By STEVE MAZZONE

Sports writer

BRISTOL, Ct. --- Before winning the state championship last week, the Lincoln Little League All-Stars  were tearing the cowhide off the ball en route to a dominating run through District IV, out-scoring teams to the tune of 85-4. Surprisingly, during the six-game stretch, one of their top players never got to play.
Jake Petrin had the best seat in the house, watching all the action from the dugout. That’s not where he wanted to be. But after suffering a broken wrist from an AAU game earlier in the summer, that’s where the Lincoln catcher had to be.
“It was very difficult for him. You could tell,” said Lincoln manager Dale O’Dell. “He just couldn’t wait to get back. When you have an injury and you’re 12 years old, and you get one (last) shot to be 12 years old and play in the districts and the states, it’s difficult.”
“If we would have got knocked out in the districts the poor kid wouldn’t have played,” he added. “That would have been a shame.”
Well, as history showed us, Lincoln didn’t get knocked out of the state tournament, defeating Johnston National in the title game to earn a  trip to Bristol, Conn., for this weekend’s New England Regional Tournament.
A major reason for Lincoln’s success at the states can be attributed to the return of Petrin. Returning to action after his absence at the districts, the 12-year-old All-Star made his presence known right from the start and finished the tourney batting .647 (11-for-17) with four home runs.
“He had to miss all the districts and it was killing him,” O’Dell said. “He came to practice (every day) and sat in there and then came back (to the states) and all he did was rip the cover off the ball.”
As a team, Lincoln batted around .450 during the state tournament. That’s just a shade over what it averaged in the districts with the mighty bats of  players like Jeff Sheehan, Tyler Duquette, Alec Cronan, Chris Leclaire and Sam Brito.
Petrin immediate impact made life easier for Lincoln’s lethal offense.
“I started him off in the fifth spot and he went like 7-for-7. Then I moved him to the leadoff spot and he (didn’t) missed a beat,” O’Dell said. “I think he (took) a little pressure off all those other top five guys in our lineup because he was really one extra guy that could really do something to help the team.”
With an injury that is crucial for the mechanics involved in baseball, O’Dell wasn’t sure how Petrin would respond once he got the OK from his doctors. He was presently surprised with the results. 
“When you break your wrist on your top hand who knows if you can snap that bat over,” O’Dell said. “I’ll tell you what, from the start he came out he was banging that ball the first night he was able to swing. I can’t say enough. Not that it was a surprise, but it was a surprise how quickly he recovered.”

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For the past few weeks, the Lincoln All-Stars have had their share of stars. The big names that made most of the headlines were the top six of Petrin, Cronan, Duquette, Leclaire, Brito and Sheehan.
But as O’Dell made it a point to mention throughout Lincoln’s tremendous run this summer, all 13 players on the roster have contributed in one way or another.
In the state tournament, two names that come to mind are Brandon Yee and Justin Conti, who occupied the No. 8 and No. 9 spots in the lineup. Yee and Conti were two of eight players for Lincoln that hit over .400 at the states.
Yee was one of the hottest hitters, finishing an impressive 6-for-9 at the plate.
“They are two of the most unsung guys on the team,” O’Dell said. “When you talk about the Lincoln Little League team, Brandon Yee and Justin Conti’s names, they’re not the first two guys that you talk about. It’s not the first thing you think of but both of them had great state playoffs, they had huge hits and they turned that order over. When you come up with them on base and an order with the big boys that’s when you start to score some big digit games and score a lot of runs.”
All and all, though, O’Dell was pleased with his squad’s overall effort inside the batter’s box.
“No matter who we put out there, it’s nine guys - nine guys that have contributed in most games,” he said. “Whether it’s a guy coming off the bench to get a hit like a Luke Kelly or Cody Foster or Jack Bacon, anyone of those guys. Even Brian Janetti. Janetti had a 12-pitch at-bat the other day (in the finals). He struck out but he took 12 pitches off a very, very good, quality pitcher. That’s 12 pitches he can’t get back. It’s obviously the big kids getting the big numbers, but it’s been just about everybody contributing in different ways.”