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By Bhagya Pushkaran – Sports –
Baseball cleats dig into the rugged ground, specks of earth fly as players run for the nearest base,  and arms outstretched towards the sky to grasp the baseball. Even though the LHS Boys Baseball Team didn’t have a winning season by the numbers – varsity ended with a record of 6 wins and 18 losses – their teamwork and determination was still strong. With a group of hard-working players and dedicated practices, the dream to win carried throughout the season according to varsity coach Dan Beckmann.

Junior Cameron Wynne has been on varsity for two years, but only discovered his talent for pitching last summer.

“I hit a big growth spurt and found out I could throw the ball pretty hard, and I started pitching and it turned out to open a lot of new doors for me. I’ve continued to pursue that, and it’s turned into a lot of success so far,” Wynne said. Wynne’s pitching statistics are  35 innings pitched, 2.80 earned run average, 42 strikeouts, 2 wins, and 1 save.

His newfound talent for pitching has impressed many on the team, including Beckmann.

“He’s been probably our top pitcher up to this point. He’s getting looked at by a lot of Division 1 and JuCo colleges to go be a pitcher and play for them,” Beckmann said. “Really he’s a nice surprise for us. We didn’t know he had this kind of potential pitching for us until this past summer. We knew he was going to be special, and he’s really been dedicated and putting in the time in the workroom and everything else.” said Beckman.

CJ Jones was the only sophomore on varsity, which is a very impressive feat, especially considering what happened to him last year. While he was playing last season, he injured his ankle and was forced to sit out for the rest of the season.

“I slid into second base, broke my ankle, and I was out for the season, and I couldn’t play summer baseball or spring baseball. It kind of sucked because I wanted to be out there,” Jones said. He returned this season to play on the Varsity team with his position mostly on second base. “I came back this year and I’m doing pretty well for not playing for 2 years,” Jones said. Jones’s statistics for the season offensively was 11 stolen bases and 8 runs scored.

Varsity Head  Coach Dan Beckmann talked about Jones on the field. “This is the first baseball he has played since his 8th grade year, so about 2 years, and there’s been a learning curve if you ask him offensively or hitting wise, but he has great mental make up and he’s continuing to work hard,” Beckmann said. “Defensively, he’s very good. He’s very solid defensively for us, and the hitting is coming around,” Beckmann said.

Sophomore John Goodwin plays on JV, and he’s had a pretty good season with some great memories. “I would say my favorite moment was when we beat the last team we played, because that win got us to the 7th win for 7-6 winning record, and we’re currently the fourth seed in the tournament coming up that’s today [May 3rd, 2016], and if we win that we will be the first team to win in 13 years.” Sadly, the JV City tournament was cancelled due to weather, and the Links had high expectations of winning.

As the season started with a rocky beginning, the LHS boys baseball team has fought hard through their games. A team of hardworking, determined, persistent baseball players represented Lincoln High. “This season was a tough one in regards to losing a lot of close games. We had numerous one run or two run games where we were a hit or pitch away from winning the game. We did a great job competing every game and grinding through all the close games. If we could replay this season over again we could easily have the exact opposite record” Beckmann said.