DELAND, Fla. (June 4, 2011) - The DeLand Suns (0-2) opened up their home slate Saturday night in front of a couple hundred fans at Melching Field Conrad Park falling 5-0 to the Leesburg Lightning despite a solid team effort.

 

It was a tight game all night and the Suns had runners in scoring position a few times, but weren’t able to capitalize on their scoring chances after solid play from the Leesburg (2-0) defense.

 

The Suns started off the game with runners on the corners and one out but were unable to squeeze home a run. DeLand outhit Leesburg for a majority of the contest, until a late nine-inning Lightning rally. DeLand had runners in scoring position four times on the night, but couldn’t get a runner past second base after the first inning.

 

DeLand had a solid outing from their starter Eric Green (St. Petersburg College). The southpaw struck out four over his four innings of work and only allowed two hits. Also on the mound for the Suns and pitching in relief, Chad Rood (Stetson), who dominated Leesburg hitters in his four innings of work, struck out five and did not allow a run to cross the plate.

 

The game was in reach for the Suns until the ninth inning when Leesburg second baseman Eric Sams (Indian River State College) chopped a ball over J.T. Warmoth (Embry-Riddle) to bring home two runs and make the score 5-0, essentially putting the game out of reach for DeLand.

 

“We were much better than last night,” said DeLand pitching coach Mike Powers. “We made a few mistakes early but our pitching is going to get better.” Powers when on to say that going from aluminum to wood bats is a huge difference and will take pitchers and hitters a little time to get used to.

 

The NCAA Regional Tournaments have also had an effect on the team as five of the DeLand starters are currently still playing for their respective schools causing a few players to play out of their usual position.

 

“Once they all start playing together as a team and start learning what to do in certain situations they’ll be fine,” added Powers.

 

Leading the way for the Suns were shortstop Aaron Silbar (Columbia) and right fielder Brett Knief (Seminole State CC), each of who ended the night with a pair of hits. 

 

With a long season ahead of them, DeLand has plenty of time to recover and turn things around as they host the Sanford River Rats on Sunday (June 4) with first pitch slated for 5 p.m.