The Manitowoc Lincoln Ships baseball team defeated The Oshkosh North Spartans 3 to 1 Thursday afternoon at Municipal Field in Manitowoc to win a second straight WIAA Division One Regional title. Head Coach Bruce Steinbecker told Seehafer Sports that his team won just a good old-fashioned baseball game.
“I was happy with our guys just mentally staying tough. We were good between the ears in limiting damage in the fourth inning. Offensively, we had a good approach all day. We outhit them, scored enough runs to win, and won a good baseball game.”
Lincoln scored a run in the bottom of the first on a hit-batsman with the bases loaded. The Spartans would tie it, scoring an unearned run in the top of the fourth on two Ships errors.
Lincoln senior Evan Vogt led off the bottom of the fourth with a triple and scored on a single by senior Brady Hadler to take the lead for good.
Sophomore Benson Dickrell drove in an insurance run in the fifth to make it 3 to 1, and senior Noah Wech made it stand up.
The Oklahoma State recruit went the distance, allowing an unearned run on only two hits to earn the victory. Spartan senior Shawn Gavin went five-and-two-thirds innings, allowing all three runs and took the loss.
Manitowoc Lincoln, now 22 and 4, will face Neenah in the sectional semifinals Tuesday in Oshkosh. The Rockets defeated Slinger 7 to 3 Thursday to advance, and Steinbecker says the gameplan is simple.
“We’re just going to keep doing what we do well. Play the game one pitch at a time and live each pitch. Do not get too high or low.
We know this is a long process, so we’ll get our work in, keep everybody healthy, and see what happens on Tuesday.”
The first pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
