Justin Lambert showed again Saturday afternoon that the UW-Whitewater pitching staff in much deeper than just Jeff Donovan and Riley Tincher.The sophomore out of Mount Horeb High School was outstanding in relief of Riley Tincher in the NCAA Division III Midwest Region championship game vs. St. Scholastica (Minn).
The right-hander shut down the Saints on just 3 hits over the final four innings. The sophomore out of Mount Horeb High School ended the game by getting CSS one-two-three in the ninth inning to earn his fifth win of the season.
“The adrenaline was flowing, how could it not be” Lambert tells voiceseyeonbaseball.blogspot.com. “Ready to go to the World Series – three outs to go – its an incredible feeling!”
Pitching “ahead in the count” is a big key to being successful as a pitcher.
“Especially when you get to the level of talent of the teams that are here (NCAA tournament teams), you fall behind, it doesn’t matter how hard you throw, they will be sitting fastballs and they’ll hit you,” Lambert explains.
For Justin, UWW catcher Rob Coe is a huge factor in his success on the mound.
“The big reason we get the batters in the hole is because we have such a smart kid behind the plate,” Lambert said. “I don’t know if he does but I think he “calls” the game all by himself. I haven’t shaken him off one time this year. It didn’t take me long to understand to just trust him and throw the pitch he calls.”
(In the adjacent photo - Justin Lambert (left) and Rob Coe (right) show the emotion of just winning the Midwest Regional title and berth in this week's NCAA Division III World Series in Appleton - photo courtesy of Jeff Seisser, Daily Jefferson County Union)
As for his team earning a berth in this year’s NCAA Division III World Series that begins Friday at Time Warner Fox Cities Stadium in Appleton (Grand Chute)?
“I wouldn’t trade it for the world – it is an incredible feeling.”
UW-Whitewater will play Buena Vista College (Iowa) in first round action at 4:30 p.m. Friday.
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