TAUNTON – Taunton once again showed why they are the team to beat in Div. 1 as well as the Hockomock League with yet another impressive victory at home Monday night.

After battling early, Texas Tech commit Sam Lincoln and the Tigers had more than enough to blank King Philip 4-0 at Jack Tripp Field to win the Hockomock Kelley-Rex outright.

“King Philip is always a tough team competition for us, so to come out on top just solidifies that the girls are working hard and to keep pushing” said Tigers coach Michelle Raposo about the win. “They never let things get them down or some adversity to bother them. It’s great to come out on top.”

It was Lincoln who battled through a pair of runners in the first to keep King Philip (16-3) off the board as she struck out a pair in the frame.

She then hit a batter each in the second and third before settling in and retiring the final 12 batters, including striking out eight of the final nine for a total of 14.

“She is working with a new catcher and they’re still trying to work out the kinks of that,” Raposo said about the early innings with Aniyah Bailey catching. “A lot of her curveballs, the outside pitches, she’s not getting those calls. So, we are working on making the adjustments catching and trying to get a little more of those calls outside.”

Taunton (17-0) got on the board first as junior Brooke Aldrich led off with a double and scored on a King Philip error to make it 1-0 after four.

The Tigers weren’t done as they got three more runs in the fifth as Bailey cranked a two-run double to score sophomore Mia Torres and freshman Bella Bourque to push the lead to 3-0. Bailey scored one batter later on a hit for Aldrich.

“It felt great,” Lincoln said about getting those additional runs of support. “Only one run is not much, to be honest. One hit could score a run. So, having the extra runs just made me feel ten times more confident.”

Next up, Taunton will host Tewksbury on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. King Philip will be at Foxboro Wednesday at 3:45 p.m.