The Willow Glen Resident

Lincoln Glen in District 12 senior finals

By Dick Sparrer

They had to go 12 innings to do it, but the Lincoln Glen All-Stars pulled out a thrilling win over Branham Hills to advance to the finals of the District 12 senior-division tournament against Cambrian.

It's a tough road for the Lincoln Glen 'Stars, though. They lost 8-4 to Cambrian early last week, and now must beat Cambrian twice to wrest the title away.

Still, Lincoln Glen had to win the 12-inning thriller last week just to get into position to contend for the tourney crown.

The locals broke open a 6-6 tie with a five-run rally in the top of the 12th to claim the win over Branham Hills.

Michael DeBono threw seven strong innings for Lincoln Glen but gave way to reliever Nathan McDonald in the eighth. McDonald flipped the next 313 innings, allowing just one run.

Lee Dionne came on to get the final five outs to pick up the pitching win, striking out the final hitter of the game to nail down the victory.

Dionne came on with the score tied 6-6 and the bags full in the 11th. The first batter he faced attempted a squeeze bunt but popped the ball back to Dionne who threw to third for the inning-ending double-play.

The score bounced back and forth throughout the game. Branham scored two in the second, but Lincoln Glen tied it with two in the fourth, then took the lead with a run in the sixth.

Branham came back with two in the home half of the sixth, but Lincoln Glen answered with two in the seventh. Bryson Reedy singled, and Chris Ralston bunted for a hit. The runners moved up on an error, and Reedy scored the game-tying run on a passed ball. Danny Yoder's squeeze bunt plated Ralston, and Lincoln Glen led 5-4.

But Branham tied it with a run in the home half of the frame to send the game into extra innings.

After 10 innings the game was tied 5-5. Each club scored a run in the 11th before Lincoln Glen won it in the 12th.

Lincoln Glen had lost 8-4 a game earlier to Cambrian, despite fighting back from a 4-0 deficit to tie the game 4-4 in the fourth.

Yoder reached on an error and scored on a single by DeBono. Dionne singled home DeBono, then scored on a double by Pete Watts. Kevin Shull bunted Watts to third, and he scored on a sacrifice fly by Andrew Trapani.

Shull struck out seven in six innings of work but was tagged with the loss. Dionne came on in relief for Lincoln Glen, and he also led the club with a pair of hits.

The Lincoln Glen 'Stars were coming off a thrilling 7-6 win over Branham Hills in extra innings.

Yoder scored the game-winner for Lincoln Glen in the eighth when he singled, swiped second, took third on a passed ball and scored on a sac fly by Dionne.

The locals trailed 6-4 heading into the seventh but scored twice to tie the game. Dionne doubled, and Scott Wallberg singled him home. Wallberg moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Reedy, took third on a passed ball and scored the tying run on a single by Ralston.

Dionne, Ralston and Yoder had two hits each in the win.

DeBono fanned eight and allowed just two runs on two hits in 523 innings, and McDonald struck out five in two innings of work. Dionne came on to get the final out for the save.

Lincoln Glen all-stars

Lincoln Glen fielded all-star teams for post-season play in the 11-year-old, 10-year-old and 9-year-old divisions.

Members of the 11-year-old all-star team were Kevin Becker, Casey Brooks, Zac Brandt, Jimmer Castagnani, Scott Glicksberg, Tyler Ivie, Adam McCluskey, John Shaffer, Greg Shannon, Jason Sims, Stephen Rebagliati and John Willhelm. The manager was Tim Shannon and his coaches were Curt Becker and Scott Sims.

Playing for the LGLL 10-year-old all-star team No. 1 were Nick Barbara, Brad Bertoldo, Brooks Burgoon, Andrew Crummey, Jeff Ellington, Nick Graziano, Kyle Martinez, Mark Piethe, Jonathan Rymer, Will Schmidt and Jason Tom. The team's manager was Paul Bertoldo and his coaches were Jon Rymer, Steve Graziano and Randy Martinez.

On the Lincoln Glen 10-year-old all-star team No. 2 were Michael Casalegno, Danny DeSelle, Danny Ebert, Nicholas Furnal, Steven Giordano, Kris Johnson, Mathew Pi, Christopher Pope, James Randazzo, Jerry Reid, Anthony Schmidt and Alex Stark. The manager was Dave Furnal and the coach was Jim Casalegno.

Making up the Lincoln Glen 9-year-old all-star team were Jeffrey Alves, John Benevento, Jeromy Diaz, Ricky Dorrego, Matt Garish, Kyle Lundquist, Jake Pellegrini, Dewey Rogge, Billy Sheperd, Kyle Schroeder, Taylor Valenzuela and Eric Zetterquist. The manager was John Benevento and the coach was Mike Garish.

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