How did Lincoln win the D-II softball title? The only way it knew how.
· Yahoo Sports
PROVIDENCE – Giving up a comfortable lead and trailing by two in the fifth inning would have been enough to derail plenty of teams.
But the Lincoln softball team was right where it wanted to be.
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Nobody was better playing from behind better than the Lions and after Saturday, nobody in Division II was better than them either. The offense came up with the perfect response to a deficit and Molly Ganim showed poise that goes far beyond her years, as she shut down Ponaganset the rest of the way and helped Lincoln close out a 9-6 win to give the program the D-II title.
“It was just amazing. I’ve never felt anything louder,” said Ganim of the postgame celebration. “I’ve never heard anything louder. It just felt crazy.”
It looked like Lincoln had the game won in the first inning, right up until it looked like a coaching decision was going to cost it dearly.
Ponaganset showed its nerves for the first time this season, letting defensive miscues give the Lions four runs in the first inning. Lincoln gave one back with an error of its own in the third and in the fourth, Ganim surrendered a two-out RBI single to Hayleigh Mooney that made it 4-2.
The freshman didn’t come out for the fifth, as coach Alyssa McCoart elected to go with Kayleigh Gouchie. It’s a move McCoart has done plenty this season – starting one and using the other in relief – but Saturday was one of the few times where it backfired.
Claire Barrett greeted Gouchie with a single, which was followed by an RBI double by Cora Miller. With momentum now in their dugout, the Chieftains scored two more runs before McCoart went back out to get Gouchie and put Ganim back in the circle.
Getting pulled is a tough circumstance for any high school athlete, but Ganim didn’t let it affect her focus. She might not have been in the circle, but she was locked in in case the call came and she had to go back out there.
Ganim gave up a single to LaMountain that made it 6-4, but retired the next batter to end the inning, then closed the game retiring six of the final seven Chieftains she faced.
“I try to just stay in a good mindset and keep locking them down,” Ganim said. “I was a little disappointed [in coming out] but I believe in my team.
“… I knew I could do it. I was just telling myself I could do it and it just felt really good to get it down.”
“She is incredible,” Whyte said. “Her mindset, she’s in there, she doesn’t get in her head, she goes out there and performs. It’s great to see, especially as a freshman.”
Lincoln should have never trailed in this game, but it wasn’t affected by suddenly being down 6-4. Instead, the Lions went out to do what they did best this spring – go pull off another comeback.
Chloe Landry opened with a single and Lucia Whyte picked up a one-out walk, with both scoring on a two-out double by Brooke Lambert that tied the game. A Ponaganset error allowed Lambert to score and the Lions had a lead on the scoreboard and an ace in the circle.
They weren’t done either and put up two more in the sixth and making the two-run deficit seem like a distant memory.
“We find motivation,” Ganim said. “We can all do it, no matter what inning it is, how many outs we have, we can all come out strong.”
“We know we got his,” said Whyte of what the team talked about before batting in the fifth. “We came this far. We had the Sunday game available, but we knew we had to go out and get it done [Saturday].
“It’s the confidence in each other.”
Ponaganset tried to rally, but Ganim wasn’t letting it happen. The Chieftains opened the double-elimination portion of the D-II tournament with a tough loss to No. 2 Johnston, then went on a four-game run where pitcher Mattea Mello became a star and clutch hits became commonplace.
Losing wasn’t part of Saturday’s gameplan, but losing in the championship game didn’t seem possible with how the playoffs started. The season was terrific for the Chieftains and the experience will only help the program moving forward.
“We really came together as a team in the playoffs,” Mello said. “It was great, our team clicked and I think we’re going to be ready for next season.
“… We’re only losing one senior, the whole team’s pretty much going to be back and we’re going to be hungry.”
Lincoln’s celebration was filled with excitement and joyful tears, mainly from Whyte, the program’s lone senior. In 2024 she was one of the players on the Lincoln-North Providence co-op team that was formed so both schools could have a season.
Saturday, the idea that Lincoln was once a co-op didn’t seem possible. McCoart has guided the program to tremendous growth the last two seasons, but going from co-op to champion is an incredible leap.
“It’s a dream for a senior to go out with a championship,” Lincoln’s Lucia Whyte said. “It is surreal.”
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Score from the 2026 RIIL Softball Division II Championship Game on Saturday