Martin baseball tops Weatherford, 5-4

By Jarret Johnson

jmjohnson@star-telegram.com

ARLINGTON — Twice Arlington Martin junior Daniel Lingua stepped into the batter’s box during pressure situations in Tuesday’s showdown against Weatherford, and each time he delivered.

Lingua not only finished 2-for-3 with a double, a pair of two-out RBIs and a run scored, but he also picked up the save to lead Martin to a 5-4 District 3-5A victory against the Kangaroos.

“We wouldn’t have been here without Daniel. In fact, he’s been really clutch for us all year long,” Martin coach Curt Culbertson said. “In games where nobody else is really doing much, he’s squaring up and hitting the ball on line. He’s a guy in the middle of the lineup that we’re really counting on and he has a lot of confidence right now.

The Warriors (13-5, 2-0) trailed Weatherford 2-0 in the fourth when Lingua drove in Joshua Watson from second with a double to the right field wall. Lingua also scored on a single by Brandon Swaim in a three-run inning for Martin.

The Kangaroos (15-2, 1-1) tied the game 3-3 in the top of the fifth on a RBI single to left field by Will Young. Then Lingua drove in his second run and Anthony Lyons scored on a throwing error in the bottom of the inning to give the Warriors a 5-3 lead.

Weatherford’s Andrew Healy cut the deficit to 5-4 in the seventh when he scored on a error. All of a sudden after two walks, one by Martin starter Turner Larkins and one by Lingua, and the error, Weatherford had runners on the corners with one out.

The Kangaroos attempted a squeeze bunt but missed the pitch and Martin catcher Matt Waller was able to run down the base runner attempting to score from third. Lingua closed out the game with a strikeout. Larkins struck out 12 in the win.

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