In their first game of the Kaysinger tournament on Friday, second seed Lincoln beat seventh seed LaMonte, 22-0 in a two and a half inning game at Lincoln.
Braylin Paxton no-hit the Lady Vikings over three innings, she struck out five with one walk.
Lincoln scored eight in the first and 14 in the second. Lincoln stole seven bases, mostly uncontested.
LaMonte made five errors to Lincoln's one. Freshman Lilly Mellen went 2 for 3, and drove in four to highlight a 12 hit attack.
The line went 22-12-1 for Lincoln and 0-0-5 for LaMonte. Lincoln moved to 10-1 and LaMonte fell to 1-8.
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In the semifinal matchup, Lincoln defeated Cole Camp, 8-1 on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.
Madelynn Ogle smashed one over the centerfield fence in the fifth inning for the only Lady Bluebirds run of the game.
Lincoln scored four in the second and four in the third.
Paxton took the win going the six with one run on four hits, four walks and three strikeouts and Ogle suffered the loss going four. She gave up eight runs on ten hits with two strikeouts and one walk. Emma Thayer finished up.
The line went 1-5-4 for Cole Camp and 8-11-1 for Lincoln.
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Cole Camp lost the third place game to Northwest 12-2 as their defense fell apart in the fourth allowing eight runs.
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Later, Lincoln put it all together to win the Kaysinger championship for the first time in four years.
Paxton was brilliant in the circle. She allowed no runs, two hits, struck out 11 and walked one in the 10-0 six inning victory over fourth seeded Green Ridge.
The defense was superb with no errors and several spectacular catches. First, was first baseman Rebekah Helland with a third out catch in foul territory against the fence with a runner on second in the first.
Then in the third, the younger Mellen caught one with her back to the infield over second base.
Greenlea Harms caught a looping foul ball in right field in the fifth and in the sixth Alyssa Mellen shoe stringed one in center.
Second year head coach Aleah (Paxton) Johnson commented, "We played well. Braylin pitched well and our defense played well with the catch at first against the fence and the plays up the middle."
She went on to say, "This is a special win. I grew up in this program and I knew this team could do well. I coached in junior high and watched on the sidelines. I always wanted to coach this team."
We also caught up with an excited Braylin Paxton and asked her what it felt like to win this tournament.
"It feels great and I finally feel like I am living up the Paxton name," she said with a smile. "It shows I can do what my sisters did, even with my sisters by my side."
Asked if she felt pressure, she responded, "Yes, but regardless of the outcome, they know I am always trying my best."
If readers dont know, Aleah is the head coach and Cadyn Paxton is the assistant. Aleah pitched and Cadyn played third on the 2019 state championship team.
In the game, Lincoln scored one in the third, two in the fourth, five in the fifth and two in the sixth to end the game with the ten run rule.
Helland had the big bat. She went 2 for 3, drove in two, scored three times and walked once.
Green Ridge's line was 0-2-4 while Lincoln was 10-9-0.
Lincoln is now 12-1. Green Ridge fell to 5-4 having knocked off top seed Northwest 4-2 earlier in the day.
