sfoggi posted on July 16, 2011 20:33
LEESBURG, Fla. (July 16, 2011) - After splitting Friday’s doubleheader, the Lightning came into the game looking to add another “W” to the win column, and they did just that with a big 4-2 victory over Sanford.
Both starting pitchers threw gems Saturday night. They each took different routes of getting there, but both kept their teams in the game for the majority of the contest.
Leesburg starter Dylan Hathcock (UNC-Greensboro) earned himself a spot on the all-star roster earlier in the week with a stellar 3-1 record and an earned run average that hovered just over a 2.00. Against Sanford, Hathcock assaulted the strike zone with a barrage of pitches that had the Sanford bats acting like a windmill early in the game. Of the first 10 outs the River Rats recorded, nine were strikeouts courtesy of Hathcock. He finished the game with season-high 10 punch-outs. The paradox of recording 10 strikeouts is that you need a vast quantity of pitches to accomplish that task, and thus, Hathcock only lasted into the sixth inning, being pulled after hitting his pitch limit. He left the game having given up only a handful of hits and two runs.
“I was using two different arm slots that seemed to be working,” said Hathcock of his 10 strikeouts. “I just wish I could have gone longer.”
“We work on damage control and I thought (Hathcock) did an incredible job of that tonight,” said Pitching Coach Jon Bolt. “He’s usually a pitch-to-contact kind of guy, but we’ll take the strikeouts.”
Sanford starter Ray Hanson (UCF) took a different pitching approach to the mound. He was able to work a little bit quicker than Hathcock and settled down after giving up two runs in the first inning. Despite the constant contact by the Lightning bats, they couldn’t put together a rally and Hanson was able to work into the eighth inning.
The score remained 2-2 heading into the eighth. Jacob Tillotson (Santa Fe) singled to right field, ending Hanson’s night with no outs. Mike Albaladejo (Florida Atlantic) laid down a perfect bunt as it looked like he was racing the ball down the first base line. He beat out an errant throw from the pitcher, but the blunder allowed Tillotson to advance to third base. With runners on the corners, a wild pitch had Tillotson dashing home and a close play had everyone at Pat Thomas holding their breath. The umpire signaled safe and the crowd erupted as the Lightning took a 3-2 lead.
“The mood on this team is all positive, it’s all up tempo,” said Albaladejo, whose base hit in the eighth ended up scoring the winning run. “We had a sense of energy especially after what happened last night.”
An intentional walk to Chase Durham (Howard College) loaded the bases and the following walk to the newest member of the Leesburg Lightning, John Beary (Pensacola State), brought home another run and the Lightning turned the ball over to Nick Palmer (Lake Sumter CC) to close the door and he did just that picking up his first save of the season.
With Winter Park being rained out on Saturday, the Lightning now take a slim lead atop the Florida League standings.
It will be a rematch on Sunday, July 17 as Leesburg heads to Sanford Memorial Stadium to battle the River Rats at 5:00 p.m.
Nick Beardi (Medaille College)