Lincoln Prep pulls off another playoff upset

May 4, 2024 by Andy Morales, AZPreps365


Thomas Frey. (Andy Morales/AZPreps365)

No. 11 Lincoln Prep continues to shake up the 1A bracket with another upset victory on the road, this time beating No. 3 Desert Christian 9-5 Saturday afternoon. The Lightning took out No. 6 San Manuel 9-1 in the opening round last Saturday and the team from Chandler has to travel to Goodyear next to take on No. 7 Anthem Prep in the semifinal round on May 10. Anthem Prep beat No. 15 Superior 7-4 to set up the semifinal game with Lincoln Prep. The other semifinal features No. 1 Bagdad vs. No. 4 Hayden.

Desert Christian scored three runs in the bottom of the third inning to open up the scoring against Lincoln Prep with senior Bennett Vondrak connecting on an RBI double followed by an RBI single from Cruz Smith, a hit from Austin Yarger and another RBI single from Jeff Payne, all with two outs.

The Eagles added two more runs in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI double from Caden Esquerra and a bases-loaded walk issued to Yarger with one out. Finn Dilley took the ball in the fourth for the Lightning and he limited the damage with the bases still loaded with back-to-back strikeouts. Dilley would only give up one walk and a hit the rest of the way to keep the Eagles with five runs but the Lightning bats started to come alive.

Lincoln Prep scored four runs in the top of the fifth to cut the lead down to 5-4. With two outs and the bases loaded, Jacoby Weiss knocked in two runs when he was deep in the hole with one ball and two strikes and then Dilley doubled with two strikes to bring in two more. Lincoln Prep added five more runs in the sixth to put the game away.

The Lightning loaded the bases with no outs on two walks and a hit-by-pitch and then Jayden Kobsar hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game at 5-5. Weiss came up with two outs and he hit an RBI single to give the Lightning a 6-5 lead. Dilley knocked in two more runs to make it 8-5 and then Michael DeBratto tripled to bring in Dilley.

Thomas Frey got the start for Lincoln Prep (14-8) and Dilley got the win. Dilley went 2-4 with four RBI and Weiss went 2-4 with three RBI. Vondrak, Esquerra and Yarger threw for Desert Christian (17-4). Esquerra and Payne went 2-4.