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Baseball

SEASON PREVIEW: 2022 Lincoln Baseball

The Lincoln University baseball team looks to build off the strides made across the program last season as the Lions enter the 2022 season with a lot of youth littering the roster. 

Lincoln will have 80 percent of its roster as either a sophomore or freshman. 

“Coming off a season where we made some strides in the conference and played some very competitive series', we are looking forward to building on to that with a lot of young players gaining valuable experience last year,” said Lincoln University Head Coach Anthony Pla. “Having a full fall season for the first time in a couple of years was very beneficial to us and gave us an opportunity put some things in place and get some valuable and much needed time on the field with all of the new players we brought in. 

 “Being young can be both a strength and weakness for us,” Pla continued. “We do have a lot of young talent that will need time and experience to get better, but we will continue to build and go through the process of our season with some solid upperclassmen and talented young players. We still believe we have the talent to be in the mix at the end of the season to get into the conference championships.”

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Sophomore pitcher Josiah Lara

Much of the teams’ success will revolve around the evolution of a pitching staff that lot its top two conference starters. Sophomore Luis Miguel Reinoso started all six games he appeared, going 0-4 on the year. He posted a 9.43 ERA as the team’s third starter. 

Sophomore Nick Spurlock and senior CarVonte Williams, two starts each, are the only other pitchers with collegiate starting experience. Spurlock turned in one of the best starts of the season, allowing just three earned runs over seven innings against nationally-ranked St. Thomas Aquinas. 

Sophomore Josiah Lara appeared in a team-high 10 games last season and could be used in plenty of high-leverage situations out of the bullpen. Sophomore Leon McKnight came on during the latter part of the season, while sophomore Hasan Aquil rounds out the part of the staff with collegiate experience. 

 

Freshmen Gabriel Sanchez, Liam Palmer, Sean Wright, and Wesley Hogan will all work for innings. 

 “We have a lot of young arms that came in this year with the mix of some of the sophomores that gained quality experience last year that we will see all throw early on to gauge where they all will fit in,” said Pla. “We do have some guys that we think can step up and take on those roles, but with a lot of early games before conference play, we will get a chance to see all of them in different roles to see where they fit best.”

Managing the pitching staff will trio of catchers as returning junior DeAndre Bowens will face stiff competition from transfer Anthony Burgos and freshman Sebastian Iguaran. Bowens played in 13 games with 11 starts for the Lions. 

Sophomores Jefry Azcona and Hilman Truss return to lead a Lincoln offense that must replace a senior class that produced a lot of runs last season. Both players earned preseason honors from Black College Nines.

Truss, who will be moving to second base, led the team with 24 RBI and slashed .342/.426/.494 for the season. He finished with two doubles, two triples, and two home runs. He was a perfect 5-for-5 on stolen bases.

After missing the first nine games of the season, Azcona entered the lineup and made an immediate impact with his back. In his 15 games, Azcona – who will shift from second to shortstop - slashed .400/.484/.424 on the season with four doubles, 12 runs scored, and 14 RBI. His RBI total was fourth on the team. He was also third on the team with seven stolen bases.

 

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Sophomore Jefry Azcona

When not on the mound, Williams will spend a lot of his time at first base, while the competition at third base will include sophomore Hilbert Nina De Leon, sophomore Damaal Sands, and Hogan. Sands could find innings at all infield positions, while sophomore John Smithson V could find some innings at first base.

Outfielders sophomore Alex Jones and senior Sheldon Johnson showed flashes of offensive brilliance a season ago that will be needed for the Lions to produce some runs. Sophomore outfielder Josh Shepherd will get an extended look in the outfield. Other outfield options include senior Zaire Hairston, junior Justin McClain, sophomore Drew Darby, freshman Miguel Agramonte, and freshman Jalen Godette.

 Lincoln opens the season 2 p.m. Friday with a doubleheader against Bluefield State.