Lofton Sills did all he could to give the West Lincoln Bears a boost, but it wasn’t enough to get past Union Yellowjackets as the West Lincoln Bears lost 5-4 Thursday night in the opening round of the Class 2A state playoffs.

West Lincoln (9-9, 7-3) will travel to Union today for game two in the series. Game time is 6 p.m. If game three is necessary, the series will return to West Lincoln Saturday.

Union 5, West Lincoln 4 

In the first inning of action, Union jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, but West Lincoln answered in the bottom of the first inning as the Bears tied the game on an RBI double by Alex Neal.

Lofton Sills racked up two RBIs on one hit for the West Lincoln as he homered in the second inning to give the Bears a 3-2 lead.

After posting one run in the second, Union again scored one in the third to tie the contest at 3-all.

Union was sparked by Walker Kelly and Lane Stevens, who teamed up for four hits and two RBIs.

The Yellowjackets went up for good in the fifth inning, scoring two runs on an RBI double by Stevens and a solo home run by Kelly.

The Bears would rally back in the bottom of the sixth inning and plate one run to cut down Union’s lead to 5-4, but could not continue the rally as the Yellowjackets escape with the win.

Seth Bivens suffered the setback on the mound for the Bears with three strikeouts and seven walks.

Kelly was the winning pitcher for Union with six strikeouts and one walk.

Sills was the top slugger at the plate for West Lincoln with a home run. Alex Neal contributed a double and a single. Hitting safely were Bryce Temple, Seth Bivens and Daniel Spears.

Kelly powered Union’s offense with a home run. Michael McDonald provided a double and a single. Lane Stevens had a double and Wilkins Thames hit a single.