sfoggi posted on June 28, 2011 22:17
WINTER HAVEN, Fla. (June 28, 2011) – A late inning Winter Haven rally was not enough as the Leesburg Lightning defeated the Loggerheads 9-7 in extra-innings at Chain of Lakes Park Tuesday night.
Facing a 6-0 deficit in the top of the sixth, Winter Haven (7-10) put up a five spot in the home half of the inning to trail by one, 6-5.
Right-fielder Mike Muha (Saint Joseph’s) led off the inning on a base hit and advanced to second on a Nick Geary (Georgetown) single. With Winter Haven at the top of the order, Andrew Sterling (Dickinson College) reached base on a Lightning shortstop error, scoring Muha for the first Loggerheads run.
Justin Burgess (Montevallo) then drove in Geary from third with no outs on the next at-bat. On a one-out single, Kyle Campbell (Stetson) drove in Sterling. With the deficit now cut in half, 6-3, Sam Halpern (Barry) stepped up to the plate and knocked an RBI double in the left center gap driving in Burgess. Campbell scored the last run of the inning on a Sean O’Brien (Florida State) sacrifice fly.
After a scoreless top of the sixth, Winter Haven tacked on a run to tie the score at 6-all in the bottom half. The Loggerheads took their first lead of the contest, 7-6, in the bottom of the eighth as Campbell scored his second run of the game on an RBI single. Campbell was 2-for-5 with two runs and an RBI.
With the Lightning scoreless in the top of the seventh and eighth, the Loggerheads pitching staff’s momentum was broken in the top of the ninth as Troy Drummond (Delaware State) scored the tying run on a passed ball. Drummond led off the inning on a walk, moved over to second on a sac bunt, and advanced to third on a groundout to third.
The Lightning built off of Drummond’s run, and in the top of the 10th, scored a pair of runs to take the 9-7 lead. Winter Haven was unable to make another come back with a runner in scoring position as closer Max Rusch (Flagler) retired the inning. Rusch was credited with the win, tossing two complete innings and recording five of the team’s 18 strikeouts.
Taking the loss for Winter Haven was Brady Rodriguez (Abilene Christian) working 2 2/3 innings on the bump. Rodriguez recorded two strikeouts and gave up one earned run. Leading the Loggerheads was Burgess as he was 3-for-5 with a double, two stolen bases, two RBIs, and a run scored.
Heller, Campbell, and O’Brien each had two hits off the Lightning.
Winter Haven will hit the road as they face the Sanford River Rats on Wednesday, June 29 at Historic Sanford Memorial Stadium. Game time is slated for 7 p.m.