14 — at Berea, 5:30; 17 — HARRISON COUNTY, 12:30; 20 — at Burgin, 5:30; 22 — at Shelby County, 5:30; 23-24 — Somerset Invitational; 27 — at Danville, 5:30; 28 — TAYLOR COUNTY, 6; 30-31 — Green County Wood Bat Tournament.
April
2 — GRAVES COUNTY, 5:30; 4 — at Harrison County, 5:30; 10 — MODEL, 5:30; 12 — BOYLE COUNTY, 5:30; 13 — at Southwestern, 5:30; 14 — BURGIN, 1; 16 — at Lincoln County, 5; 17 — at Rockcastle County, 5:30; 19 — SAYRE, 5:30; 20 — BEREA, 5:30; 23 — DANVILLE, 5:30; 24 — WEST JESSAMINE, 5:30; 26 — LINCOLN COUNTY, 5; 28 — at Model, 4.
May
1 — at Boyle County, 5:30; 2 — BARDSTOWN, 6; 3 — WASHINGTON COUNTY, 5:30; 4 — MARION COUNTY, 5:30; 7 — SOUTHWESTERN, 5:30; 8 — at Washington County, 5:30; 11 — at Bardstown, 5:30; 14 — Rockcastle County at Whitaker Bank Ballpark, 5:30; 17 — at Marion County, 5:30.
LINCOLN COUNTY
Coach: Brad McNew
2011 record: 14-20-1 (lost to Mercer County in 12th Region first round)
Top returnees: John Day, Jr. SS-3B-P; Dylan King, Jr. P-1B; Taner Leigh, Jr. SS; Vinny Morris, Sr. 3B-C-P; Ryne Otto, Sr. OF; Chase Pemberton, Sr. 2B.
Key statistics: Otto hit .315 with 30 RBIs last season, and Pemberton hit .300 and led Lincoln in runs scored. Day was 5-2 on the mound.
Outlook: If stability counts for anything, the Patriots are already a step ahead of where they have been in recent years. McNew returns for a second season after becoming the fourth coach in four years last year, and Lincoln returns 10 kids who saw significant playing time last year.
McNew said he expects his team to be strong on defense and improved on offense, and he said he has focused in the preseason on minimizing mistakes.
There are questions about the Patriots’ pitching, which had control trouble last year that had much to do with their average of 6.8 runs allowed per game.
Coach’s comments: “I'm very excited to get this season started. After the (regional tournament) loss to Mercer last year I told our guys we wanted to get back and you never know what can happen. I have a great group of young men that I hope to see improve over the year. We are going to be a more veteran team than we were last year. If we come to the field each day and compete, we can become a threat in the region.”
