Veteran head coach Will Lynde is expecting a realistic season and a repeat district championship for his Lincoln Cardinals baseball squad. Gone are his top two players from a year ago but hopefully a healthy roster of 15 players and some summer ball experience will return some huge dividends as the season wears on.
A big key will be a healthy Riley Sanders. He missed most of last season due to injuries. He will be asked to take up the slack on the mound with the departure of Connor Lynde and Kaleb Mundy. Also pitching will be Dawson Parrott, Turner Kreisler, Cam Everhart and several others.
The speed, defense and the quick bats of Lynde and Mundy will be very difficult to replace. That is where Sanders and Parrott will hopefully come into play.
Last season was an all freshman infield at times, so experience should help.
Junior Cam Everhart will move from first base to the outfield where he played during the summer. He batted cleanup last season and will be called upon once again to be their big power hitter. Parrott and Sanders will be their two catalysts with good speed and quick bats. Both can fly around the bases with the best of them. Sanders will probably play every position before the season ends.
Zaden Cole will handle the catching duties and bat early in the batting order. Kreisler is a good defensive second baseman but will need to get on base more.
Parrott should handle short as well as anyone in the area. He will probably lead off once again. They have speed and should terrorize the base paths. Coach Lynde likes to bunt and utilize their speed.
The pitch count is hard on smaller schools but hopefully Lincoln has enough pitching to be productive in the win and loss column.
Time will tell.
