Lincoln slides past Rocklin in District 11 Major Tournament

For Little League all-star teams in District 11, the long road to Williamsport begins at Larry Costa Field in Lincoln. Tuesday night, Lincoln pieced together timely hitting, dominant pitching and impressive defense to secure a 4-1 triumph over Rocklin and move on to the District 11 Major championship game. Manager Jake Hanson said it was a team effort, which is nothing less than he would expect. "They played together. We emphasize teamwork here. Hustle on and off the field and they showed that today," said Hanson. "I'm super proud of them. We played well as a team, played good, clean defense. The pitching was awesome. We had timely hitting, but that's all what teamwork looks like." It was a pitcher's duel for the majority of the game. Lincoln's Hudson Cook had a dominant start, using all 85 of his pitches in 4⅔ shutout innings. Cook, the younger brother of Lincoln High School ace and Santa Clara commit Jackson Cook, surrendered just one hit and struck out 10. Hudson Romero entered in relief and held Rocklin to one run and two hits. "We leaned on Hudson Cook early on and he was dealing. When you have one of your pitchers that's feeling it, you got to ride it and he went all the way to the end with his pitch count," said Hanson. "Then we brought in Romero and he got his chance. He rose to the occasion and he got the job done." Rocklin's Isaac Chy tallied 10 strikeouts as well in four innings. He surrendered two runs in the first inning but recovered, coming up with clutch outs to keep Rocklin within striking distance. Lincoln added insurance in the top of the sixth inning, doubling the lead from two to four. Rocklin got one back on an RBI single by Chy. Lincoln was also elevated by its defense. Lewis Camillucci, Cook and Colton Ritter made critical plays in the field to help keep Rocklin off the board, including Ritter making a heads-up play for a rare 9-6 putout in the sixth inning. "We emphasize a lot on playing clean defense. Camillucci was making some plays at third, we had a heads-up play in the outfield after a dropped ball in center field to get a force out at second. It was our whole defense," said Hanson. "We're all playing for what's on the front of our shirts rather than the back." Lincoln needs to win one of the next two games to claim the District 11 title and advance to the Section 4 Tournament. Lincoln was to face either Rocklin or Auburn on Thursday for the championship. If necessary, there will be a winner-take-all final on Saturday.