sfoggi posted on June 30, 2011 19:58
LEESBURG, Fla. (June 30, 2011) - One of the beautiful things about baseball is that the little things win you ball games. It’s not necessarily the long home runs or having the most stolen bases or walk-off hits; it’s the perseverance and resiliency of a team over a season. The Lightning have been that team so far. They don’t necessarily lead the league in any particular category, but have grinded and fought for their victories.
The Lightning took this motto to heart with a big win against DeLand, 5-3, at Pat Thomas Stadium Thursday night.
The Suns beat Leesburg last week in the game at The Villages and the Lightning were determined to get one back.
Starter Dylan Ortega (Brevard CC) induced a big groundball double play to get out of trouble in the first inning and would go four total innings, allowing three runs. He recorded six strikeouts and has been reliable so far this season on the mound for the Lightning.
Chris Coburn (College of Central Florida) blasted a pitch about a foot short of being a home run leading off for the Lightning in the home half of the first.
DeLand would take the first lead of the game in the second inning, but it wouldn’t last long. The Lightning loaded the bases off of a few stellar at-bats, including one by Eric Sams (Indian River State College). Sams battled for 10 pitches, until drawing a walk. The next batter was third baseman Tom Sicking (Texas-Pan American), who ripped a ball through the left side of the infield for a single and the ensuing error would plate all three runners. Sicking would finish the night 3-for-4 with two RBIs and his first extra base hit of the season.
“I’ve been working on my swing and getting the ball up in the air more,” said Sicking. “I was seeing the ball well tonight and putting out some good swings.”
Replacing Ortega on the mound was big righty Ethan Bader (Lake Sumter CC), who has been outstanding all season. He continued to strike out batters at an alarming rate Thursday night. Pitching four innings, he struck out a staggering nine batters to take back the lead for strikeouts on the team.
“Honestly, he pitched more than we wanted,” said Head Coach Dave Therneau. “We didn’t want him to go as long as he did, but he came in and was throwing strikes.”
Therneau also made a point of saying how clutch the Lightning have been in timely hitting situations all season. Mike Albaladejo (Florida Atlantic) would prove this theory correct with a huge single with runners on second and third for two more RBIs and the Lightning would hold their lead.
Closer Max Rusch (Flagler), fresh off throwing around 50 pitches two nights ago, entered the game in the ninth and struck out the final two DeLand hitters.
“We’ve got confidence in (Rusch) and this is exactly what we expected from him when we got him from Flagler,” said Therneau.
After losing four out of five a week ago, the Lightning have won three straight and are in a race for first with the Winter Park Diamond Dawgs. Still, a lot of baseball to be had, but it seems that the standings are taking a consistent shape every night and the two teams will battle for supremacy the next month.
Friday night is a rematch as Leesburg heads to DeLand to complete the home and home series. First pitch is set for 7 p.m.
Nick Beardi (Medaille College)