of Lincoln's team is expected to return next season and look to make it back to the state final four, and Gauger said he hopes this loss will motivate his returning group to get back to the same stage next year.
"I hope that it excites them and gets them hungry and thirsty for more," Gauger said. "The five seniors were good players and good kids and kind of showed the younger guys how to approach things each and every day. So hopefully the returning guys will take that workman's attitude and take things to another level."
Lincoln ends the season with an 18-12 record, winners of the Class 5A District 2 title and the Class 5A Region 1 championship.
Liam Rooney covers preps sports for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at LRooney@gannett.com or on Twitter @__liamrooney
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Lincoln baseball's season comes to an end after lose to American Heritage
