Lincoln Rides Big Third Inning To State Championship

The Lincoln Trojans storm the field to celebrate winning the Class 5A state championship.

The Lincoln Trojan players are proud to carry the mantra as the worst team to ever win a state championship. This self-proclaimed identity comes after the team listened to ridicule and doubters all season, as they struggled into the district playoffs with a losing record and nobody believing in them.

But they believed in themselves, and on Wednesday afternoon they completed an unlikely playoff run by celebrating on the field at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers after winning the Class 5A state championship. Behind a five-run third inning and a defense that held the rope from there, Lincoln defeated the Winter Springs Bears by a narrow 5-4 margin to win its second state title in school history.

“Words cannot explain,” Lincoln Manager Mike Gauger said. “It’s hard to get here, and it’s even harder to win when you get here. This is our third year in-a-row and we hadn’t gotten past the first game. To win the last one is just amazing. It speaks volumes for these guys. We were banged up early, we were sick early, and we were 10-14 going into the district tournament. Then we went lights out, and played some really good baseball against some really good teams.”

The road to get here was as tough as any. Lincoln upset the Mosley Dolphins and then the Chiles Timberwolves to win the District 5A-2 title, and a close win over the Gulf Breeze Dolphins advanced the Trojans into the best-of-three regional semifinals in a rematch with Chiles. Lincoln prevailed with a game-three victory, and then did the same thing in game three of the regional finals against the Niceville Eagles.

Back at the state tournament for the third consecutive season, the Trojans finally broke through that tough first round by defeating the 5A defending-champion Mater Academy Lions. In the championship game, it was more of the same, as the action was tight to the very finish and challenged the Trojans to deliver their best when it was needed the very most.

“I’m proud, excited and just thrilled for these guys,” Gauger said. “After the start we had, it was great for them to band together and hold together after Winter Springs made its run in the third inning. We scored and then they came back and scored, but we stopped the bleeding. Jacob Rabion did a great job and then Zachary Burch did a great job to bridge the gap to Chase Fuller, and gave us a chance to win the game. We had some timely hits, and it was just kind of what baseball is supposed to be like.”

Finishing with a record of 20-16, the players joked afterwards that they might have more losses than any other state champion before them. While acknowledging their struggles against a very tough schedule of opponents, what mattered the most was that they won the games at the end of the season that best define the team they are.

“We did have a lot of losses, and it might be one of the most losing-records to win a state championship,” junior Chase Fuller said. “People making fun of us, we got tired of it. We took it personally and kept on going. Everything just clicked in and that got us here today. We had one goal, so I can’t be more proud than all these guys. I just love this team.”

Nearly every starter helped contribute at the plate. The second time through the order the Trojans struck for all five of their runs. Tyson Bailey, Fuller and Jayson Parker all drew walks that loaded up the bases. An infield error allowed the first run of the game to score, and Carson Koch plated another with an infield RBI single.

Momentum on their side, the Trojans kept piling on for three more very crucial runs. Robert Quinn drove in Parker with a base hit to left, and Luke Thomas followed with a single to left that brought in two more runs for a 5-0 advantage.

“We’ve had the same approach pretty much all year: see ball, hit ball,” Gauger said. “So we were swinging, and we got into some pretty good counts when he got a little wild, and we put some balls in play. We did what we’ve been doing for the last 15 games. We try to work the counts, but if it is in the zone we are swinging.”

The Bears responded right away by swinging their way back into the game in the bottom of the third. Edward Risano led off by jumping on a 1-0 offering for a lead-off double that helped spark Winter Springs (24-7). Jackson Swann lined an RBI single to center to get his team on the scoreboard, and then came in himself off an RBI double to right from Owen Swanson. Swanson stole third and then came home on an error that struck Trojans starting catcher Bennett Malone in the face.

“Our starting catcher busted his face. He is going to need stitches and he is going to need a new front tooth,” Gauger said of Malone. “He was dazed and confused for a little while, and he was sheet white. He was saying some weird stuff in the dugout trying to get me to put him back in.”

Instead, Lincoln went to junior Emmanuel Hernandez to come in at backstop. Two innings later he proved up to this unexpected challenge by making the biggest play of the game. Swann and Walters led off the fifth with back-to-back singles that put runners on the corners, and Swanson got the Bears back within a run with a squeeze-bunt RBI single. But when Xavier Rodriguez followed with a single that brought the tying run racing to the plate, Hernandez got the relay throw from Quinn in time to apply the tag and gun him down at home.

“Manny hadn’t caught since his first game in high school, so it had been a while,” Gauger said. “So, for him to come in like that and catch that ball and make that tag on a bang-bang play, I can’t tell you how proud I am for Manny on that, because it was huge.”

Winter Springs got the tying run back to third in the sixth, and also had a base runner on in the seventh to keep giving itself a chance to even things back up. But Fuller locked things down in relief by recording the final five outs and ensuring that slim lead held up for victory.

“I didn’t feel any pressure,” Fuller admitted. “I’ve worked for this, and Coach Gauger has trusted me since I got to Lincoln my freshman year. I’ve pitched in these games, and I’ve pitched here at states three times now. So it was just another day on the mound. I knew I had control and they couldn’t touch my fastball. I just stuck with it and I trusted Manny back there, and we clicked real quick. We trusted each other and we got the job done.”

Lincoln added a second state title, after first winning it all back in the 2016 season. The team keeps the trophies right there in the clubhouse, and they have a corner section dedicated to memorabilia from big games, both wins and losses. Now they have another state championship trophy to add to the display.

“It means a lot, because the goal was always to make a state championship,” senior Cody Garber said. “To do it as a senior is the best feeling ever.”

One of the hardest parts of the championship formula is winning that pivotal state semifinal. The last two years the Trojans were unable to get over that hump, but the pitchers delivered strong in that win over Mater Academy. Senior Ethan Lafuria struck out five in four innings without allowing an earned run, and Jacob Rabion earned the win by limiting the Lions to one run over two-and-two-third relief innings.

“I watched on the bench my sophomore and junior year, losing in the Final Four,” Lafuria said. “I finally got my chance this year and got the job done.”

Fuller also picked up the save in that semifinal victory.

The story of the 2026 Lincoln Trojans is one that inspires and serves notice to every team. No matter how rough things got, they never stopped believing and they never stopped trying. They looked past the wins and many losses to get better from both experiences, and they delivered their best team effort when it was needed the most.

From those dark early days of the season to the final championship celebration, Lincoln showed everyone what is possible.

“It was dire straits. It stunk for a while for us,” Gauger admitted. “It was miserable. Practice was miserable, games were miserable. We were getting throttled. Then these guys just said enough was enough, and they played hard. Effort was never really the issue during games, we just finally got the right mix and the right vibe and we sort of hit our stride with those two games in the district tournament. We seemed to play team baseball, and the lineup played a little longer for the last few weeks. We talked about working at bats and working pitch-counts, and extending the lineup over as many times as possible.”

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