2019 Male Player: Lincoln Adams

Lincoln Adams

Growing up, Lincoln Adams used to watch his brothers play for the Rockford Lithuanian Club. He never imagined that he would one day play softball at an elite level, traveling the country playing softball… for free! He was just a kid playing basketball for Aurora University when he started playing softball with his brothers on the Bulldogs out of Crystal Lake. He next received an opportunity to play with Steve Lane, Jim Phad and Terry Speed on Team Easton from Joliet.

Linc’s most exciting memory was how he got his start on Ken Adams Softball team. Dave Shaff tells the story that Ken wanted him to “take a look” at Linc, a centerfielder. Dave told Ken, “I’m the centerfielder for Ken Adams Softball.” After Dave watched Linc play a few innings, Dave told Ken to get Lincoln and that he would be okay moving to right field. 

Linc also remembers the first time he played in a USSSA World Tournament with Ken Adams Softball, He was playing with a lot of future Hall of Famers, while learning the game of softball. He remembers going in to run for Jimmy Walsh (HOF 2015) and finishing the game in centerfield. Linc learned a lot from the likes of Dave Shaff (HOF 2015), Bill Sahagian (HOF 2005), Don Vlcek (HOF 2014), and Jim Cushing (HOFF 1998).

Over the time Linc spent with KA Softball, he felt it was awesome to play in some of the biggest tournaments in the country each year. He especially remembers the Dudley in Minnesota and the Music City in Nashville, and numerous trips to Liberty Park in Michigan. One of the big thrills was playing in the USSSA Major World Series in the stadium at Disney ESPN Wide World of Sports. Linc remembers when KA traveled out of state, other teams couldn’t believe that everybody on the team was from the same area, as most teams had players from multiple states. 

Unfortunately, Linc missed a lot of family weddings over the years, but had a great time spending those weekends with some great groups of guys, many of whom are still good friends. Those friendships played a big part in Lincoln turning down an opportunity to play with a Major team. It was an easy decision when he knew how much his teammates relied upon and had invested in him.

Lincoln recalls that the USSSA was always regarded as the cream of the crop organization, one that everyone looked forward to playing at the end of the season in the USSSA World Tournaments. He wishes he could have played the years earlier, prior to the advent of the super bats. He believes that would have made playing centerfield a lot more fun with a good ball and single wall bats. Linc says the game has taken on a false identity for some over the years.